Why Christian Gun Culture Makes Us All Less Safe

Thursday, November 12, 2026
11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Pioneer Bank, 1450 Adams St, Mankato

Description

The Americans who own the most guns aren't hunters or veterans or even police officers -- they're white evangelical Christians.

Evangelicals also play an outsized role in running the big gun manufacturing companies. Because they wield significant influence and political power, they're blocking the commonsense gun restrictions that most Americans say we want. Journalist and author William J. Kole will explore these issues in a discussion of his latest book, IN GUNS WE TRUST: The Unholy Trinity of White Evangelicals, Politics, and Firearms, and what we can do to help ease our uniquely American gun violence scourge.

Presenter

William J. Kole is a veteran journalist and a former foreign correspondent who has reported from North America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. As Vienna bureau chief for The Associated Press, he wrote extensively on the nexus of crime, the weapons trade and arms trafficking and terrorism across Eastern Europe.

Bill was AP’s New England bureau chief when a gunman armed with a military-style assault rifle massacred 20 first-graders and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012. A former evangelical missionary and megachurch worship leader, he now works as an editor for Axios and lives in Paris. IN GUNS WE TRUST, named 2026 book of the year by the Religion News Association, is his second work of nonfiction. Jane Goodall called his critically acclaimed debut book, THE BIG 100: The New World of Super-Aging, "stimulating and inspiring."

Sponsor

Anne Fletcher