Introduction to the symposium: A reexamination of southern distinctiveness through the lens of firearm policy.

Objective: This article reviews the extant literature on southern politics and gun/firearm ownership in the South as a precursor to three symposium papers. Methods: We employ standard literature review techniques to synthesize two significant bodies of literature. The latter part of the article introduces the three papers in the symposium. Results: We find that the papers in this symposium share two common themes: continued southern distinctiveness, and the importance of the role of race in southern politics and policy‐making. Conclusion: We find support for a hypothesis that the South remains distinctive as a region in the policy arena of gun ownership/firearm policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]