![]() ![]() Get six of our favorite Motherboard stories every day by signing up for our newsletter. But in the wake of smart horror commentaries like Get Out, it would be refreshing to see the film integrate ghostly thrills with the Sisyphean saga of gun violence in America-because few things are scarier than that. While one shouldn't judge a movie from its trailer, it looks like Mirren's Winchester will focus on the sensational legends associated with the controversial widow. Like the doors and passageways within the mystery house, attempts to reduce gun violence in the United States often lead nowhere, or circle back on themselves.Īnd, true or not, if part of Sarah Winchester's legend is that she believed hammering would keep the spirits of gun victims at bay, then the phrase " now is not the time to talk about gun violence" is the modern incarnation of those construction sounds. Sarah Winchester's compulsion to randomly build new wings and floors with no master plan mirrors America's half-hearted bandaids on gun policy, which have never amounted to a cohesive vision. ![]() The Winchester mansion is not only a crucial part of this history, it is a perfect metaphor for the nation's singular obsession with guns. For instance, Mary Jo Ignoffo, author of the 2010 biography Captive of the Labyrinth, suggests that news outlets scapegoated the wealthy widow to relieve collective American guilt about the proliferation of deadly firearms. But their veracity is contested by historians. ![]() One popular claim is that Winchester's constant additions to the house, from 1886 to her death in 1922, were motivated by "a message from the spirit world warning her that all would be well so long as the sound of hammers did not cease in the house or on the grounds," according to a June 1911 article in The New York Times.īecause Winchester was reclusive and eccentric, these tales about her abounded during her lifetime, and especially in the wake of her death of heart failure at age 83. Her home, with its disorienting passageways and walled-off rooms, was said to have been purposely designed to outwit and escape these restless spirits. Legends have circulated that Winchester felt haunted by victims of the weapon that shared her name and ensured her prosperity. She used this vast fortune to commission the infamous mansion that bears her dynasty's name. After her husband died, she inherited his $20 million estate (worth nearly half a billion dollars today, adjusting for inflation). This human toll weighed heavily on Sarah Winchester, or so the story goes. Not only did this family company help to foster the zealous gun culture endemic to the United States, it resulted in untold numbers of deaths. ![]() With over 720,000 rifles produced between 18, the sheer ubiquity of Winchester rifles had a profound impact on American history. The popular Winchester Model 1873 rifle gained a reputation as the "gun that won the West" because it was frequently used by foreign settlers and Native Americans during the American Indian wars. This firearms manufacturer was among the first enterprises to mass-produce rifles with the capacity to fire multiple rounds between reloads. Sarah Winchester was the widow of William Wirt Winchester, who served as treasurer of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company until his death in 1881. ![]()
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