This paper appeals to the figure of \'Evariste Galois for investigating the
gates between mathematics and their "publics." The figure of Galois draws some
lines of/within mathematics for/from the outside of mathematics and these lines
in turn sketch the silhouette of Galois as a historical figure. The present
paper especially investigates the collective categories that have been used in
various types of public discourses on Galois's work (e.g. equations, groups,
algebra, analysis, France, Germany etc.). In a way, this paper aims at shedding
light on the boundaries some individuals drew by getting Galois his gun. It is
our aim to highlight the roles of authority some individuals (such as as
Picard) took on in regard with the public figure of Galois as well as the roles
such authorities assigned to other individuals (such as the mediating role
assigned to Jordan as a mediator between Galois's "ideas" and the public). The
boundary-works involved by most public references to Galois have underlying
them a long-term tension between academic and public legitimacies in the
definition of some models for mathematical lives (or mathematics personae
