Here is armed America—a land of machine-gun gatherings in
the desert, German shooting societies, feral-hog hunts, and Hollywood gun
armories. Whether they’re collecting antique weapons, practicing concealed
carry, or firing an AR-15 at their local range, many Americans love guns—which
horrifies and fascinates many other Americans—and much of the rest of the
world. This lively, sometimes raucous book explores the American love affair
with firearms.
Dan Baum is both a lifelong gun guy and a Jewish Democrat who
grew up in suburban New Jersey. In Gun
Guys he grabs his licensed concealed handgun and hits the road to meet some
of the forty percent of Americans who own guns. Through him we meet Rick Ector, a
Detroit autoworker who buys a Smith & Wesson after suffering an armed
robbery—then quits his job to preach the gospel of armed self-defense to a
resistant African American community; Jeremy and Marcey Parker, a young,
successful Kentucky couple whose idea of a romantic getaway is the Blue Ridge
Mountain Three-Gun Championship in Bowling Green; and Aaron Zelman, head of Jews
for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. Baum also travels to New Orleans,
where he enters the world of a man disabled by a bullet, and to Chicago, where
he interviews a killer. Along the way, he takes us to gun shows, gun stores,
and a shooting range—trying to figure out why so many of us love these things and
why they inspire such passions.
In the tradition of Confederates in the Attic and Among
the Thugs, Baum brings an entire world to life. Written equally for avid
shooters and those who would never touch a firearm, Gun Guys is more than a travelogue. It gives a fresh perspective on
the heated politics surrounding guns—one that will challenge and inform people
on all sides of the issue.
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