Blown Away : American Women and Guns

by Caitlin Kelly

• ISBN13: 9780743464185
• ISBN10: 0743464184
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-04-20
• Publisher: Pocket Books

Summary

A controversy that has divided America for decades.A decision more women must confront every day.In the long-standing and heated debate between gun-control advocates and supporters of the Second Amendment, the perspective of women has often been overlooked in what most perceive to be the "masculine" world of firearms. This is the subject journalist Caitlin Kelly was motivated to explore after she was threatened by a stalker and contemplated acquiring a gun for her own protection.Through interviews and firsthand accounts, Kelly probes the many issues affecting women who own guns and influence gun policies, to those whose lives are most affected by gun violence, and our society's conflicted views on women who acquire guns for sport and self-defense. Voices include activists and legislators such as Representative Carolyn McCarthy, whose husband and son were the victims of a shooting rampage; Patty Varone, who served Rudy Giuliani as a bodyguard for nine years; Mary Leigh Blek, founder of the Million Mom March; and Paxton Quigley, a modern-day Annie Oakley who teaches women how to shoot in the name of empowerment -- as well as insights on guns and violence from such high-profile women as Halle Berry, Madonna, and the late Katharine Graham.Brutally frank in its description, yet balanced in its analysis,Blown Awayis an up-close and unflinching look at guns in America -- and the women who live with them.

Author Biography

Caitlin Kelly is a National Magazine Award-winning freelance writer and winner of five journalism fellowships. A former journalism professor at New York University and Concordia University, her work has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Town & Country, Glamour, and others.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction	p. 1
A moving target	p. 17
Annie, get your gun	p. 47
Thelma, Velma, and the Fembots	p. 65
The decision to arm	p. 91
The dark side	p. 119
A member of the family	p. 147
A gun for fun	p. 161
In the line of fire	p. 181
Guns mean business	p. 203
Both sides of the aisle	p. 215
The next generation	p. 245
What to do?	p. 273
Notes	p. 293
Bibliography	p. 307
Index	p. 317
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.