Guns in America : A Historical Reader

by Dizard, Jan E.; Merrrill, Robert; Andrews, Stephen P.; Muth, Robert Merrill

• ISBN13: 9780814718797
• ISBN10: 0814718795
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-04-01
• Publisher: New York University Press
• More Book Details
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Summary

Firearms have long been at the core of our national narratives. From the Puritans' embrace of guns to beat back the "devilish Indian" to our guilty delight in the extralegal exploits of Dirty Harry, Americans have relied on the gun to right wrongs, both real and imagined.The extent to which guns have been woven into our nation's mythology suggests that the current debate is only partly about guns themselves and equally about conflicting cultural values and competing national identities. Belying the gun debate are a host of related issues: contesting conceptions of community, the proper relationship between the individual and the state, and the locus of responsibility for maintaining order.Guns in Americadocuments and analyzes the history of firearms in America, exploring various aspects of gun manufacture, ownership, and use--and more importantly, the cultural and political implications which this history reveals.Eschewing single-minded partisanship and emphasizing nuance and compromise, Jan E. Dizard and Robert Merrill Muth have assembled a diverse array of writings from all points on the ideological spectrum. The documents span the whole of American history, from Puritan sermons to contemporary NRA documents. The result is an indispensable panorama of the never-ending controversies over gun control, crime, hunting, and militias.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
PART I. The Rise of Gun Culture in America
Introduction: Guns Made Us Free - Now What?	1	(16)
A: Independent Yeomen, Enterprising Manufacturers, and Manifest Destiny
The Origins of Gun Culture in the United States, 1760-1865	17	(30)
Michael A. Bellesiles
Guns, Gun Culture, and the Peddling of Dreams	47	(39)
William Hosley
The Cowboy Subculture	86	(19)
David T. Courtwright
``Another Branch of Manly Sport'': American Rifle Games, 1840-1900	105	(20)
Russell S. Gilmore
B: Ambivalence and Gun Culture
Guns, Politics, and Public Policy	125	(6)
Steven Thomas Seitz
The Impact of Agenda Conflict on Policy Formulation and Implementation: The Case of Gun Control	131	(14)
Willaim J. Vizzard
A Loaded Question: What Is It about Americans and Guns?	145	(9)
Leonard Kriegel
When the Time Comes to Give Up a Firearm	154	(4)
Judy Foreman
Americans Love Their Guns but Fear Violence	158	(4)
Kathryn Kahler
The Party of Gun-Haters	162	(11)
Jeff Jacoby
PART II. The War over Guns
Introduction: Numbers Don't Count	165	(8)
A: Pro-Gun
Self-Defense: The Right and the Deterrent	173	(5)
Wayne LaPierre
Confessions of a Former Gun Control Supporter	178	(4)
Clayton E. Cramer
A Nation of Cowards	182	(12)
Jeffrey R. Snyder
Self-Defense: A Primary Civil Right	194	(5)
Tanya K. Metaksa
The Second Amendment: America's First Freedom	199	(8)
Charlton Heston
B: Anti-Gun
Statement of Sarah Brady	207	(4)
Sarah Brady
Violence in America: A Public Health Emergency	211	(5)
C. Everett Koop
George D. Lundberg
Firearms and Assault: ``Guns Don't Kill People, People Kill People''	216	(6)
Franklin E. Zimring
Gordon Hawkins
Loaded Guns in the Home: Analysis of a National Random Survey of Gun Owners	222	(11)
Douglas S. Weil
David Hemenway
Political Snipers: How the NRA Exploited Loopholes and Waged a Stealth Campaign against the Democrats	233	(24)
Robert Dreyfuss
PART III. As American as Apple Pie: Guns as a Cultural Battleground
Introduction: On the Cultural Battlefield	245	(12)
A: Guns as a Way of Life---Sort Of
Self-Transformation in Combat and the Pleasures of Killing	257	(7)
James William Gibson
Violence and Honor in the Southern United States	264	(11)
Richard E. Nisbett
Dov Cohen
The Great Bambi War: Tocquevillians Versus Keynesians in an Upstate New York Country	275	(16)
Edward C. Hansen
B: The Breakdown of Civil Society
The Crisis of Public Order	291	(13)
Adam Walinsky
Crime and Community	304	(11)
Wendy Kaminer
The Incidence of Defensive Firearm Use by U. S. Crime Victims, 1987 through 1990	315	(7)
David McDowall
Brain Wiersema
Does Allowing Law-Abiding Citizens to Carry Concealed Handguns Save Lives?	322	(9)
John R. Lott, Jr.
Should You Own a Gun?	331	(20)
Gordon Witkin
Americans Losing Trust in Each Other and Institutions
Washington Post Series	338	(13)
C: Who will Protect Us? Minorities and Guns
Arms and the Woman: A Feminist Reappraisal	351	(37)
Mary Zeiss Stange
Guns Are the Tools by Which We Forge Our Liberty	388	(2)
Cindy Hill
Gun Control in America: A History of Discrimination against the Poor and Minorities	390	(13)
T. Markus Funk
Talk at Temple Beth Shir Shalom: Friday, April 30, 1993	403	(8)
J. Neil Schulman
D: When Government Is the Enemy
Apocalypse Now?	411	(13)
James Coates
They've Had Enough	424	(17)
Philip Weiss
Author's Call to Arms Gets Answer	441	(3)
Robert George
The Anti-Enviro Connection	444	(8)
David Helvarg
PART IV Living with Guns---Seeking Middle Ground in the Battlefield
Introduction: Can We Live with Guns?	447	(5)
America's Only Realistic Option: Promoting Responsible Gun Ownership	452	(12)
David B. Kopel
What Are the Alternatives?	464	(16)
Wilbur Edel
Lawsuit Aims at Gun Industry	480	(6)
Jo-Ann Moriarty
Crime Fighting's About-Face	486	(4)
Fox Butterfield
Second Thoughts on the Second Amendment	490	(10)
Wendy Kaminer
Ten Essential Observations on Guns in America	500	(9)
James D. Wright
Works Cited	509	(2)
Suggested Readings	511	(2)
Contributors	513