It Is Done – My Book on American Gun Culture

12 years in the making, my book manuscript on American gun culture is done and in the hands of my publisher, McFarland & Co. (specifically its Exposit Books imprint).

I don’t want to go into everything that got me to this point today. I want to express my appreciation to everyone who has helped and encouraged me along the way. I try to recognize as many people as possible in the text of the book, the notes, and the references. But there are so many more than what is reflected there.

I sincerely hope that this book repays, at least in part, all of those debts I have accumulated over so many years.

I have tried to tell a unique story of American gun culture fairly and factually — in a way that brings light over heat to the divisive issue of guns.

Some details about the manuscript FYI: 280 double-spaced pages totaling 70,286 words of text, 5,493 words of notes, and 3,732 words of bibliography for the 162 references. Total length 79,511 words, just inside the 80,000 word contractual maximum.

The book contains an introduction, conclusion, and eight substantive chapters. My approach in is not prescriptive—do this, not that—but descriptive. I leverage my personal experience and sociological observations as I journey inside American gun culture. I begin by establishing both the cultural and anthropological normality of guns and gun ownership. From there, I explore why gun ownership makes sense to an increasingly diverse cross-section of the US population. Along the way, I answer various questions I faced as my gun-owning career developed. Why guns? Which guns? How many and for what purposes? Do I need an AR-15? How do I get a concealed carry permit? What about the risks associated with gun ownership? What kind of training do I need?

Rather than jumping right back into my other gun culture book (Gun Culture 2.0), I am going to take some time to cultivate a hobby, attend to my house, get to know my kids, spend time with my wife, and work on losing the 8 pounds I gained the past 6 weeks working on this book.

After that, I am going to put my time and energy into building a platform to give this book the best opportunity to reach as many people as possible. You’ll be hearing much more about this beginning in 2024.

If you appreciate this or some of the other 250+ posts on this blog, please consider supporting my research and writing on American gun culture by liking and sharing my work.