After a fifteen-year hiatus from the world of guns, journalist, sports shooter, and former soldier A.J. Somerset no longer fit in with other firearm enthusiasts. Theirs was a culture much different than the one he remembered: a culture more radical, less tolerant, and more immovable in its beliefs, 'as if [each] gun had come with a free, bonus ideological Family Pack [of political tenets], a ready-made identity.' To find the origins of this surprising shift, Somerset began mapping the cultural history of guns and gun ownership in North America. Arms: The Culture and Credo of Gun is the brilliant result. How were firearms transformed from tools used by pioneers into symbols of modern manhood? Why did the NRA's focus shift from encouraging responsible gun use to lobbying against gun-safety laws? What is the relationship between gun ownership and racism in America? How have the film, television, and video game industries molded our perception of gun violence? When did the fear of gun seizures arise, and how has it been used to benefit arms manufacturers, lobbyists, and the far-right? Few ideas divide communities as much as those involving firearms, and fewer authors are able to tackle the subject with the same authority, humor, and intelligence. Written from the unique perspective of a gun lover who's disgusted with what gun culture has become, Arms is destined to be one of the most talked-about books of the year.
"What makes his book entertaining, often funny and ultimately an important addition to the limited canon on guns is that Somerset is a gun guy. He owns them, shoots them and loves them. And yet he is exasperated because gun owners, along with their culture and rhetoric, have increasingly 'grown more radical,' leaving 'anyone who breaks ranks' as a 'traitor to the cause.'"
Michael S. Rosenwald, The Washington Post
"By digging deep into history, brushing off dusty lawsuits, and pounding some pavement, Somerset manages to avoid all of the clichés about North American gun politics and overturn everything that is held to be gospel. This is a brilliant piece of investigative journalism and surprisingly entertaining."
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Every political question evokes emotion, but a few [like gun control] are so bound up with visceral feelings that even close friends find it hard to disagree over them without rancor and exasperation ... [Somerset] has a fine talent for narrative writing ... Valid and thoughtful."
