ABSTRACT

Schools, theatres and malls used to be safe havens. Marathons were triumphal, not tragic. Today, public life is risky. Citizens are on edge, either calling for gun control or purchasing personal weapons of self-defense. In this timely book, prominent US and international authors examine gun violence in public life. They offer the latest data and analysis on topics such as comparative gun homicide rates, the efficacy of gun control, risks associated with gun ownership, concealed-carry data and policy, media and gaming violence, gender and guns, and school shootings. New insights are developed from a comparative case study of Canada, a country in which gun ownership is common but with a much lower rate of gun violence. Neither demonising nor mythologising guns, the contributors provide evidence-based analyses that shed light on policy directions and personal conduct.

chapter 1|24 pages

Gunplay and Governmentality

Sovereignty, Subjectivity, and Shootings in the United States

chapter 2|19 pages

Guns, Crime, and Political Institutions

A Comparative Perspective

chapter 4|20 pages

The Usual Suspects

Violent Media, Guns, and Mental Illness

chapter 5|27 pages

Guys and Guns (Still) Amok

School Shootings, Domestic Terrorism, and Societal Violence in the Age of Obama

chapter 6|13 pages

Beyond Alienation and Anomie

Gun Violence and Sociological Monstrosities

chapter 7|15 pages

Fear, Punitive Anger, and Guns

The Social Psychology of Vindicatory Firearm Ownership

chapter 8|24 pages

Ethos of the Gun

Trajectory of the Gun-Rights Narrative

chapter 9|18 pages

Policing the Second Amendment

Unpacking Police Attitudes toward Gun Policies

chapter 10|9 pages

"There Is a GunMAN on Campus"

Including Identity in Mass Shooting Discourse

chapter 11|19 pages

Men Who Kill