Read more
This book examines the controversies surrounding gun control, which are less about whether it "works" and more about whether the nation should prioritize traditional values of rugged independence or newer values of communitarian interdependence. America''s Gun Wars contends that an understanding of America''s gun controversy cannot be found in statistics documenting the rise (or fall) of violent crime, or in examining trade-offs between societal needs and personal safety, or in following the political maneuvering of advocacy groups such as the National Rifle Association or Everytown for Gun Safety. At heart, the gun controversy is a values conflict involving how people see themselves and how they make sense of the world they live in. Understanding this controversy requires a deep analysis of the profoundly different cultures inhabited by pro- and anti-gun activists, lawmakers, and voters. Written by a social scientist who has spent his life exploring how values and self-perceptions impact behavior, this book explores the origins and evolution of cultures in American society; the beliefs, experiences, and principles that guide the behavior of members in both camps; and the triumphs and failures that the two sides have experienced from colonial times to the present day.>
List of contents
Chapter 1 Introduction: An American Controversy
A Cultural PerspectiveTwo Opposed CulturesDimensions of Gun ControlOrganization and ApproachChapter 2 Origins of American Gun Culture
Foundational Events: The English ExperienceBuilding a Culture: The American ExperienceThe Cultural Growth of Bedrock America: 19th-Century DevelopmentsRestrictions and Limitations in Bedrock AmericaBedrock America's Iconic Embodiment: The Birth of the NRAChapter 3 The Emerging Cultural Rift: 1910-1940
New York's Sullivan ActCosmopolitan America's Cultural EmergenceContradictory State RegulationsNational RegulationImpact on American Gun CultureChapter 4 Cultural Coexistence: 1940-1960
A Pro-Gun ResurgenceAnti-Gun Sentiment: Muted but PresentAssessing Cultural CoexistenceChapter 5 Cultural Upheaval: 1960-1970
JFK's Assassination and Gun LegislationUrban RiotsThe Assassination of Malcolm XResurgence of Crime and ViolenceThe Black PanthersUrban Upheavals IIMLK and RFK AssassinationsChapter 6 The Rift Widens: 1970-1990
Taking Aim at HandgunsEnter Federal Agencies and Other OrganizationsRadicalization of the NRAA New Wave of Assassination HeadlinesLegislative DevelopmentsChapter 7 Further Rifting: 1990-2000
The Fight to Ban Assault WeaponsRuby Ridge, Waco, and Governmental Gun ViolenceWaiting Periods, Background Checks, and an Assault Weapons BanLawsuits, Liabilities, and the Firearms BusinessTrigger Locks and Gun SafetyChapter 8 Cultural Ascendancy: 2001-2016
The PLCAA: Saving the Firearms BusinessSupreme Court Appointments and Landmark CasesBackground and Reactions to the Parker/Heller CaseClarifying the Second AmendmentA Second Landmark Decision: McDonald v. City of Chicago
Mass Shootings and Classroom KillersChapter 9 Culture War Assessment: 2017-2018
Cosmopolitan America: Crime PreventionGeneral Societal SafetyIndividual Personal SafetyIn Civilized Societies, Guns Are IllegitimateBedrock America: Philosophical FoundationsConstitutional ConsiderationsPolitical ConsiderationsPragmatic ConsiderationsSome Concluding ThoughtsNotesIndex
About the author
Donald J. Campbell is professor emeritus at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he served as professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership for 16 years.
