Friday, February 18, 2005

"Humanizing Gun Nuts"

Taking a look at the flip side of the gun control issue, Reason magazine has published a review of the book, Shooters: Myths and Realities of America's Gun Cultures, by Abigail Kohn.

In Shooters, anthropologist Abigail Kohn argues that both sides of the debate have become so alienated from one another that they effectively form subcultures, and she studies them accordingly. Kohn calls Shooters an ethnography, an anthropological study conducted from within a culture to gain the “natives’ point of view.” Rather than studying gun enthusiasts though literature and statistics, or from behind a duck blind to ensure “objectivity,” Kohn spent time with enthusiasts, interviewing them, taking classes with them, and shooting with them.
The book looks promising.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm a gun nut and got my first one, 56 years ago. I try to compete in registered trap for the recreational side of it.

The lady is from San Francisco and the person doing the write up is from Denver. ( The little eastern suburb of California). Need I say more. The book hasn't the commitment needed to fight the socialist battle against gun rights.

Carl