Gun Country is a book about the explosion in gun ownership numbers after the second world war, and the various movements and people that have influenced it. A recurring theme is that of gun consumerism — ways in which the ownership of guns is more linked to the need for people to own more and more, and the market to supply that ravenous desire. A personalizing story included throughout the book is that of Yoshihiro Hattori, a Japanese exchange student who was shot and killed in Louisiana in 1992, prompting widespread grief and shock from Japanese citizens.

The initial arc of the book discusses the mass amounts of importation of weapons — initially wartime surplus, transitioning somewhat to purpose-made (and incredibly cheaply made) imports. This ties into both the Kennedy Assassination (using an imported, surplus, mail-order Carcano rifle) as well as Saturday Night Specials — cheap, accessible, throwaway handguns. In this situation, racial fears prompted action to control imports that was supported by the NRA (as inconceivable as that may seem to a modern reader).

Consistent with the themes of gun consumerism, McKevitt then tracks the evolution of interpretation of the second amendment from one conferring a responsibility on armed civilians to one providing an absolute right to every individual to be armed to the teeth with no accompanying responsibilities. This shift is paired with the development of pro-gun and pro-gun-control organizations in a feedback loop — gun control advocacy groups prompt a response from pro-gun groups (both the NRA and grassroots) which in turn prompts a response from gun control advocates. Gun Country provides context for these developments in great detail.

I believe this book is a welcome addition to the ranks of scholarship on gun culture in the US. It provides context and forgotten players for a number of aspects and developments in the post-WWII American relationship with firearms

My thanks to the University of North Carolina Press and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy.

Andrew C. McKevitt, a history professor at Louisiana Tech, traces the beginning of the United States' gun culture/fetish back to the Cold War period. During that time, the US was a dumping ground for cheap European made WW2 guns. Mix in the 1960s with its counterculture and racial unrest and you have all the "fear" needed to foment a grass-roots gun rights movement that continues to this day. McKevitt discusses the 1992 murder of a Japanese exchange student in Louisiana to demonstrate how the gun culture manifests itself. McKevitt also discusses Sam Cummings, a central character in the spread of the gun culture, as well as attempts at lobbying for and attempting to pass gun control legislation. This book provides a great overview for the reader curious about how guns of all types have become commonplace in this country. Thank you to the University of North Carolina Press and Net Galley for providing a review copy.

Gun Country is the type of non-fiction book I love: well-written, engaging, detailed and fascinating as Andrew C. McKevitt explores the ways that post-WW2 America become obsessed with guns and how that obsession has evolved into our modern day.

Reading McKevitt feels like watching a Ken Burns documentary because of the expert details and ability to show readers the ways in which gun culture affected all parts of American life: social, political and pop culture. I think about The Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semlyn which explores Action Movies and how both books look at America and it’s culture expertly.

There have been a few recent books published in the area of "gun studies"- many of which try to explain America's 2nd Amendment debate in a historical context. Some focus on the NRA, some have looked at the threads of American individualism that is tied to firearm ownership. McKevitt's book places the debate in the context of the Cold War and the threat to public safety that, while starting at a national level, trickled down to a local and personal level. However, he doesn't consistently keep this context in the center. He does hint at individualism, sometimes more overtly than others, but then pulls back in some of the Cold War culture (such as Oswald's Russian made rifle). The fear of crime in the 1970s parallels the fear of Communist subversion, and one way Americans could protect themselves was to start packing. He makes a good case in linking gun ownership to the civil rights movement when it comes to crime (Black Panthers, of course). This individualism really doesn't appear in his argument until the 1970s, but it's hard to make the case that it wasn't present before.

His exploration of Sam Cummings is important, and was a story I had never read of prior to this book. Cummings shows the agency of history here, and how individuals play an important role in helping craft a larger narrative. McKevitt agrees with other historians that the Gun Control Act was an important flashpoint in history, summoning the 2nd Amendment supporters to rally in defense of their arms.

A little uneven argument, but very readable and informative if this is a reader's first introduction to this topic