Gun Guys: A Road Trip download epub

by Dan Baum

Epub Book: 1947 kb. | Fb2 Book: 1122 kb.

Dan Baum is both a lifelong gun guy and a Jewish Democrat who grew up in suburban New Jersey feeling like a child of a bitter divorce with allegiance to both parents.

Dan Baum is both a lifelong gun guy and a Jewish Democrat who grew up in suburban New Jersey feeling like a child of a bitter divorce with allegiance to both parents. In Gun Guys he grabs his licensed concealed handgun and hits the road to meet some of the 40 percent of Americans who own guns.

Dan Baum is both a lifelong gun guy and a Jewish Democrat who grew up in suburban New Jersey feeling like a child of a bitter divorce with allegiance to both parents

Dan Baum is both a lifelong gun guy and a Jewish Democrat who grew up in suburban New Jersey feeling like a child of a bitter divorce with allegiance to both parents.

Dan Baum is a gun fanatic. He is also Jewish Democrat who grew up in suburban New Jersey. In Gun Guys, he takes us on a guided tour of gun stores and gun shows, shooting ranges and festivals, contests and auctions, trying to figure out what draws so many of us to guns in the first place. Is it just part of being American? Introducing a wide cast of characters, Baum shows both sides of the gun culture in America, bringing an entire world vividly to life, and in doing so helping to find a middle ground in the gun debate, where actual conversation can take place.

The gun guy encounters at the book’s core inspire Baum to bouts of firearms-related navel gazing that invite political interpretation

The gun guy encounters at the book’s core inspire Baum to bouts of firearms-related navel gazing that invite political interpretation. These passages don’t speak well of his understanding of, and thus commitment to, the cause of firearms freedom. Here’s a passage that illuminates Baum’s perspective.

Gun Guys: A Road Trip (V. .has been added to your Cart. Dan Baum's new book titled "Gun Guys" is a journal of his travels through "gun country". He sets out in the hope of better understanding the passion and hatred we, as a country, have for guns.

Dan Baum, author of "Gun Guys: A Road Trip", is pictured in this undated handout obtained by Reuters March 20, 2013

Dan Baum, author of "Gun Guys: A Road Trip", is pictured in this undated handout obtained by Reuters March 20, 2013. Baum, a self-described Jewish liberal Democrat and a gun enthusiast since childhood, strapped a revolver to his side in 2009 and set off on an 18-month, 15,000 mile (24,140 km)exploration of the . REUTERS/Michael Lionstar/Random House/Handout. His book, Gun Guys: A Road Trip, was released this month amid a gun-control debate rekindled by the December 14 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Gun Guys: A Road Trip. He is also Jewish Democrat who grew up in suburban New Jersey

Gun Guys: A Road Trip. Dan Baum is a gun fanatic. In Gun Guys, he takes us on a guided tour of gun stores and gun shows, shooting ranges and festivals, contests and auctions, trying to figure out what draws so many of us to guns in the first place

The author of Gun Guys: A Road Trip has crisscrossed the country learning about America's gun culture. He believes shooting can teach children valuable lessons about respect and discipline. It can be a great thing for kids," he says.

The author of Gun Guys: A Road Trip has crisscrossed the country learning about America's gun culture. What you're saying to a kid is, 'This is an extremely dangerous device I am putting in your hands, and I am trusting you to use it properly. Thirty-one percent of US households had at least one child and one gun kept in the home as of 2012, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence

Gun Guys: A Road Trip. 7 people like this topic.

GUN GUYS: A Road Trip, by Dan Baum. Dan Baum is an unlikely apostle of the firearm.

Here is armed America—a land of machine-gun gatherings in the desert, lederhosened German shooting societies, feral-hog hunts in Texas, and Hollywood gun armories. Whether they’re collecting antique weapons, practicing concealed carry, or firing an AR-15 or a Glock at their local range, many Americans love guns—which horrifies and fascinates many other Americans, and much of the rest of the world. This lively, sometimes raucous book explores from the inside the American love affair with firearms. Dan Baum is both a lifelong gun guy and a Jewish Democrat who grew up in suburban New Jersey feeling like a “child of a bitter divorce with allegiance to both parents.” In Gun Guys he grabs his licensed concealed handgun and hits the road to meet some of the 40 percent of Americans who own guns. We meet Rick Ector, a black Detroit autoworker who buys a Smith & Wesson after suffering an armed robbery—then quits his job to preach the gospel of armed self-defense, especially to the resistant black community; Jeremy and Marcey Parker, a young, successful Kentucky couple whose idea of a romantic getaway is the Blue Ridge Mountain 3-Gun Championship in Bowling Green; and Aaron Zelman, head of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. Baum also travels to New Orleans, where he enters the world of a man disabled by a bullet, and to Chicago to interview a killer. Along the way, he takes us to gun shows, gun stores, and shooting ranges trying to figure out why so many of us love these things and why they inspire such passions.In the tradition of Confederates in the Attic and Among the Thugs, Baum brings an entire world to life. Written equally for avid shooters and those who would never touch a firearm, Gun Guys is more than a travelogue. It gives a fresh assessment of the heated politics surrounding guns, one that will challenge and inform people on all sides of the issue. This may be the first book that goes beyond gun politics to illuminate the visceral appeal of guns—an original, perceptive, and surprisingly funny journey through American gun culture.

Comments: (7)

Shalizel

doesn't argue an issue one way or another. addresses the question "what is it about guns?" explores points of view. I've bought several of these to give to hardliners of different positions - the content does open dialogue and helps lessen polarization on gun positions. My bias is constitutional and carry, have forever, and I hunt. The content helps me keep an open social/political stance, listen and understand others' convictions, and advocate reason and understanding in my circles while maintaining my convictions. Baum did a great job on this. NOTE: Baum's background is liberal, coverage in Harpers, New Yorker and (get this) NPR ... however while meeting his intent to open dialogue and depolarize, if anything he presents himself as a "gun guy" and doesn't in any way present bias against constitutionality.

Carrot

The author is far removed from a balanced and objective viewpoint. He seems embarrassed of being a "gun guy" and the book seems like a long diary that can be summarized as "I am sorry, I really like guns, I can't help it. Guns are so bad. Why do I like guns so much. Oh god...". I read the book hoping to find a true cultural bridge between the gun culture and the urban, so called "liberal" one. I was sorely disappointed and found the book truly irritating. If you like guns and are not embarrassed by it then save your time. This book will annoy you.

Vut

Baum's a good conversational journalist. He captures people really well, to the point where I had "I *know* that guy!" moments.

Interesting, even-handed, respectful treatment of all parties. I enjoyed the gotcha moments with the NRA and Brady Center coming so close together. I think he's right about gun folks: they are some seriously sore winners. He manages to show how unsympathetic and unreasoning they can be, even though he agrees with them.

He sorted through the BS stats on defensive gun use and settled the question for me. Even at the low end, using stats preferred by gun control advocates, defensive gun use offsets "bad" gun violence. He also raises the interesting question of why all the gun control efforts are in directions that will do no good at all. (The scary assault weapons are used in less than 3% of the crimes committed with firearms). And how attacking the supply is not going to have much of an impact, since the supply has tripled during a time of drastically lower crime. And how pursuing this has turned off generations of working class voters.

His call for understanding on the part of liberals resonated. It's hard to bridge gulfs that wide. Look at the reviews...

RED

Even though I don’t own a gun I thoroughly enjoyed Baum’s book. A Jewish Democrat from suburban New Jersey and lifelong gun guy he grabs his concealed-carry handgun permit and hits the road to explore the American love affair with guns. “It’s like Barbie for men,” suggests one gun shop owner.
Baum’s attraction to firearms is visceral. “I came to love the snap of the rifle, the rich aroma of burned cordite, the magical geometry of the bullet’s razor-straight trajectory connection to a tiny, distant point.” My favorite part of the book is when Baum gets to train with a Prism machine where active shooter scenarios are projected on a rubber screen. His bullet holes are cauterized then scored by a computer. Scenarios involved a high school, a city council meeting, and a patrol in Afghanistan. After “dying” several times he finally learns how to take out the bad guy. “By the end,” writes Baum, “I was soaked in sweat and needed to sit down and eat something with sugar in it.”
Baum lists three laws that could make us safer: Universal background checks, making gun owners responsible for crimes committed by their stolen firearms and requiring more rigid gun training because, he writes, “a well-trained armed citizen is more effective in a crisis.”
His advice to the anti-gun crowd borrows a phrase from the pro-choice movement. “Don’t like guns? Don’t have one.”

Vit

Dan Baum's new book titled "Gun Guys" is a journal of his travels through "gun country". It's a mixture of Dan's own history with guns, a little soul searching, and connecting with various people on both sides of the gun debate. He sets out in the hope of better understanding the passion and hatred we, as a country, have for guns. Because let's face it, our legislature and different rights groups all want you to fit into the two categories; you love them or you hate them. There is no in between. But that's exactly what Dan sets out to prove. That there is middle ground and it's attainable. We can do that only if we as a people come to recognize that manipulation by the groups mentioned above will do us no good.

Unlike his book "Nine Lives", he sets out cross-country on this one and meets a whole cast of characters. He visits gun-show guys in the mid-west that are purists to the 2nd Amendment. He stops at every gun store he can even though it's a problem as many have closed. He talks to folks who compete at local and national tournaments. He meets gun instructors, some good and some bad. He talks to representatives of both the NRA and Brady Center. Most of all he's out there talking to the "every day" citizens to get their views. From the "simple" hunter to the folks who get together throughout the year to fire off their automatic weapons.

It's a great ride across America, trying to get into the minds of people...something Dan always does well. He generally has a knack for getting people to open up and discuss the topic of guns freely. The stories were at times funny, some sad, others a little scary but one thing for sure. They were always intriguing. With the recent chain of events that have happened, he couldn't have picked a better time to release a piece of rationally thought out literature such as this. I hope you'll scroll up, click the "Buy" button and join the discussion.

Humor

Author: Dan Baum
ISBN: 0307595412
Category: Humor & Entertainment
Subcategory: Humor
Language: English
Publisher: Knopf; 1 edition (March 5, 2013)
Pages: 352 pages

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