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Gun Country: Gun Capitalism, Culture, and Control in Cold War America
Just as World War II transformed the United States into a global military and economic superpower, so too did it forge the gun country America is today. After 1945, war-ravaged European nations possessed large surpluses of mass-produced weapons, and American entrepreneurs seized the opportunity to buy used munitions for pennies on the dollar and resell them stateside. A booming consumer market made cheap guns accessible to millions of Americans, and rates of gun ownership and violence began to climb. Andrew C. McKevitt tells the history of this gun boom through the dynamics of consumer capitalism and Cold War ideology, the combination of which resulted in a vast number of Americans arming themselves to the teeth and centering their political identity on their guns.
When gun control legislation emerged in the 1960s, many Americans, accustomed to the unregulated postwar bounty of cheap guns and fearful of Soviet invasion, domestic subversion, and urban uprisings, fiercely challenged it. Meanwhile, gun control groups were diverted from their abolitionist roots toward a conciliatory, fundraising-focused strategy that struggled to limit the stockpiling of firearms. Gun Country recasts the story of guns in postwar America as one of Cold War and racial anxieties, unfettered capitalism, and exceptional violence that continues to haunt us.
When gun control legislation emerged in the 1960s, many Americans, accustomed to the unregulated postwar bounty of cheap guns and fearful of Soviet invasion, domestic subversion, and urban uprisings, fiercely challenged it. Meanwhile, gun control groups were diverted from their abolitionist roots toward a conciliatory, fundraising-focused strategy that struggled to limit the stockpiling of firearms. Gun Country recasts the story of guns in postwar America as one of Cold War and racial anxieties, unfettered capitalism, and exceptional violence that continues to haunt us.
336 pages, Paperback
First published November 7, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
June 17, 2025
learned some stuff but wanted it to go deeper
July 17, 2023
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
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
March 20, 2024
I liked the introduction and first third more than the rest. It really got me information on how this culture of owning guns excessively got started.
The later chapters are informative, but were less interesting to me.
The later chapters are informative, but were less interesting to me.
August 1, 2024
I listened to this book on Audible, and the narrator had no idea to pronounce some of the words, which was pretty hilarious. The book itself is well-constructed. The author starts with a cross-cultural killing--a Japanese exchange student who thought he was at the house where a Halloween party was being held--only to be gunned down by a caveman with more toes than teeth. Drew then traces what makes events like this, and the hundreds of mass-shootings each year possible: a society predicated on gun-ownership as consumer capitalism.
So the book traces roughly from right after WWII, when canny salesmen were buying up military surplus and branding gun ownership as a way to prove your "man card," through roughly the Trump administration. Along the way we meet gun-control advocates like Laura Fermi, John Birchers who misinterpret the Second Amendment, and experience the coup of the 1970s in which right-wingers drastically shifted the trajectory of the NRA.
I think coining the term "gun capitalism" makes it too easy to caricature Drew's thesis and that he might have stuck with "gun consumerism" or even "gun fetishism".
So the book traces roughly from right after WWII, when canny salesmen were buying up military surplus and branding gun ownership as a way to prove your "man card," through roughly the Trump administration. Along the way we meet gun-control advocates like Laura Fermi, John Birchers who misinterpret the Second Amendment, and experience the coup of the 1970s in which right-wingers drastically shifted the trajectory of the NRA.
I think coining the term "gun capitalism" makes it too easy to caricature Drew's thesis and that he might have stuck with "gun consumerism" or even "gun fetishism".
September 18, 2023
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.
March 18, 2024
Anyone concerned about gun violence or working toward solutions should read this book. I listened to the audio version, but I'm considering buying it as a reference since it is replete with historical citations, primary sources/quotations, and studies.
The book provides a detailed history of the gun rights and gun control movements from post WWII to the present. One of the key pieces of U.S. gun history, that I hadn't heard before, is the impact of the weapons of war used in WWII had on U.S. gun culture. Basically, the U.S. was the only country in the world that allowed unlimited offloading of these weapons into the consumer market. Because there were so many of them, some shrewd entrepreneurs of death were able to import literal boatloads to sell cheaply in the U.S. Prior to WWII, guns were not as widespread in the U.S. as many people assume, but the flooding of the market with cheap used weapons led many more people to buy them and increased the marketing of guns both by importers and national manufacturers. Gun manufacturers in the U.S. worked to compete in the newly created mass-market by increasing their manufacturing, marketing, and working to reduce the cost of their guns as well.
This entirely avoidable situation (avoided by most of the world with sensible gun laws), set in motion a long struggle between gun extremists and gun control advocates. When looked at through a historical lens, the 2nd amendment as defined by the 2008 Heller case (striking down strict gun regulations in DC as unconstitutional) in the Supreme Court is a complete break with historical precedent. However, since the passage of the Bill of Rights, its ambiguity allowed advocates to have several different ideas of its application, all in tension with each other.
Bookended with a tragic example of a Japanese exchange student killed by a cowardly gun owner for going to the wrong address for a party, the example illustrates the absurdity of U.S. gun rights when compared to almost every country in the world. It also does a great job highlighting how U.S. gun not only makes the U.S. less safe, but also makes the world less safe, as bad actors are able to easily access guns because of the U.S. mass market and our presence in the UN preventing any globally coordinated action to reduce small arms sales to militant and terrorist groups around the world. As I've realized most good history books do, this one shows how specific choices impacted our current situation and shows that a better world is possible.
The book provides a detailed history of the gun rights and gun control movements from post WWII to the present. One of the key pieces of U.S. gun history, that I hadn't heard before, is the impact of the weapons of war used in WWII had on U.S. gun culture. Basically, the U.S. was the only country in the world that allowed unlimited offloading of these weapons into the consumer market. Because there were so many of them, some shrewd entrepreneurs of death were able to import literal boatloads to sell cheaply in the U.S. Prior to WWII, guns were not as widespread in the U.S. as many people assume, but the flooding of the market with cheap used weapons led many more people to buy them and increased the marketing of guns both by importers and national manufacturers. Gun manufacturers in the U.S. worked to compete in the newly created mass-market by increasing their manufacturing, marketing, and working to reduce the cost of their guns as well.
This entirely avoidable situation (avoided by most of the world with sensible gun laws), set in motion a long struggle between gun extremists and gun control advocates. When looked at through a historical lens, the 2nd amendment as defined by the 2008 Heller case (striking down strict gun regulations in DC as unconstitutional) in the Supreme Court is a complete break with historical precedent. However, since the passage of the Bill of Rights, its ambiguity allowed advocates to have several different ideas of its application, all in tension with each other.
Bookended with a tragic example of a Japanese exchange student killed by a cowardly gun owner for going to the wrong address for a party, the example illustrates the absurdity of U.S. gun rights when compared to almost every country in the world. It also does a great job highlighting how U.S. gun not only makes the U.S. less safe, but also makes the world less safe, as bad actors are able to easily access guns because of the U.S. mass market and our presence in the UN preventing any globally coordinated action to reduce small arms sales to militant and terrorist groups around the world. As I've realized most good history books do, this one shows how specific choices impacted our current situation and shows that a better world is possible.
December 16, 2023
Spotted this at the library and decided to borrow this on a whim. Gun safety and gun control remain hot topics in the US, with lots of people, both in and out of the country looking in askance of our gun deaths that are often likely preventable and/or at least can be mitigated to some degree. Author McKevitt looks at guns and gun culture post WWII and how we can trace that war production coming home to roost.
McKevitt looks at the story of guns and gun culture as one of a Cold War production, where some feared communists while those who might have been better positioned to address gun safety and control were diverted elsewhere. It is also a story of capitalism, where guns and ammunition had to go somewhere after the war, and here we are.
While I thought this was interesting, I would have liked more discussion of civil rights (especially if we're looking at post WWII, this becomes increasingly important). I don't disagree about the factors of fears stirred up of the Cold War, of how capitalism is very much a factor, etc., but there are also other considerations: how domestic violence can be a factor in mass shootings, how some mass shootings have been specifically targeted towards marginalized groups, etc.
It was an interesting premise and one to certainly to discuss in the conversations about gun control and gun safety (whatever helps people understand the need for change!), but in general it also felt like this left a lot to discuss, especially considering how unique the US is in some ways (the 2nd Amendment, its origins as a place where a bunch of people from other places who came here, willingly or not, etc.).
It is worth noting that apparently the author only expected this to be sold to institutions, (hence the very expensive hard cover price, which seems more like a textbook than a "regular" book I could get at the library) so perhaps that may have been an influence for the book's premise or editing or marketing, etc.
Library borrow was best for me. I suppose depending on where you are, it may or may not be at your library but I would definitely recommend it that way unless you need it as a resource and can shell out 99 USD.
McKevitt looks at the story of guns and gun culture as one of a Cold War production, where some feared communists while those who might have been better positioned to address gun safety and control were diverted elsewhere. It is also a story of capitalism, where guns and ammunition had to go somewhere after the war, and here we are.
While I thought this was interesting, I would have liked more discussion of civil rights (especially if we're looking at post WWII, this becomes increasingly important). I don't disagree about the factors of fears stirred up of the Cold War, of how capitalism is very much a factor, etc., but there are also other considerations: how domestic violence can be a factor in mass shootings, how some mass shootings have been specifically targeted towards marginalized groups, etc.
It was an interesting premise and one to certainly to discuss in the conversations about gun control and gun safety (whatever helps people understand the need for change!), but in general it also felt like this left a lot to discuss, especially considering how unique the US is in some ways (the 2nd Amendment, its origins as a place where a bunch of people from other places who came here, willingly or not, etc.).
It is worth noting that apparently the author only expected this to be sold to institutions, (hence the very expensive hard cover price, which seems more like a textbook than a "regular" book I could get at the library) so perhaps that may have been an influence for the book's premise or editing or marketing, etc.
Library borrow was best for me. I suppose depending on where you are, it may or may not be at your library but I would definitely recommend it that way unless you need it as a resource and can shell out 99 USD.
February 23, 2024
The U.S. and gun culture are seemingly synonymous. It’s hard to turn on the news and not see the aftereffects of guns: violence in the streets, mass slaughter in our sacred spaces, a panicked public purchasing ever-increasing numbers of weapons. How did we get here, and where do we go?
In this book, Andrew McKevitt makes the case that the modern gun onslaught stems from a postwar economic boom that drew surplus guns to the U.S., and a further concerted effort to market these guns by stoking racial and political tensions. McKevitt assesses the gun import phenomenon, early Congressional gun control efforts, the rise of civilian pro- and anti-gun control groups, and the influence of American gun politics on global arms proliferation.
Gun Country’s recurring theme is the aberrant recency of our gun frenzy. In an implicit rebuke of the status quo being the natural end-state of foundational ideals, McKevitt employs statistics and primary sources to convincingly illustrate that monied interests exploited a populace ripe for fear of communism, outsiders, and the unknown.
Key figures representing each faction are profiled, offering some of the book’s most interesting passages. An oft-forgotten leader of the gun control movement, the first major firearms importer, and a quixotic arms hoarder are the highlights of the biographies herein.
The author’s social media content may signal an anti-gun bias within the work, and I would not dispute that the tenor of the book’s approach to gun proliferation is negative throughout. There are times, though, where McKevitt bucks liberal orthodoxy. One notable instance is when he declines to cite racial prejudice as a key early motivation for gun control (as in the infamous case of backlash to the Black Panthers). While pro-gun advocates will likely not accept the nuance as absolving the work’s overall conclusion, I think the signs of analysis independent of modern politico-cultural histories merit mention.
While the case for recency is compelling, it ultimately feels incomplete without a dissection of the status quo ante. McKevitt makes broad allusions to the early American relationship with guns, particularly in discussion of the Second Amendment, but fails to sufficiently scrutinize it on par with the diligence afforded to the postwar era. While it is not necessary to prove his case, it will leave readers with unresolved questions that nag at the book’s conclusion.
Gun Country is a good study of the multifaceted American postwar history with guns. It’s best paired with another work diving into early American history to close the gaps left by this work’s timeframe.
In this book, Andrew McKevitt makes the case that the modern gun onslaught stems from a postwar economic boom that drew surplus guns to the U.S., and a further concerted effort to market these guns by stoking racial and political tensions. McKevitt assesses the gun import phenomenon, early Congressional gun control efforts, the rise of civilian pro- and anti-gun control groups, and the influence of American gun politics on global arms proliferation.
Gun Country’s recurring theme is the aberrant recency of our gun frenzy. In an implicit rebuke of the status quo being the natural end-state of foundational ideals, McKevitt employs statistics and primary sources to convincingly illustrate that monied interests exploited a populace ripe for fear of communism, outsiders, and the unknown.
Key figures representing each faction are profiled, offering some of the book’s most interesting passages. An oft-forgotten leader of the gun control movement, the first major firearms importer, and a quixotic arms hoarder are the highlights of the biographies herein.
The author’s social media content may signal an anti-gun bias within the work, and I would not dispute that the tenor of the book’s approach to gun proliferation is negative throughout. There are times, though, where McKevitt bucks liberal orthodoxy. One notable instance is when he declines to cite racial prejudice as a key early motivation for gun control (as in the infamous case of backlash to the Black Panthers). While pro-gun advocates will likely not accept the nuance as absolving the work’s overall conclusion, I think the signs of analysis independent of modern politico-cultural histories merit mention.
While the case for recency is compelling, it ultimately feels incomplete without a dissection of the status quo ante. McKevitt makes broad allusions to the early American relationship with guns, particularly in discussion of the Second Amendment, but fails to sufficiently scrutinize it on par with the diligence afforded to the postwar era. While it is not necessary to prove his case, it will leave readers with unresolved questions that nag at the book’s conclusion.
Gun Country is a good study of the multifaceted American postwar history with guns. It’s best paired with another work diving into early American history to close the gaps left by this work’s timeframe.
September 23, 2023
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.
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.
June 1, 2025
Interesting book if you're interested in Samuel Cummings
Samuel Cummings, (February 7, 1927 – April 29, 1998) was an American small arms dealer. He founded the International Armament Corporation (also known as Interarms or Interarmco) in 1953, a company which came to dominate the free world market in private arms sales. He died on April 29, 1998, in Monaco after a series of strokes.
Biography
Cummings was born in Philadelphia and became interested in weapons after acquiring a Maxim gun from a disused American Legion hall at the age of five. Cummings became a US Army weapons specialist at Fort Lee, Virginia, after World War II. Following his military discharge he attended George Washington University on the GI Bill, where he was recruited in 1950 by the Central Intelligence Agency as a weapons expert.
Cummings then toured Europe, where he bought large quantities of surplus World War II weapons for both Hollywood productions and the Taiwan government. During this time he was also called upon to identify captured weapons in the Korean War.
In 1953 Cummings set up Interarmco in Alexandria, Virginia, with a warehouse in Manchester, England, and other international locations to capitalize on the vast stores of postwar arms and ammunition. He used his contacts and expertise to acquire surplus weapons in large quantities to sell to various private and government buyers throughout the world. Interarmco was owned by the Central Intelligence Agency when Cummings took control, but he bought out the CIA interest and became sole owner in 1958.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Interarmco flooded the American market with military firearms, catering to souvenir-hungry GIs and sportsmen, and drastically undercutting domestic sporting-arms manufacturers. At the same time, Cummings became an export sales agent for various small arms manufacturers. Interarmco was an original exclusive agent for ArmaLite, and Cummings personally demonstrated its revolutionary AR-10 selective-fire rifle to various nations, including Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.
Samuel Cummings, (February 7, 1927 – April 29, 1998) was an American small arms dealer. He founded the International Armament Corporation (also known as Interarms or Interarmco) in 1953, a company which came to dominate the free world market in private arms sales. He died on April 29, 1998, in Monaco after a series of strokes.
Biography
Cummings was born in Philadelphia and became interested in weapons after acquiring a Maxim gun from a disused American Legion hall at the age of five. Cummings became a US Army weapons specialist at Fort Lee, Virginia, after World War II. Following his military discharge he attended George Washington University on the GI Bill, where he was recruited in 1950 by the Central Intelligence Agency as a weapons expert.
Cummings then toured Europe, where he bought large quantities of surplus World War II weapons for both Hollywood productions and the Taiwan government. During this time he was also called upon to identify captured weapons in the Korean War.
In 1953 Cummings set up Interarmco in Alexandria, Virginia, with a warehouse in Manchester, England, and other international locations to capitalize on the vast stores of postwar arms and ammunition. He used his contacts and expertise to acquire surplus weapons in large quantities to sell to various private and government buyers throughout the world. Interarmco was owned by the Central Intelligence Agency when Cummings took control, but he bought out the CIA interest and became sole owner in 1958.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Interarmco flooded the American market with military firearms, catering to souvenir-hungry GIs and sportsmen, and drastically undercutting domestic sporting-arms manufacturers. At the same time, Cummings became an export sales agent for various small arms manufacturers. Interarmco was an original exclusive agent for ArmaLite, and Cummings personally demonstrated its revolutionary AR-10 selective-fire rifle to various nations, including Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.
September 4, 2023
Gun Country by Andrew C McKevitt takes as his starting point the influx of cheap leftover firearms from WWII coupled with the changing culture(s) in the United States during the Cold War period, with a brief discussion of after the Cold War.
Don't make the mistake some do and misread the book as centering the Cold War aspect, it is one part of the dynamics, albeit a major part. As the book description itself states fairly clearly, it "recasts the story of guns in postwar America as one of Cold War and racial anxieties, unfettered capitalism, and exceptional violence." In other words, this is about what happened here during the Cold War but isn't exclusively about or even centering the Cold War.
The biggest point, and this is consistent throughout if you're an active reader, is the role of consumer capitalism, where the various concerns such as fear of attack and racial unrest are used, largely unethically and manipulatively, to scare people into buying ever more guns. Which changed the meaning of the 2nd amendment from its original intent to a consumer's right. Namely, a scared consumer's right who compensates for, um, shortcomings by becoming ammosexual. Thus where we are today.
The connections McKevitt makes draws a clear line from surplus war weaponry to consumerism with no ties to the responsibilities that originally went along with the rights. The message has largely become fear anyone not like you, "they" are armed to the teeth so you must be also, and anyone who says you have responsibilities that accompany gun rights is trying to take your guns and keep you from buying more.
This is an excellent look at how we became the gun country. It doesn't so much replace a lot of the history of guns as it offers a view of the tremendous growth that takes capitalism into account as a driving force and not just a byproduct of gun rights.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
Don't make the mistake some do and misread the book as centering the Cold War aspect, it is one part of the dynamics, albeit a major part. As the book description itself states fairly clearly, it "recasts the story of guns in postwar America as one of Cold War and racial anxieties, unfettered capitalism, and exceptional violence." In other words, this is about what happened here during the Cold War but isn't exclusively about or even centering the Cold War.
The biggest point, and this is consistent throughout if you're an active reader, is the role of consumer capitalism, where the various concerns such as fear of attack and racial unrest are used, largely unethically and manipulatively, to scare people into buying ever more guns. Which changed the meaning of the 2nd amendment from its original intent to a consumer's right. Namely, a scared consumer's right who compensates for, um, shortcomings by becoming ammosexual. Thus where we are today.
The connections McKevitt makes draws a clear line from surplus war weaponry to consumerism with no ties to the responsibilities that originally went along with the rights. The message has largely become fear anyone not like you, "they" are armed to the teeth so you must be also, and anyone who says you have responsibilities that accompany gun rights is trying to take your guns and keep you from buying more.
This is an excellent look at how we became the gun country. It doesn't so much replace a lot of the history of guns as it offers a view of the tremendous growth that takes capitalism into account as a driving force and not just a byproduct of gun rights.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
June 10, 2025
What a depressing and necessary book. By emphasizing guns as a consumer item, McKevitt gets to the really contemporary root of our gun issue, one that seems even more intractable than it did a few years ago, and way more intractable then it did in 1992, when a Louisiana homeowner with a .44 Magnum shot Japanese exchange student in his driveway for...knocking on the wrong house's door. His bigger point is that it's not the Second Amendment at the root of the issue, but rather the culture that dealers, the NRA, Congress, and assorted gun nuts (I don't know why I was surprised by this, since I've read books like Belew's Bringing the War Home, but somehow I was) who staked out far-right anti-"gun grabber" positions well before the NRA's leadership was taken over by similarly inclined gun absolutists in the 70s assembled, let's say, because the US imported so many guns in the postwar period. At first, the ads were more focused on sport shooting and a general gun-guy vibe (i.e. this German gun is awesome because it's German; one weird aspect he doesn't really explore is what seems like a sudden increase in appeal of weapons used by the Nazis in the 50s and 60s, it seems like on the grounds that Germans are great at military stuff, though not so great that we couldn't beat them), and only later (first in the late 60s, when a lot of the unease is racially coded) did they start to take on these apocalyptic tones of self-defense and remasculinization (the Sandy Hook shooter's rifle was advertised as giving you your man card back), and still later the hysterical 2A fundamentalism we've now had to associate with the gun lobby as a whole. And the modern phenomenon really all starts with this mass merchandising of guns, which then power and underlie a culture where their accumulation must be not just justified but celebrated.
A book that I deeply wish did not have to be written, but one that makes all kinds of sense.
A book that I deeply wish did not have to be written, but one that makes all kinds of sense.
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November 29, 2024Andrew C. McKevitt’s excellent Gun Country: Gun Capitalism, Culture, and Control in Cold War America (The University of North Carolina Press) traces the present-day gun culture of the United States, not to its mythologised founding, but to the mass import of military surplus weapons after the Second World War. This flood of cheap firearms prompted calls for gun control well before the emergence of the Black Panthers. New readings of the Second Amendment, emphasising an individual right to arms, emerged after the 1968 Gun Control Act as gun rights activists sought to head off further restrictions.
Read History Today’s Books of the Year 2024 at https://www.historytoday.com/archive/...
Catherine Fletcher is Professor of History at Manchester Metropolitan University and author of The Roads to Rome: A History (Bodley Head)
Read History Today’s Books of the Year 2024 at https://www.historytoday.com/archive/...
Catherine Fletcher is Professor of History at Manchester Metropolitan University and author of The Roads to Rome: A History (Bodley Head)
January 1, 2025
1.5 stars. This book was way too long I don't know how anyone could read it I did the audiobook at double speed and it was still too long. Like a lot of these nonfiction books today just regurgitating data which is largely wrong and bad statistics and the book just went on and on focusing the majority of the book on a very unfortunate shooting of a Japanese tourist. Written recently so there's Trump mentioned. All in all this is generally liberal propaganda anti-gun leaning. The only interesting part was at the beginning the history of guns in modern America with Samuel Cummings and America's enthusiastic interest in buying guns left over from Europe and European wars imported to America. If you want to audiobook this just listen to the first 30% the rest is just repetitive malarkey over and over again the same thing being said.
December 4, 2023
I loved reading this book on how World War II's aftermath, with its surplus weapons, shaped America's gun culture. The consumer capitalism, Cold War ideology, and the resulting spike in gun ownership, influencing the political identity of millions. Amid fears of Soviet invasion and urban uprisings, gun control legislation faced fierce resistance in the 1960s. I completed paper on gun control topic and https://edubirdie.com/examples/gun-co... helped a lot. With this book, I see the new perspective on how historical events have molded America's relationship with firearms.
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June 6, 2024It’s not a Norman Rockwell picture. There’s no wholesome family sitting in a well-furnished home. It’s the picture of capitalism that created a market for weapons of destruction. Gun Country: Gun Capitalism, Culture, and Control in Cold War America explains the engine that’s driven America to own more guns per capita than any other country on the planet – by a wide margin.
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June 22, 2026
Discusses the history of Gun control and gun rights coming after the influx of WW2/Cold War era cheap guns and the notion of the "Cold War 2nd Amendment." At the forefront of my thesis in analyzing the atmosphere of firearms pre 21st century. While my study focuses on a comparative analysis of mass shootings and public memory, McKevitts work lays the basis for the envy and logistics of pop culture fire arms. This will be useful to include in my historiography section leaning into a baseline argument of the 1960s-1990s gun violence and general media interest.
May 10, 2024
Covers exactly what the summary discusses. Loaded with research and sources it provides a modern American “gun history”. As you may suspect, it’s a little dry and I found the early history dragged on a bit. Nonetheless it hits at what it set out to do and is a good resource for those academically curious as to how we (America) got here.
December 25, 2023
Lots of interesting and new to me information dished out in this “story” of gun consumerism in the states. Was expecting much more dynamic closing and wrap up to said story, but was a little disappointed. Otherwise a good read
April 2, 2024
McKevitt argues, “It doesn’t have to be this way” in an articulate manner, citing gun violence in America as a product of mass consumerism.
brilliantly written <3 loved the shoutout to old ladies in tennis shoes.
brilliantly written <3 loved the shoutout to old ladies in tennis shoes.
May 6, 2026
Faut aller se faire soigner. C’est tout ce que j’ai à dire.
« To much of the rest of the world, America’s gun mystique was no mystique at all: Americans simply had too many guns. »
Voila. Fin de l’histoire.
« To much of the rest of the world, America’s gun mystique was no mystique at all: Americans simply had too many guns. »
Voila. Fin de l’histoire.
December 4, 2023
A wide-ranging, thoughtful, and often surprising journey through seventy-five years of American gun life, and death. Recommend.
January 9, 2024
Insightful, well-written and researched, and very troubling. A good look into a uniquely American problem.
February 6, 2024
A fascinating look into the history of the American obsession with guns
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