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Gun Curious: A Liberal Professor's Surprising Journey Inside America's Gun Culture
More than ever, it feels like cultural and political divisions over firearms are tearing the United States apart. Guns are an undeniable and contradictory presence in America, both widely owned and controversial. This book does something it promotes insight over animosity in understanding the complex reality of guns in America. It challenges firearms skeptics, entertains enthusiasts, and informs the uncommitted by taking readers on a surprising journey inside gun culture.
A lifelong liberal from the San Francisco Bay Area, David Yamane became a new gun owner as a 42-year-old and embarked on an immersive twelve-year study of American gun culture. Weaving together his personal experiences and sociological observations to explain why guns make sense to those who own them, he illuminates defensive gun ownership, the risk of negative outcomes associated with firearms, and what responsible gun ownership looks like in the twenty-first century. This book lowers the heat on America's inflamed arguments about firearms and models the civil discussions we desperately need.
A lifelong liberal from the San Francisco Bay Area, David Yamane became a new gun owner as a 42-year-old and embarked on an immersive twelve-year study of American gun culture. Weaving together his personal experiences and sociological observations to explain why guns make sense to those who own them, he illuminates defensive gun ownership, the risk of negative outcomes associated with firearms, and what responsible gun ownership looks like in the twenty-first century. This book lowers the heat on America's inflamed arguments about firearms and models the civil discussions we desperately need.
213 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 2024
18 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 11, 2024
This is an outstanding book that is a must-read for anyone who is curious about guns. Typically, in public discourse, firearms can be a huge, divisive issue. Yamane does an amazing job opening up about his experiences with guns, as well as talking about perceptions with a wealth of knowledge, all while turning down the heat. Each chapter (listed below) dives into the chapter title's topic with thorough research and an objective vantage point.
1. Guns Are Normal and Normal People Use Guns
2. Top Shot and the Human-Weapon Relationship
3. Becoming a Gun Super-Owner
4. Living with AR-15s
5. Swept Up in the Concealed Carry Revolution
6. Pascal’s Wager and Firearms
7. Guns as Risk Factors for Negative Outcomes
8. Being Responsibly Armed
We need more books like this about firearms, gun culture and policy.
Below are a few of my favorite quotes from the book:
"Rather than focusing on crime, injury, and death with firearms, my work is based on the proposition that guns are normal and normal people use guns. This is not an article of faith or belief statement for me; rather, it is based on my empirical observations of guns and gun owners over the past 13 years. When I say guns are normal and normal people use guns, I mean it in two senses. First, guns and gun ownership are common, widespread, and typical. Second, guns and gun ownership are not inherently associated with deviance or abnormalities." (page 1)
"Although public health scholars today are usually more cautious in their pronouncements than Kellerman, the idea that gun abstinence is the best option is still sometimes spoken out loud. In 2012, the American Academy of Pediatrics declared, 'The absence of guns from children’s homes and communities is the most reliable and effective measure to prevent firearm-related injuries in children and adolescents.' With the exception of illegal narcotics, we rarely see this sort of 'just say no' approach to other common risk factors for injury and death. I cannot imagine a professional medical association stating, 'The absence of swimming pools and cars from children’s homes and communities is the most reliable and effective measure to prevent drownings and vehicle-related injuries in children and adolescents.'" (pages 108-109)
"Assuming the normality of gun ownership works against abstinence-only approaches to firearms. This is in line with managing other risky behaviors people routinely engage in, from swimming to driving to having sex. The best approach is not to counsel avoidance of these behaviors altogether but to suggest how to do them more safely. Not safely, mind you, as that is an illusion, but in ways that reduce risks of negative outcomes. The gun-owning community is a resource not an impediment to this end." (page 129)
"Although MAG-40 has a final session that Ayoob describes as “the mandatory ethics part,” in fact the entire class centers on ethics. He has been teaching versions of this course since 1981 and during that time some things have changed, like hardware and shooting techniques. But the fundamental principles endure. Ayoob’s humanitarian approach to armed self-defense insists from the start that life is precious and the use of lethal force is a cosmic decision that is not to be made lightly. His well-known deep baritone reinforces the seriousness of his admonishment that responsible armed citizenship is not simply a matter of knowing when you can legally use lethal force; it is fundamentally about understanding what you should and should not do." (page 140)
"These are terrible events. But as noted earlier in this chapter, nothing in the law allows a person to shoot someone and get away with it merely by claiming self-defense. This is why I dislike politically charged rhetoric that refers to Stand Your Ground laws as “shoot first” laws. I fear this may unintentionally mislead people into thinking that self-defense laws actually give them a blanket license to kill with impunity. They do not. While some self-defense shootings get attention when they are ultimately ruled justifiable—think George Zimmerman and Kyle Rittenhouse—many other claims of self-defense have been found wanting in court. Among those now incarcerated for homicide are the killers of Jordan Davis in Jacksonville, Renisha McBride in Detroit, and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia." (page 151)
"I have learned about guns, gun owners, and gun culture in America over the past thirteen years. Each chapter of this book offers some of my insights. Rather than seeing guns exclusively from the perspectives of criminology and epidemiology, I understand how guns are normal anthropologically and culturally. Rather than gasping in shock at gun super-owners hoarding weapons, I demonstrate that different guns in a vast personal arsenal serve different purposes. Rather than condemning AR-15s as weapons of war that have no business on our streets, I question the bright line drawn between military and civilian weapons and explore the many different reasons people own them. Rather than making oversimplified generalizations about guns as risk factors for negative outcomes, I highlight more complex ways of viewing and managing risk from the perspective of gun owners. Rather than seeing defensive gun training as teaching people to “shoot first and ask questions later,” I highlight ways in which it does exactly the opposite." (pages 153-154)
1. Guns Are Normal and Normal People Use Guns
2. Top Shot and the Human-Weapon Relationship
3. Becoming a Gun Super-Owner
4. Living with AR-15s
5. Swept Up in the Concealed Carry Revolution
6. Pascal’s Wager and Firearms
7. Guns as Risk Factors for Negative Outcomes
8. Being Responsibly Armed
We need more books like this about firearms, gun culture and policy.
Below are a few of my favorite quotes from the book:
"Rather than focusing on crime, injury, and death with firearms, my work is based on the proposition that guns are normal and normal people use guns. This is not an article of faith or belief statement for me; rather, it is based on my empirical observations of guns and gun owners over the past 13 years. When I say guns are normal and normal people use guns, I mean it in two senses. First, guns and gun ownership are common, widespread, and typical. Second, guns and gun ownership are not inherently associated with deviance or abnormalities." (page 1)
"Although public health scholars today are usually more cautious in their pronouncements than Kellerman, the idea that gun abstinence is the best option is still sometimes spoken out loud. In 2012, the American Academy of Pediatrics declared, 'The absence of guns from children’s homes and communities is the most reliable and effective measure to prevent firearm-related injuries in children and adolescents.' With the exception of illegal narcotics, we rarely see this sort of 'just say no' approach to other common risk factors for injury and death. I cannot imagine a professional medical association stating, 'The absence of swimming pools and cars from children’s homes and communities is the most reliable and effective measure to prevent drownings and vehicle-related injuries in children and adolescents.'" (pages 108-109)
"Assuming the normality of gun ownership works against abstinence-only approaches to firearms. This is in line with managing other risky behaviors people routinely engage in, from swimming to driving to having sex. The best approach is not to counsel avoidance of these behaviors altogether but to suggest how to do them more safely. Not safely, mind you, as that is an illusion, but in ways that reduce risks of negative outcomes. The gun-owning community is a resource not an impediment to this end." (page 129)
"Although MAG-40 has a final session that Ayoob describes as “the mandatory ethics part,” in fact the entire class centers on ethics. He has been teaching versions of this course since 1981 and during that time some things have changed, like hardware and shooting techniques. But the fundamental principles endure. Ayoob’s humanitarian approach to armed self-defense insists from the start that life is precious and the use of lethal force is a cosmic decision that is not to be made lightly. His well-known deep baritone reinforces the seriousness of his admonishment that responsible armed citizenship is not simply a matter of knowing when you can legally use lethal force; it is fundamentally about understanding what you should and should not do." (page 140)
"These are terrible events. But as noted earlier in this chapter, nothing in the law allows a person to shoot someone and get away with it merely by claiming self-defense. This is why I dislike politically charged rhetoric that refers to Stand Your Ground laws as “shoot first” laws. I fear this may unintentionally mislead people into thinking that self-defense laws actually give them a blanket license to kill with impunity. They do not. While some self-defense shootings get attention when they are ultimately ruled justifiable—think George Zimmerman and Kyle Rittenhouse—many other claims of self-defense have been found wanting in court. Among those now incarcerated for homicide are the killers of Jordan Davis in Jacksonville, Renisha McBride in Detroit, and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia." (page 151)
"I have learned about guns, gun owners, and gun culture in America over the past thirteen years. Each chapter of this book offers some of my insights. Rather than seeing guns exclusively from the perspectives of criminology and epidemiology, I understand how guns are normal anthropologically and culturally. Rather than gasping in shock at gun super-owners hoarding weapons, I demonstrate that different guns in a vast personal arsenal serve different purposes. Rather than condemning AR-15s as weapons of war that have no business on our streets, I question the bright line drawn between military and civilian weapons and explore the many different reasons people own them. Rather than making oversimplified generalizations about guns as risk factors for negative outcomes, I highlight more complex ways of viewing and managing risk from the perspective of gun owners. Rather than seeing defensive gun training as teaching people to “shoot first and ask questions later,” I highlight ways in which it does exactly the opposite." (pages 153-154)
June 18, 2024
GUN CURIOUS is what has been missing from the firearms shouting match.
Five stars.
In GUN CURIOUS, Dr. David Yamane offers his own personal experiences and insights, in addition to academic observations and research on the topic of firearms, ownership and the perceived gulf between “gun” and “no gun” people. Being familiar with his Facebook pages and Light Over Heat blog, when I heard about this book, *I* was curious about GUN CURIOUS.
No slogan slinging here. Neither shouting “Cold, Dead Hands” nor “Nobody Needs a Gun”,
GUN CURIOUS articulately and thoughtfully navigates among facts, legitimate concerns, misapprehensions and opinions, and addresses them while avoiding the usual acrimony where disagreement must go hand-in-hand with failures in intelligence and/or character and morals.
Instead, the author ably and honestly presents the views from the many sides of our noisy democracy; scholars, enthusiasts, activists, firearms experts, owners, students and everyday people.
This book contains the elements I have long believed to be missing from the “national debate”:
- Balance
- Knowledge
- Accurate facts
- Opportunities for common ground
- Opposing opinions presented respectfully
Just as importantly, while preserving a rational and factual perspective, Dr. Yamane acknowledges the powerful emotions entwined in the fabric of the firearms arguments and shares some of his own self-examinations.
Over the years, I admit I had stopped listening to the same old “noise” repeated at the top of everyone’s lungs. I have opinions. But reading this book invited me to pause and reconsider. Whether or not I agreed on every point, I felt I could still sit down and talk and LISTEN to this man, and others like him. GUN CURIOUS and Dr. Yamane model a way for all of us to do the same. It doesn’t pretend to contain all of the answers, but it could show a sensible path towards them.
Regardless of your personal convictions, you will learn something.
Read it.
Five stars.
In GUN CURIOUS, Dr. David Yamane offers his own personal experiences and insights, in addition to academic observations and research on the topic of firearms, ownership and the perceived gulf between “gun” and “no gun” people. Being familiar with his Facebook pages and Light Over Heat blog, when I heard about this book, *I* was curious about GUN CURIOUS.
No slogan slinging here. Neither shouting “Cold, Dead Hands” nor “Nobody Needs a Gun”,
GUN CURIOUS articulately and thoughtfully navigates among facts, legitimate concerns, misapprehensions and opinions, and addresses them while avoiding the usual acrimony where disagreement must go hand-in-hand with failures in intelligence and/or character and morals.
Instead, the author ably and honestly presents the views from the many sides of our noisy democracy; scholars, enthusiasts, activists, firearms experts, owners, students and everyday people.
This book contains the elements I have long believed to be missing from the “national debate”:
- Balance
- Knowledge
- Accurate facts
- Opportunities for common ground
- Opposing opinions presented respectfully
Just as importantly, while preserving a rational and factual perspective, Dr. Yamane acknowledges the powerful emotions entwined in the fabric of the firearms arguments and shares some of his own self-examinations.
Over the years, I admit I had stopped listening to the same old “noise” repeated at the top of everyone’s lungs. I have opinions. But reading this book invited me to pause and reconsider. Whether or not I agreed on every point, I felt I could still sit down and talk and LISTEN to this man, and others like him. GUN CURIOUS and Dr. Yamane model a way for all of us to do the same. It doesn’t pretend to contain all of the answers, but it could show a sensible path towards them.
Regardless of your personal convictions, you will learn something.
Read it.
March 6, 2025
What a great book. Yamane really goes deep into gun culture and gives provocative and detailed reasons for why a continued gun culture in America is beneficial.
As a gun/2nd Amendment conservative advocate I appreciated his perspective from a liberal gun advocate. This is going to be my go to recommendation for people who are hesitant or against gun rights. I advise everyone to read this regardless if you end up agreeing with Yamane at the end or not. It'll hopefully challenge some of your current thoughts on the subject. It certainly did for me.
As a gun/2nd Amendment conservative advocate I appreciated his perspective from a liberal gun advocate. This is going to be my go to recommendation for people who are hesitant or against gun rights. I advise everyone to read this regardless if you end up agreeing with Yamane at the end or not. It'll hopefully challenge some of your current thoughts on the subject. It certainly did for me.
April 29, 2025
When I saw this book come out I was like I have to see what this guy has to say. I was 1/2 expecting some liberal going off on gun owners. But I was pleasantly surprised. This is a card carrying liberal(his words) and he took several years to research this book and ended up as a gun owner himself after an altercation at his apartment which involved his kids.
Each chapter covers different areas of the gun culture and each I think is well written and easy to understand.
He try’s not to take sides in the pro/anti gun debate but goes into taking about what both sides are saying.
I must say though that some of the material he covers has me questioning my own gun ownership. Not that I shouldn’t have them but why and where I carry them as I have a conceal carry license.
No matter what side of this debate you chose to be on you should give it a read. It just might give you something to think about.
Each chapter covers different areas of the gun culture and each I think is well written and easy to understand.
He try’s not to take sides in the pro/anti gun debate but goes into taking about what both sides are saying.
I must say though that some of the material he covers has me questioning my own gun ownership. Not that I shouldn’t have them but why and where I carry them as I have a conceal carry license.
No matter what side of this debate you chose to be on you should give it a read. It just might give you something to think about.
June 6, 2024
One of the best coherent discussions of gun culture that I have ever read
I recently had the privilege of meeting Professor Yamane and of reading his work. We come from different backgrounds, but share some similarities. I grew up in rural South Dakota and guns were part of my normal life. My professional career has been in the Academy where guns are often viewed with distain. Professor Yamane is in the Academy and comes from a background where guns were initially foreign to him, but now he has become immersed in gun culture. This work reflects not only his sociological scholarship, but his pilgrimage into gun culture. I highly recommend this work, especially to my friends in the Academy. It is an example of the best that scholarship has to offer on the topic.
I recently had the privilege of meeting Professor Yamane and of reading his work. We come from different backgrounds, but share some similarities. I grew up in rural South Dakota and guns were part of my normal life. My professional career has been in the Academy where guns are often viewed with distain. Professor Yamane is in the Academy and comes from a background where guns were initially foreign to him, but now he has become immersed in gun culture. This work reflects not only his sociological scholarship, but his pilgrimage into gun culture. I highly recommend this work, especially to my friends in the Academy. It is an example of the best that scholarship has to offer on the topic.
December 20, 2024
An honest and well-balanced overview of gun ownership and gun culture.
June 11, 2024
Gun Curious: A Liberal Professor’s Surprising Journey Inside America’s Gun Culture
Author: David Yamane, Ph.D.
What do you get when you mix a San Francisco born liberal sociology professor and the down home southern love for firearms? You get “Gun Curious”, a blend of academic analysis of American gun culture mixed with a personal journey of discovery.
I met David at the National Rifle Association Annual Meeting in Dallas, Texas, and purchased his book on a whim. My library contains an array of books on firearms, the Second Amendment, and crimes committed with firearms, but not a single text on the journey from gun agnostic liberal to firearm affirming “gun super-owner”. I was intrigued.
David begins his journey as a preteen boy with a BB gun who shot a bird and learned first hand the potential lethality of firearms. Disquieted by what he had done, he had no further interest in firearms until at age 42 he was invited to a shooting event in North Carolina. He recounts his first encounter with actual fire breathing guns, how he found the experience enjoyable, and how the community of gun owners at the event were welcoming, helpful, and generous with their weapons and expertise. This experience piqued his interest in gun culture, and encouraged him to educate himself on the broad spectrum of firearm related topics. Instead of rushing out to purchase his own firearm, he recounts how he binge watched several seasons of “Top Shot”, and was amazed by skills displayed by the various shooters. In typical academic fashion he began digging into the available literature about firearms, eventually purchasing the first of soon to be several additions to his “arsenal” (“gun collection” to those of us who grew up around firearms). His education led him to attend several training courses, and obtain a concealed carry permit to alleviate his anxiety stemming from some potentially dangerous encounters in his personal life.
Along the way he made the discovery owning guns is a normal human activity, and gun owners are normal people. He traces the long documented history of humans and projectile weapons for hunting, warfare, self-defense, and sport. He explains how in America “Gun Culture 1.0” focused mainly on hunting and sport has evolved into “Gun Culture 2.0” which is heavily focused on personal self-defense. He explores the issues around owning guns, keeping them in the home, carrying them for self defense, their role in homicides and suicides, vilification of certain types of guns, and the disparities in opinion on allowing them to be carried in public.
His story is a curious mix of academic study, and personal revelation as he intersperses research on firearm ownership, with his own reluctance, mis-steps (a negligent discharge at home), efforts to become a competent firearm owner and user, and how he interacts with his academic colleagues who don’t approve of his “hobby”. It is a truly refreshing read, and a great addition to any gun owners library.
Ronald Andring, Sr., Master of Public Administration
Eastern Washington University
Author: David Yamane, Ph.D.
What do you get when you mix a San Francisco born liberal sociology professor and the down home southern love for firearms? You get “Gun Curious”, a blend of academic analysis of American gun culture mixed with a personal journey of discovery.
I met David at the National Rifle Association Annual Meeting in Dallas, Texas, and purchased his book on a whim. My library contains an array of books on firearms, the Second Amendment, and crimes committed with firearms, but not a single text on the journey from gun agnostic liberal to firearm affirming “gun super-owner”. I was intrigued.
David begins his journey as a preteen boy with a BB gun who shot a bird and learned first hand the potential lethality of firearms. Disquieted by what he had done, he had no further interest in firearms until at age 42 he was invited to a shooting event in North Carolina. He recounts his first encounter with actual fire breathing guns, how he found the experience enjoyable, and how the community of gun owners at the event were welcoming, helpful, and generous with their weapons and expertise. This experience piqued his interest in gun culture, and encouraged him to educate himself on the broad spectrum of firearm related topics. Instead of rushing out to purchase his own firearm, he recounts how he binge watched several seasons of “Top Shot”, and was amazed by skills displayed by the various shooters. In typical academic fashion he began digging into the available literature about firearms, eventually purchasing the first of soon to be several additions to his “arsenal” (“gun collection” to those of us who grew up around firearms). His education led him to attend several training courses, and obtain a concealed carry permit to alleviate his anxiety stemming from some potentially dangerous encounters in his personal life.
Along the way he made the discovery owning guns is a normal human activity, and gun owners are normal people. He traces the long documented history of humans and projectile weapons for hunting, warfare, self-defense, and sport. He explains how in America “Gun Culture 1.0” focused mainly on hunting and sport has evolved into “Gun Culture 2.0” which is heavily focused on personal self-defense. He explores the issues around owning guns, keeping them in the home, carrying them for self defense, their role in homicides and suicides, vilification of certain types of guns, and the disparities in opinion on allowing them to be carried in public.
His story is a curious mix of academic study, and personal revelation as he intersperses research on firearm ownership, with his own reluctance, mis-steps (a negligent discharge at home), efforts to become a competent firearm owner and user, and how he interacts with his academic colleagues who don’t approve of his “hobby”. It is a truly refreshing read, and a great addition to any gun owners library.
Ronald Andring, Sr., Master of Public Administration
Eastern Washington University
January 13, 2025
I work in gun and firearms research and, myself am a liberal professor, so when I ran across Dr. Yamane’s book mentioned in a national committee (where he sat in briefly) I was extremely interested in reading his book. I think he is very brave to outline his experience because as he notes he will have detractors in both spaces. I think he does a good job of explaining why he wanted a fun and his exposure, I also think he did a good job explaining how the training and messaging he received helped him become a good gun owner. I also think that he could, at some points that were few, could have addressed counterpoints more. It felt sometimes as his foot was much deeper in gun culture than his liberal professor culture and I wanted to see more arguments to counter the ones he made. However, that is also probably coming from my own biases so take that critique with a grain of salt. Ultimately, as fascinating book that really outlines some of the aspects of gun culture and ownership that you would not know unless you were a gun owner having gone through all the training the same way.
May 29, 2024
You’ll glean much insight from Yamane’s first hand experience being a liberal professor who became a gun owner after a frightening experience with his child. I was interested to read how he blends his experience with a lot of data and statistics to back up certain arguments in a balanced way. No matter your position on the gun debate, you’ll learn a lot from the Gun Curious.
July 5, 2024
A great account of Prof. Yamane's research and personal journey in the world of firearms ownership. Great accounts of the normality of guns, risk factors for negative outcomes, being responsibly armed, and a conclusion of what he has learned through his journey.
This is a great discussion, whether you are a firearms expert, or no nothing of firearms.
This is a great discussion, whether you are a firearms expert, or no nothing of firearms.
September 7, 2024
A reasoned, calm, balanced book about guns in America. May be the best book on the topic I've ever read, from any of the many perspectives on the subject. Coming from a liberal sociology professor, it's light in a topic of rhetorical heat.
July 1, 2024
A masterful examination of the role of firearms in modern culture.
July 13, 2024
Start with a conversation
A bit long on gun history. But wraps of nicely. As per usual the left and right tribes are both wrong.
A bit long on gun history. But wraps of nicely. As per usual the left and right tribes are both wrong.
December 13, 2024
I enjoyed reading books
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews