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The Violence Inside Us: A Brief History of an Ongoing American Tragedy
“An engrossing, moving, and utterly motivating account of the human stakes of gun violence in America.”—Samantha Power, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Education of an IdealistIs America destined to always be a violent nation? This sweeping history by U.S. senator Chris Murphy explores the origins of our violent impulses, the roots of our obsession with firearms, and the mythologies that prevent us from confronting our national crisis. In many ways, the United States sets the pace for other nations to follow. Yet on the most important human concern—the need to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe from physical harm—America isn’t a leader. We are disturbingly laggard. To confront this problem, we must first understand it. In this carefully researched and deeply emotional book, Senator Chris Murphy dissects our country’s violence-filled history and the role that our unique obsession with firearms plays in this national epidemic. Murphy tells the story of his profound personal transformation in the wake of the mass murder at Newtown, and his subsequent immersion in the complicated web of influences that drive American violence. Murphy comes to the conclusion that while America’s relationship to violence is indeed unique, America is not inescapably violent. Even as he details the reasons we’ve tolerated so much bloodshed for so long, he explains that we have the power to change. Murphy takes on the familiar arguments, obliterates the stale talking points, and charts the way to a fresh, less polarized conversation about violence and the weapons that enable it—a conversation we urgently need in order to transform the national dialogue and save lives.
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 23, 2020
122 people are currently reading
3380 people want to read
About the author
Chris Murphy
1 book24 followersChris Murphy is a United States Senator for Connecticut.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 113 reviews
August 31, 2020
In 1764, my sixth great-grandparents were murdered and scalped by Simon Girty and a group of Native Americans whose reign of terror was waged to scare settlers out of the Shenandoah Valley. The Rev. John Rhodes, a Swiss Brethren and a pacifist, was an early settler in the valley.
Unable to defend themselves, the community built underground cellars, but eventually they were converted by a visiting Baptist. One advantage of this change in faith was that they were allowed guns for self-protection.
Our immigrant ancestors employed guns for hunting game and to defend themselves against the people whose lands they stole. Guns were safeguards in far-flung lawless frontiers and they were needed by state militias before a centralized government created the first American army.
American has long embraced gun ownership. In The Violence Inside Us, Senator Chris Murphy notes that the Pilgrims required every man to have a gun.
Murphy's life was changed with the shooting of school children in Newtown. As a newly elected senator, he saw the pain close up. Gun violence became his bailiwick.
Our son was in junior high at the time of the Columbine shooting. A student at his school talked about bringing a gun to school. Our son insisted he stay home the next day. The threat was investigated and the student punished. But our son never again felt safe at school.
Years later, and many school shootings later, we still can't guarantee our children that they will be safe in their classrooms.
This passionate and well-thought out book addresses the central questions behind violence. Is it human nature to be violent? Why is America the most violent nation in the industrialized world? What can we do to alter the violence? Why are our political leaders loathe to pass legislation that protects innocent victims of gun violence? He looks beyond our borders to how America has taken violence abroad through war and weapons sales.
Carefully building an understanding of the use and misuse of guns as rooted in human nature and American society, Murphy argues for reasonable legislation, on which the majority of Americans agrees, and explains the forces that prevent that legislation from passing.
Murphy's personal transformation makes a connection and the stories he shares grabs you by the heart.
I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
Unable to defend themselves, the community built underground cellars, but eventually they were converted by a visiting Baptist. One advantage of this change in faith was that they were allowed guns for self-protection.
Our immigrant ancestors employed guns for hunting game and to defend themselves against the people whose lands they stole. Guns were safeguards in far-flung lawless frontiers and they were needed by state militias before a centralized government created the first American army.
American has long embraced gun ownership. In The Violence Inside Us, Senator Chris Murphy notes that the Pilgrims required every man to have a gun.
Murphy's life was changed with the shooting of school children in Newtown. As a newly elected senator, he saw the pain close up. Gun violence became his bailiwick.
Our son was in junior high at the time of the Columbine shooting. A student at his school talked about bringing a gun to school. Our son insisted he stay home the next day. The threat was investigated and the student punished. But our son never again felt safe at school.
Years later, and many school shootings later, we still can't guarantee our children that they will be safe in their classrooms.
This passionate and well-thought out book addresses the central questions behind violence. Is it human nature to be violent? Why is America the most violent nation in the industrialized world? What can we do to alter the violence? Why are our political leaders loathe to pass legislation that protects innocent victims of gun violence? He looks beyond our borders to how America has taken violence abroad through war and weapons sales.
Carefully building an understanding of the use and misuse of guns as rooted in human nature and American society, Murphy argues for reasonable legislation, on which the majority of Americans agrees, and explains the forces that prevent that legislation from passing.
Murphy's personal transformation makes a connection and the stories he shares grabs you by the heart.
I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
September 23, 2019
Faulty premise. We are not obsessed with guns. We are obsessed with freedom. There is a reason that our founding fathers, after being oppressed then shot at, put the Second Amendment in place. As for me, I believe the only reason government would take guns away from law abiding citizens would be if they wanted to do bad things to us. Where I live, Chris, the government doesn't protect us. So I guess if I let them take away my guns I'll be victimized by criminals AND the government.
December 20, 2021
Strongly recommended. A highly readable, thoughtful, comprehensive look at American gun violence in its many forms. It is absolutely devastating at times, both in its painful stories of tragedy and its portrayals of grassroots activism and political effort falling short again and again, but there is comfort in the policy proposals Sen. Murphy lays out and the data that backs up their effectiveness. The movement knows where it's going, even if it is absurdly, unconscionably difficult to get there.
October 6, 2020
Summary: A Connecticut Senator describes his own awakening to the scourge of gun violence after Newtown, and explores the causes and remedies for this uniquely American problem.
December 14, 2012 changed the course of newly minted Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy’s life. He was with his family about to catch the train to New York City when his aide called with the news of the terrible shooting at Sandy Hook. He made it to the scene waiting with the parents not reunited with their children. Their tragedy, and all the funerals, changed Murphy’s life, and gave him the greater purpose he had lacked, despite all his political success.
Another tragedy, one of which he learned later, but which had occurred two months earlier, while he was running for office, in nearby north Hartford, revealed the other side of gun violence. Young Shane Oliver, son of Pastor Sam Saylor. Shane was a promising young man, making a living repairing and flipping cars until a sale went bad and ended with Shane bleeding out in the street in his mother Janet’s arms. Sam became bitter. He’d buried other young men, but this was different. Janet went to a dark place. The couple came to Chris’s attention when Janet fought with a family member of the shooter during his arraignment.
And so began a journey of learning why so many mostly young men were dying on our nation’s streets, and what was behind mass shootings. It was a journey that took him into the roots of violence within us, into the biology of human violence, from brain structures to opposable thumbs, and why some particularly have a propensity for violence.
While violence is a human condition, the incidence of gun violence in the U.S. sets us apart from the world. Murphy looked both at mass shootings that continued to capture the headlines and empty nostrums of “thoughts and prayers” and the violence we ignore–the violence in our cities. He brings to light the more hidden violence of suicide, in which attempts end with death at far greater frequencies than by any other means. Sadly, the life that many guns are most likely to take are the lives of their owners, especially men in rural areas and others who are isolated.
He uncovers the fatal alignment of the arms industry and the National Rifle Association. He describes the resistance to common sense measures like universal background checks, extended to gun shows, that would make guns available to legitimate gun enthusiasts and others who have a legitimate need for them, while keeping it out of the hands of many who would do harm to self or others. He also tells the story of growing groups of mothers, of youth, and even some gun shops whose sales were used to terrible ends. He shows the interesting connection between reducing gun violence and criminal justice reform and other systemic interventions including President Bush’s PEPFAR program in Africa that not only reduced AIDS mortality rates, but also gun violence,
He ends with an account of his filibuster effort, a rarely used and seldom effective measure, to bring a background check bill to a vote. His effort failed, but he left his hearers and the readers of a story of someone at Sandy Hook who found something different than violence within–something he believes we all need to find to reduce this terrible scourge.
Murphy offers a moving narrative. Although he upholds the right to own guns, I don’t think he will convince the hard core that he isn’t after their guns. I don’t think all the stories, statistics, reasons and proposals will do that. The question is whether it will encourage hope and action with many who have stayed out of the fray. Will it persuade those in the middle, who are tired of the polarities that a both/and solution is possible–one that keeps guns out of the hands of many who would use them for lethal purposes while allowing law abiding citizens to own them. I also wonder if Murphy and his like will have the staying power of a Wilberforce to pursue this effort even if it takes a life time. I think that is what it will take.
________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
December 14, 2012 changed the course of newly minted Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy’s life. He was with his family about to catch the train to New York City when his aide called with the news of the terrible shooting at Sandy Hook. He made it to the scene waiting with the parents not reunited with their children. Their tragedy, and all the funerals, changed Murphy’s life, and gave him the greater purpose he had lacked, despite all his political success.
Another tragedy, one of which he learned later, but which had occurred two months earlier, while he was running for office, in nearby north Hartford, revealed the other side of gun violence. Young Shane Oliver, son of Pastor Sam Saylor. Shane was a promising young man, making a living repairing and flipping cars until a sale went bad and ended with Shane bleeding out in the street in his mother Janet’s arms. Sam became bitter. He’d buried other young men, but this was different. Janet went to a dark place. The couple came to Chris’s attention when Janet fought with a family member of the shooter during his arraignment.
And so began a journey of learning why so many mostly young men were dying on our nation’s streets, and what was behind mass shootings. It was a journey that took him into the roots of violence within us, into the biology of human violence, from brain structures to opposable thumbs, and why some particularly have a propensity for violence.
While violence is a human condition, the incidence of gun violence in the U.S. sets us apart from the world. Murphy looked both at mass shootings that continued to capture the headlines and empty nostrums of “thoughts and prayers” and the violence we ignore–the violence in our cities. He brings to light the more hidden violence of suicide, in which attempts end with death at far greater frequencies than by any other means. Sadly, the life that many guns are most likely to take are the lives of their owners, especially men in rural areas and others who are isolated.
He uncovers the fatal alignment of the arms industry and the National Rifle Association. He describes the resistance to common sense measures like universal background checks, extended to gun shows, that would make guns available to legitimate gun enthusiasts and others who have a legitimate need for them, while keeping it out of the hands of many who would do harm to self or others. He also tells the story of growing groups of mothers, of youth, and even some gun shops whose sales were used to terrible ends. He shows the interesting connection between reducing gun violence and criminal justice reform and other systemic interventions including President Bush’s PEPFAR program in Africa that not only reduced AIDS mortality rates, but also gun violence,
He ends with an account of his filibuster effort, a rarely used and seldom effective measure, to bring a background check bill to a vote. His effort failed, but he left his hearers and the readers of a story of someone at Sandy Hook who found something different than violence within–something he believes we all need to find to reduce this terrible scourge.
Murphy offers a moving narrative. Although he upholds the right to own guns, I don’t think he will convince the hard core that he isn’t after their guns. I don’t think all the stories, statistics, reasons and proposals will do that. The question is whether it will encourage hope and action with many who have stayed out of the fray. Will it persuade those in the middle, who are tired of the polarities that a both/and solution is possible–one that keeps guns out of the hands of many who would use them for lethal purposes while allowing law abiding citizens to own them. I also wonder if Murphy and his like will have the staying power of a Wilberforce to pursue this effort even if it takes a life time. I think that is what it will take.
________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
September 28, 2020
I recently had the pleasure of watching Chris Murphy give a podcast at Town Hall Seattle. https://townhallseattle.org It was excellent and, immediately afterwards, my wife and I ordered a copy of this book for our son, our daughter, and for ourselves.
I’m proud to say that I have voted for Chris Murphy though out his career - Connecticut House of Representatives, Connecticut State Senate, United States House of Representatives, and currently for the United States Senate. Perhaps some day I will get to vote for him if he runs for United States president.
Murphy’s book, The Violence Inside Us, is a well-written, well thought out, carefully researched book. It is also a very personal and revealing story of how a young, white boy from Wethersfield Connecticut became a leading advocate for gun control and had his eyes opened to the racist policies of guns, violence, poverty, and drugs. Murphy has an F rating with the National Rifle Association, a distinction I am sure he wears with pride.
In The Violence Inside Us Murphy does not focus solely on gun violence and mass shouting in the US. He explores the biological, genetic, and sociological issues that lead humans to violence. He then explores, in detail, the specific issues, history, and reasons why the United States is the world leader in gun violence. He ties the issues of violence and poverty together. He discusses the racial aspects of guns, violence, and poverty. He focuses on the military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us about. Murphy gives a well thought out, carefully researched, excellently written, expose on gun violence in America.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It doesn’t matter what your politics are, no matter your party affiliation, no matter your position on guns, no matter if you are an NRA member or if you feel all guns should be melted down, along with plowshares and swords. You need to read this book. You will learn a lot.
I’m proud to say that I have voted for Chris Murphy though out his career - Connecticut House of Representatives, Connecticut State Senate, United States House of Representatives, and currently for the United States Senate. Perhaps some day I will get to vote for him if he runs for United States president.
Murphy’s book, The Violence Inside Us, is a well-written, well thought out, carefully researched book. It is also a very personal and revealing story of how a young, white boy from Wethersfield Connecticut became a leading advocate for gun control and had his eyes opened to the racist policies of guns, violence, poverty, and drugs. Murphy has an F rating with the National Rifle Association, a distinction I am sure he wears with pride.
In The Violence Inside Us Murphy does not focus solely on gun violence and mass shouting in the US. He explores the biological, genetic, and sociological issues that lead humans to violence. He then explores, in detail, the specific issues, history, and reasons why the United States is the world leader in gun violence. He ties the issues of violence and poverty together. He discusses the racial aspects of guns, violence, and poverty. He focuses on the military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us about. Murphy gives a well thought out, carefully researched, excellently written, expose on gun violence in America.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It doesn’t matter what your politics are, no matter your party affiliation, no matter your position on guns, no matter if you are an NRA member or if you feel all guns should be melted down, along with plowshares and swords. You need to read this book. You will learn a lot.
January 16, 2021
This was such an eye opener and I’m so glad I read it. How long will these ‘all lives matter’ ‘pro-life’ people in power allow such needless violence to continue? It’s an endless cycle and we supply it. We are more than this. Fuck the NRA—abolish it! Fund where we need it, stop feeding the cycle and allowing money to rule! Note: the 2019 El Paso massacre isn’t mentioned which I find a bit weird; perhaps the book was already submitted to the publisher.
June 9, 2022
Brilliant, broad brushstroke portrayal of the history, policy, causes, and effects of gun violence in America.
Couldn’t be more timely - I highly recommend this read for anyone concerned about our nation so anesthetized to human-on-human violence.
Couldn’t be more timely - I highly recommend this read for anyone concerned about our nation so anesthetized to human-on-human violence.
November 11, 2025
There is a story at the end of this book about the Sandy Hook shooting that ripped my heart out while reading it.
Gun culture is a cancer
The NRA is a cancer
Gun culture is a cancer
The NRA is a cancer
November 11, 2020
Every once in a while, a nonfiction book comes along that really changes the way I view the world. Senator Chris Murphy's book has done just that by opening my eyes further to the ways that gun violence has damaged the lives of so many and continues to corrode away at our country.
Murphy was a representative for the Sandy Hook community when they experienced the horrifying massacre at the elementary school back in 2012. Seeing the tragedy through someone who was close to the situation put it into even clearer perspective for me. If the government was not willing to pass stricter gun laws after the deaths of first graders, they aren't ever going to. But Murphy's book is an insightful dig into so much more than just the Sandy Hook event. He examines how our country has been shaped by gun violence since the very first Europeans arrived in the US all the way through the invention of the semi-automatic weapon. He looks at how our country struggles with poverty and mental illness (since suicide by gun is such a huge problem). And then at the end of the chapters listing these incredibly depressing statistics, Murphy also leaves the reader feeling hopeful. If people are still inspired to fight the NRA and the GOP in order to get some common sense gun laws passed, then there is a small degree of hope left.
I won't ever look at a school shooting or an act of gun violence the same way after reading this book, and I admire Murphy so much for inserting his own feelings and his own fighting spirit into every page. There is still so much for us to understand about the reasons people are driven to violence, and I appreciated the ability to learn more than I did before.
*Free ARC provided by Netgalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review*
Murphy was a representative for the Sandy Hook community when they experienced the horrifying massacre at the elementary school back in 2012. Seeing the tragedy through someone who was close to the situation put it into even clearer perspective for me. If the government was not willing to pass stricter gun laws after the deaths of first graders, they aren't ever going to. But Murphy's book is an insightful dig into so much more than just the Sandy Hook event. He examines how our country has been shaped by gun violence since the very first Europeans arrived in the US all the way through the invention of the semi-automatic weapon. He looks at how our country struggles with poverty and mental illness (since suicide by gun is such a huge problem). And then at the end of the chapters listing these incredibly depressing statistics, Murphy also leaves the reader feeling hopeful. If people are still inspired to fight the NRA and the GOP in order to get some common sense gun laws passed, then there is a small degree of hope left.
I won't ever look at a school shooting or an act of gun violence the same way after reading this book, and I admire Murphy so much for inserting his own feelings and his own fighting spirit into every page. There is still so much for us to understand about the reasons people are driven to violence, and I appreciated the ability to learn more than I did before.
*Free ARC provided by Netgalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review*
June 16, 2020
This book has taught me why America is such a global outlier for higher rates of violent acts (mass shootings, grudge shootings, domestic abuse, & suicides); a romanticism of gun ownership and easy access to the most violent of weapons has thrown gasoline on the fire of an inevitably violent nation. I now have a firmer grasp of America's timeline of gun ownership, regulation, manufacturing, marketing, and deregulation, as well as the NRA's origins, transformation, and evolving influence on American life. I'll let Chris Murphy stun you with the government's rejection of legislative solutions that'd save tens of thousands of American lives each year, but what stunned me the most was that my own faith in America government was actually renewed after reading this book - for Chris Murphy (and his team) to have written this, what in my opinion, reads like top notch investigative journalism or quite honestly true crime, is extremely uplifting for me. Despite our failings as a nation, this book proves there are still truly compassionate people on the side of LIFE - I have never been more motivated to help combat the challenges to curbing violence in general (poverty, inequality, & opportunity.) Chris Murphy, I'm happy to have been acquainted with you and your work, and I am so grateful for your service to this Nation!
May 24, 2022
It’s a must read. Can’t really do justice to how important this book is.
November 24, 2020
Senator Chris Murphy is a very smart thinking man and in his thoughts of why the United States has so much violence he wanders around a lot. He begins with early man, and brains, goes through culture through the centuries, but really only European culture until he gets to the United States of America and its history and brains. Mostly men and their brains. Then goes through the way weapons and the United States has affected itself and the world with weapons and the increasingly difficult time he’s had getting anything done about the mass killings in the USA. He has been affected by it greatly. The Sandy Hook massacre occurred while he was senator of Connecticut and he has had to deal with that and the inability to understand how could happen and why he can’t get legislation passed. The NRA and GOP are intent on selling guns easily. Now with the knowledge that Russian assets were involved in the NRA and the GOP gets money from Russia. We can find out more information. We should also look at money from billionaires going to the NRA and the GOP. Caveats I had about this book which I suspect was made talking into a recorder, the history itself is too Eurocentric. That’s a problem now with the pandemic too. The brain/ physiological science sounds a lot like phrenology. His look at mass killers, especially Adam Lanza, dismisses too readily the possibility of mental illness. Being homicidal is a reason for a mental hygiene arrest so mental illness should be looked at more closely. It’s probably likely the mass shooter is less likely to have gotten treatment and treatment in the United States is pretty minimal and poor. Adam Lanza he notes was diagnosed with developmental disabilities and obsessive compulsive disorder which is an illness. The mother said he was autistic but a doctor who diagnosed this was never found. It’s possible the mother made this up because it was more socially acceptable. She took him out of school when staff became more concerned about him. Even looking at school diagnosis for disabilities, Emotionally Handicapped is very underused. It’s not uncommon for a child who is probably emotionally handicapped to be labeled learning disabled or Other Handicapped condition. This hides mental illness. Sometimes parents can’t deal with it, sometimes school districts don’t want the label because they’re required to provide counseling or other expensive services they want to avoid. Child psychiatrists are often hard to find because they don’t get reimbursed for going to school meetings or with parents. It’s also more acceptable to diagnose a child with autism or obsessive compulsive disorder than schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. I also though Senator Murphy was remiss in pointing out other countries don’t have this type of violence and their attitudes about guns and weapons and violence. It’s also good to discuss times when other countries had mass shootings and stopped the violence afterwards. The USA is so special. We’re part of the world and human. We can get violence and guns under control and the pandemic just like other countries and Europe isn’t the only continent.
January 18, 2023
Chris Murphy takes a difficult and exhausting topic and offers a deep, smart, empathetic perspective by sharing our history as a nation, the history of gun lobbies, and how our votes impact our laws. No one likes talking about gun violence, mostly because no one knows how to fix it. Murphy, like many reasonable folks, isn't trying to eliminate guns in America, but rather advocates for COMMON SENSE gun laws. COMMON SENSE means that all guns are registered, everyone purchasing a gun in any circumstance requires a background check, and implementing laws about how to store weapons in the home. I don't know why anyone would be against making it harder for people who shouldn't have guns to get guns. Most Americans, even gun owners, want these changes to make our world safer, but politicians making money off of this topic, REFUSE to even discuss changes. America is notorious for our gun violence. It's heartbreakingly embarrassing. Murphy is compassionate, realistic, and honest about the struggle for change. He will be the catalyst when it does.
April 13, 2025
A totally surprising book. Politicians generally write self-serving books that support a political campaign. This is not that. Chris Murphy writes passionately about the factors in our psyches that make violence almost inevitable. This underwrites his campaign for sensible gun laws. Gun ownership makes violence virtually inevitable. it also must be said that Murphy's book is extraordinarily well-written and sourced.
June 10, 2022
I don't see how you could read this and not want to fix the problem of violence in America. This is an excellent resource that looks at some complex problems.
October 1, 2020
Wow. Pretty sure this was the first time since BOY'S LIFE that the last few pages of a book made me cry.
And that was fiction. :(
And that was fiction. :(
May 1, 2021
3+
Not as grim as I expected nor as dry. There's no true crime here or retelling of a single event, but Sandy Hook needfully interweaves throughout the narrative and Murphy's journey to becoming a gun control hawk. Personal but factual, with historical scope and personal stories. Reads like a policy outline and argument but in many ways, considering the source and the purpose, shouldn't it?
Delves deeper into bigger issues in straightforward language that gets at why yes, gun laws are needed, but systemic change must be undertaken to truly change the various always-moving dynamics at work in the USA that cause violence [and gun violence]. Murphy proves knowledgeable and sensitive to many of our entrenched ills but isn't an absolutist when it comes to wanting common sense gun legislation.
Mass shootings are the most sensational gun crimes that parade across our awareness at an all too rapid rate, but the aren't the most pervasive, and Murphy covers these smaller, personal tragedies that ripple out and out, to how US gun access and culture, and our reliance on enforcement-first, has affected other countries.
Also names names from Senate colleagues and gets into some of the details of passing -- or at least pushing -- laws, and I appreciate the naming and their respective actions/ reactions/ inactions laid out.
There's a call to action at the end that could seem cheesy if Murphy hadn't come into his own as willing to fight for gun control. If you're interested in fighting for change surrounding guns and violence that stems from them--in the US and abroad--this is an excellent primer. Read it once to get the gist for yourself, and then keep it on hand to help inform arguments made to others.
Not as grim as I expected nor as dry. There's no true crime here or retelling of a single event, but Sandy Hook needfully interweaves throughout the narrative and Murphy's journey to becoming a gun control hawk. Personal but factual, with historical scope and personal stories. Reads like a policy outline and argument but in many ways, considering the source and the purpose, shouldn't it?
Delves deeper into bigger issues in straightforward language that gets at why yes, gun laws are needed, but systemic change must be undertaken to truly change the various always-moving dynamics at work in the USA that cause violence [and gun violence]. Murphy proves knowledgeable and sensitive to many of our entrenched ills but isn't an absolutist when it comes to wanting common sense gun legislation.
Mass shootings are the most sensational gun crimes that parade across our awareness at an all too rapid rate, but the aren't the most pervasive, and Murphy covers these smaller, personal tragedies that ripple out and out, to how US gun access and culture, and our reliance on enforcement-first, has affected other countries.
Also names names from Senate colleagues and gets into some of the details of passing -- or at least pushing -- laws, and I appreciate the naming and their respective actions/ reactions/ inactions laid out.
There's a call to action at the end that could seem cheesy if Murphy hadn't come into his own as willing to fight for gun control. If you're interested in fighting for change surrounding guns and violence that stems from them--in the US and abroad--this is an excellent primer. Read it once to get the gist for yourself, and then keep it on hand to help inform arguments made to others.
March 7, 2023
Very well researched and written. Not such a fan of his jumping time and place between paragraphs, leaving the reader to catch up in a moment but minor criticism. As interesting and thought provoking as the book and its subject matter is the very personal story of the author’s transformation. He writes in the acknowledgements that he planned to write a different book, but someone suggested it be personal. Good advice.
August 23, 2021
This is a frustrating book.
First - Murphy does an excellent job laying out the history of the United States from the focus of violence. Why we are the way we are. He combines a lot of points made in many other books into what I think is a clear picture of how we got here. My only "complaint" about this part of the book is that it's too short, and I think he could go more in-depth. This isn't Chris' fault, but it's also stuff I knew already. If you are someone who is well-read on American history, especially the less-than-savory bits related to slavery, oppression, etc., then there isn't anything new for you here.
Second - The policy. Murphy, once again, does an excellent job laying out a cogent argument for simple policies that would work, and be widely popular among American voters on both sides of the aisle. He is extremely fair with conservative voters, and is wildly complimentary to his Republican 'friends' in congress. He has one particularly long story about how Lindsey Graham is actually a good guy. Honestly, he is a lot more fair and open minded than I am on the subject. This is surprising given the label that his "friends" on the right have given him as "the gun control guy". The problem with the policy aspect of the book is that, the people who would most benefit from reading this book *will never, ever read it*. There are 'reviews' on Goodreads that are evidence to that. The people, meanwhile, who will read this book, are already in agreement with Chris. So, I'm not sure if the book will have the effect he is hoping it will.
Even though the book just came out, it was mostly written in 2017-2020. As such, the goodwill Murphy has toward the Republican party already seems quaint and outdated. The actions of a lot of his colleagues in the last year have kind of proven Murphy wrong, and his writing about how they "will do the right thing once they see that democracy hangs in the balance" seems completely naive.
Finally - The personal stories he tells in the book of his dramatic rise to being a senator at a young age, and all the bills he championed and failed to pass are kind of dull and uninteresting. He seems like a good guy, whose heart is in the right place, but I found these sections of the book to be very self-aggrandizing.
In the end, I'm glad a book like this exists. It feels good knowing that there's at least one person in congress who *gets* it. Not just that we have a problem, but also the complex and myriad ways that we got here. But, I'm not sure what good it will do.
First - Murphy does an excellent job laying out the history of the United States from the focus of violence. Why we are the way we are. He combines a lot of points made in many other books into what I think is a clear picture of how we got here. My only "complaint" about this part of the book is that it's too short, and I think he could go more in-depth. This isn't Chris' fault, but it's also stuff I knew already. If you are someone who is well-read on American history, especially the less-than-savory bits related to slavery, oppression, etc., then there isn't anything new for you here.
Second - The policy. Murphy, once again, does an excellent job laying out a cogent argument for simple policies that would work, and be widely popular among American voters on both sides of the aisle. He is extremely fair with conservative voters, and is wildly complimentary to his Republican 'friends' in congress. He has one particularly long story about how Lindsey Graham is actually a good guy. Honestly, he is a lot more fair and open minded than I am on the subject. This is surprising given the label that his "friends" on the right have given him as "the gun control guy". The problem with the policy aspect of the book is that, the people who would most benefit from reading this book *will never, ever read it*. There are 'reviews' on Goodreads that are evidence to that. The people, meanwhile, who will read this book, are already in agreement with Chris. So, I'm not sure if the book will have the effect he is hoping it will.
Even though the book just came out, it was mostly written in 2017-2020. As such, the goodwill Murphy has toward the Republican party already seems quaint and outdated. The actions of a lot of his colleagues in the last year have kind of proven Murphy wrong, and his writing about how they "will do the right thing once they see that democracy hangs in the balance" seems completely naive.
Finally - The personal stories he tells in the book of his dramatic rise to being a senator at a young age, and all the bills he championed and failed to pass are kind of dull and uninteresting. He seems like a good guy, whose heart is in the right place, but I found these sections of the book to be very self-aggrandizing.
In the end, I'm glad a book like this exists. It feels good knowing that there's at least one person in congress who *gets* it. Not just that we have a problem, but also the complex and myriad ways that we got here. But, I'm not sure what good it will do.
September 1, 2020
The Violence Inside Us is the new book by author Chris Murphy. This book is an in-depth look into the violence that our country has been dealing with...something Senator Chris Murphy knows all too well. I still remember that horrific day when a senseless act of violence took the lives of twenty-six people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut. Twenty children between the ages of six and seven lost their lives that day, and I truly thought that would be a turning point for the United States. However, nothing changed, and this country continues to be ravaged by violence.
Chris Murphy provides a well-researched history of the violence that has always been present in this country, and carefully examines what needs to be done in order to make changes. It is more than just changing laws and regulations...it is about changing attitudes. There are some that will not agree with his point of view and nothing anyone says will ever change their minds when it comes to their guns. However, I honestly feel that he tries to address this issue from all points of view. This is a book that not only examines the history of violence, but it also tells the personal stories behind it.
Overall, The Violence Inside Us is a book that is full of history and heartbreak, but one that I feel is an important step in the right direction for solving this ongoing problem. Regardless of political views, this is definitely a book worth reading.
I would like to thank Random House Publishing Group-Random House and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book. My views are my own, and are in no way influenced by anyone else.
Chris Murphy provides a well-researched history of the violence that has always been present in this country, and carefully examines what needs to be done in order to make changes. It is more than just changing laws and regulations...it is about changing attitudes. There are some that will not agree with his point of view and nothing anyone says will ever change their minds when it comes to their guns. However, I honestly feel that he tries to address this issue from all points of view. This is a book that not only examines the history of violence, but it also tells the personal stories behind it.
Overall, The Violence Inside Us is a book that is full of history and heartbreak, but one that I feel is an important step in the right direction for solving this ongoing problem. Regardless of political views, this is definitely a book worth reading.
I would like to thank Random House Publishing Group-Random House and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book. My views are my own, and are in no way influenced by anyone else.
November 23, 2020
4.8/5 stars!
"Violence is biology, not destiny" Chris Murphy in The Violence Inside Us
The Violence Inside Us was not what I expected it to be at all. To be fair, I didn't acknowledge the person who wrote the book when I picked it up. The author is Chris Murphy, a US Senator! I was expecting a full biological explanation of violence with many big words and case study examples. But this book took it upon itself to address the topic of America's violent culture. Murphy gave brief explanations of our biological violent makeup and historical proof that violence is a part of all of us. He mostly guides us through his experiences with violence in his career, but it is written in a manner that is easy to follow. But it is NOT an easy read because of the topics he brings up. It brings up so many feels!
Murphy focuses on the results of violence, and the weapons that violence birthed.
He uses anecdotes of peoples lives to illustrate the cruelty of our firearms. Essentially, it illustrates the people who's lives could've been different if our system had better gun control. The topics I recall the most have to do with poverty, racial prejudice/assumptions, and most importantly, school shootings. His conclusion regarding the quote above gave me hope for the future.
I haven't read non-fiction too much, but I loved this! I truly enjoyed everything about it. I gave it 4.8 stars because at points it did feel a little slow, but that might just be me? Please read! If you're thinking about it... just do it! If you want to be more informed of gun control or just curious of America's violent culture/past.
"Violence is biology, not destiny" Chris Murphy in The Violence Inside Us
The Violence Inside Us was not what I expected it to be at all. To be fair, I didn't acknowledge the person who wrote the book when I picked it up. The author is Chris Murphy, a US Senator! I was expecting a full biological explanation of violence with many big words and case study examples. But this book took it upon itself to address the topic of America's violent culture. Murphy gave brief explanations of our biological violent makeup and historical proof that violence is a part of all of us. He mostly guides us through his experiences with violence in his career, but it is written in a manner that is easy to follow. But it is NOT an easy read because of the topics he brings up. It brings up so many feels!
Murphy focuses on the results of violence, and the weapons that violence birthed.
He uses anecdotes of peoples lives to illustrate the cruelty of our firearms. Essentially, it illustrates the people who's lives could've been different if our system had better gun control. The topics I recall the most have to do with poverty, racial prejudice/assumptions, and most importantly, school shootings. His conclusion regarding the quote above gave me hope for the future.
I haven't read non-fiction too much, but I loved this! I truly enjoyed everything about it. I gave it 4.8 stars because at points it did feel a little slow, but that might just be me? Please read! If you're thinking about it... just do it! If you want to be more informed of gun control or just curious of America's violent culture/past.
June 6, 2022
Simply stated: a must read. As we continue to slaughter each other with gun violence; gun violence that we also choose to continue to allow to happen largely unabated - Chris Murphy and activists like him look to change hearts and actions. Thoughts and prayers every time a mass shooting occurs is not enough. ~100 people a day die from gun shot wounds (self, accidental or intentionally inflicted by another) and most are preventable, if only we had the will. If you’re a gun owner and supporter of gun rights, don’t immediately think: “oh Sen Chris Murphy is a bleeding heart liberal who wants to confiscate my guns.” That would be a wrong assessment of a man with much nuance. Murphy states several times in his book that the individual right to bear arms is a Constitutional right (one reaffirmed by the Heller SCOTUS case, that by the way Murphy agreed with - yeah this surprised me too). So he’s not a gun confiscating crusader. His policy ideas are modest at best when it comes to gun control measures, and he realizes the they are only quick easy fixes to gun v violence, but that underlying issues of systemic prejudice and poverty are driving the cycles of violence that plague our nation like no other. The gun of course makes the violence both easier and more devastating, but it is not the underlying cause. I would encourage all who feel gun control is Chris Murphys sole focuses, or that feel it should be, to read this thoughtful book. It’s much more nuanced than I expected from the ‘press’ on Murphy. Yes he’s a liberal Democrat, but he’s also thoughtful and moderate as it turn out.
October 17, 2020
The Violence Inside Us, by US Senator Chris Murphy, is well-written and well-researched. The chapters are well organized and the stats and data easy to consume. Murphy writes with purpose about his own journey of understanding all the nuances of violence, guns in America, poverty, and racism. His humanity and humility are refreshing and make the story personal. Murphy takes on difficult subjects and is forceful in his emotional as well as logical arguments. This is a difficult book to read – sometimes it brought on tears and sometimes I had to set it aside. It’s difficult because it forced me to look deeply at issues from various sides. In some ways the arguments and situations (e.g. power of the gun lobby, lack of commitment from elected officials to take any actions), he lays out are overwhelming and can feel hopeless to resolve. Yet Murphy provides hope and challenges the reader. I encourage you to read this book. Don’t look the other way.
December 3, 2020
I have yet to hear an explanation from anyone as to why they need semi-automatic guns or guns that fire so many bullets at once. Saying, “because it’s my second amendment right” is not an explanation. People who care more about having certain types of guns and/or ammunition over saving people’s lives are just selfish. I’m guessing they wouldn’t feel the same way if one of their loved ones had been killed by someone wielding a gun meant for the military. The goal is not to remove ALL the guns. If you’re a responsible gun owner, why have an issue with common sense measures such as universal background checks? I can’t imagine losing a loved one to such senseless violence, knowing it could’ve been prevented but certain people in Congress chose to do nothing. We need more people like Chris Murphy to accomplish real change.
March 31, 2021
Chris Murphy tackles the gun issue sometimes politically and historically sometimes personally but without the cant you usually hear from a sitting American politician. He is the Senator in my state elected shortly after the Sandy Hook shooting of first graders not far from where I live and people I know were directly affected. I myself was substituted teaching a few weeks after the incident and had to have a lockdown at the school where I was subbing for a kindergarten class. For 45 minutes my class had to contend with the very real possibility of an active shooter situation. Try calming five-year-olds hiding in a closet singing camp songs while we hope the scary situation blows over. Anyway as you may guess by my politics and experience I am not a fan of loose gun laws.
September 28, 2020
This is not your typical politician's book. It's not an exercise in self-promotion or a self-congratulatory life history. Instead, Murphy traces his own journey on the issue of gun violence, freely and repeatedly admitting to his failures and blind spots throughout. The book ranges wide -- from urban gun violence to mass shootings to our brain chemistry and the long history of violence itself. It's ambitious, but Murphy pulls it off. It's hard not to get emotional when reading about all the needless and senseless loss of life that the U.S. allows, but the book also paints a justifiably hopefully picture of the upward political trajectory of the gun violence movement.
November 17, 2020
Chris Murphy's "The Violence Inside Us" is a jaw-dropping look at violence perpetrated by Americans within our cities and states and into other parts of the world. I think that the way that one analyzes this book will definitely be influenced by their political stance, but from my view, the way that Americans have embraced this system of personal rights over collective safety is quite frightening. Murphy also explains how we have tried to push our system of government and American ideals, which, based on this book aren't necessarily, onto other countries that haven't actually asked for our help. I can't recommend this book enough.
December 7, 2020
4.5 stars. This is not just a book about gun violence: Rather, it's an in-depth look at violence and all of its mutations in American society (and foreign-policy). Murphy connects violence to endemic racism and poverty in American society and concludes that, because of its brutal settler-colonial and slavery-based origins, the United States was always going to be a violent place—but that the presence of guns, racism, and poverty (all of which can be moderated by good policy!) have made it exponentially worse, an anomaly in the developed world.
As Murphy so succinctly summarizes: "Our nation has chosen to anesthetize itself to human-on-human violence like no other country in the world."
As Murphy so succinctly summarizes: "Our nation has chosen to anesthetize itself to human-on-human violence like no other country in the world."
December 23, 2020
Senator Murphy has some great ideas here. But his main point is common sense gun law work in reducing violence in America. The statistics are irrefutable. And consider that the day Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary and shot and killed 21 people, a man in China knifed 21 people in a horrific attack. The difference is that no one died from that attack. America is an outlier in gun murders and suicides by gun. Without the proliferation of guns, we would not be an outlier in murder and suicide statistics. The reason we have so many incidents that end in death is our access to guns. The proof is in this book. We just lack the political will to act on it.
November 4, 2020
This is an excellent book. It takes a subject that is complex and emotional and discusses it in a way that allows the reader to absorb what is being said. It is honest, and personal, yet it maintains an objectivity that gives the subject weight, not the author.
This highly complex subject is broken down into easy-to-read bits but it does not oversimplify the topic. It gives an overview of the contextual history without getting bogged down in excuses. And it doesn't try to provide easy answers when the author knows there are none. A really, really good book.
This highly complex subject is broken down into easy-to-read bits but it does not oversimplify the topic. It gives an overview of the contextual history without getting bogged down in excuses. And it doesn't try to provide easy answers when the author knows there are none. A really, really good book.
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