
Citizen-Protectors
The Everyday Politics of Guns in an Age of Decline
Jennifer Carlson(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 21. May 2015
Book
Hardback
248 pages
978-0-19-934755-1 (ISBN)
Description
From gang- and drug-related shootings to mass shootings in schools, shopping centers, and movie theatres, reports of gun crimes fill the headlines of newspapers and nightly news programs. At the same time, a different kind of headline has captured public attention: a steady surge in pro-gun sentiment among Americans. A Gallup poll conducted just a month after the Newtown school shootings found that 74% of Americans oppose a ban on hand-guns, and at least 11 million people now have licenses to carry concealed weapons as part of their everyday lives. Why do so many Americans not only own guns but also carry them?
In Citizen-Protectors, Jennifer Carlson offers a compelling portrait of gun carriers, shedding light on Americans' complex relationship with guns. Delving headlong into the world of gun carriers, Carlson spent time participating in firearms training classes, attending pro-gun events, and carrying a firearm herself. Through these experiences she explores the role guns play in the lives of Americans who carry them and shows how, against a backdrop of economic insecurity and social instability, gun carrying becomes a means of being a good citizen, an idea that not only pervades the NRA's public literature and statements, but its training courses as well.
A much-needed counterpoint to the rhetorical battles over gun control, Citizen-Protectors is a captivating and revealing look at gun culture in America, and is a must-read for anyone with a stake in this heated debate.
In Citizen-Protectors, Jennifer Carlson offers a compelling portrait of gun carriers, shedding light on Americans' complex relationship with guns. Delving headlong into the world of gun carriers, Carlson spent time participating in firearms training classes, attending pro-gun events, and carrying a firearm herself. Through these experiences she explores the role guns play in the lives of Americans who carry them and shows how, against a backdrop of economic insecurity and social instability, gun carrying becomes a means of being a good citizen, an idea that not only pervades the NRA's public literature and statements, but its training courses as well.
A much-needed counterpoint to the rhetorical battles over gun control, Citizen-Protectors is a captivating and revealing look at gun culture in America, and is a must-read for anyone with a stake in this heated debate.
Reviews / Votes
In this insightful, often eye-popping study, Jennifer Carlson describes how millions of Americans have come to view carrying of concealed guns in public as a civic obligation - and to regard killing in self-defense as a moral act. Whether you embrace these views or find them repugnant, the study will force you to grapple with uncomfortable questions about the role of the state vs. the individual in maintaining public order. * Kristin A. Goss, Duke University, and co-author of The Gun Debate: What Everyone Needs to KnowRG * Carlson's study is the first to take gun carriers seriously as social subjects, a breakthrough in our national discussion of guns, law, and society. -Jonathan Simon, University of California, Berkeley In this riveting and reflexive ethnography, Jennifer Carlson locks, loads, and fires a nuanced argument about how guns are used to address problems of social, economic, and physical insecurities in the United States. The findings compel the reader to reflect on the ubiquitous and embodied American culture of self-reliance, racialized criminalization, and vigilantism. * Victor Rios, University of California, Santa Barbara and author of Punished * "In Citizen-Protectors, Jennifer Carlson explores Americansa love for firearms. During her research for this book, Jennifer Carlson took part in firearms training sessions, attended pro-arm gatherings, and carried a gun herself. With the help of the stories of gun-carriers, Jennifer Carlson opens a window into the complexities of American gun culture and the dramatic changes it has undergone over the past several decades." - The Washington Book ReviewMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
531 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-934755-1 (9780199347551)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
09/2018
Oxford University Press Inc
€30.60
Shipment within 15-20 days

E-Book
04/2015
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€9.99
Available for download

E-Book
04/2015
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€9.99
Available for download
Person
Jennifer Carlson is an American sociologist at the University of Toronto. She is an authority on the issue of guns, and has written widely on the topic, including in the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Christian Science Monitor.
Author
Assistant Professor, Department of SociologyAssistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto
Content
Acknowledgements ; Chapter 1: American Dreams, American Nightmares ; Chapter 2: Criminal Insecurities ; Chapter 3: NRA Training and the Everyday Politics of Gun Carry ; Chapter 4: The Right to Self-Defense, the Duty to Protect ; Chapter 5: Policing Guns, Profiling People ; Chapter 6: Jumping the Gun ; Conclusion: We Hope for Better Things; It Shall Rise from the Ashes ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index