Basic Pistol
Living and Dying by the Gun in America
Will be published approx. on 17. September 2026
Book
Hardback
320 pages
978-1-5290-9920-1 (ISBN)
Description
'Utterly brilliant . . . deeply researched and thoughtful' - Justin Webb, former BBC North America Editor
This eye-opening encounter with American gun culture reveals the devastating effects of how people are training their minds and bodies to use guns.
Every day, at firearms schools all across the country, Americans are learning how to use a gun. Who are their teachers? What are they being taught? To answer these questions, Harel Shapira, a sociologist at the University of Texas, has spent ten years immersed in the world of gun-training. Throughout the dozens of classes he has taken, and thousands of shots he has fired, he has been taught that the world is filled with 'bad guys' who can only be stopped by the self-styled 'good guys'. He has learned that he must be prepared to kill or be killed, a division that lies the heart of the gun violence that's now playing out on a daily basis.
Shapira reveals that far from simply teaching the mechanics of gun safety these schools are teaching a way of living in the world that is rooted in racist fears, aggressive masculinity and an entitlement to violence. In storytelling that will take your breath away, we discover that the risk of widespread gun ownership is not simply the possibility of more gun violence and mass shootings. The risk is to the very foundations of democracy itself.
This eye-opening encounter with American gun culture reveals the devastating effects of how people are training their minds and bodies to use guns.
Every day, at firearms schools all across the country, Americans are learning how to use a gun. Who are their teachers? What are they being taught? To answer these questions, Harel Shapira, a sociologist at the University of Texas, has spent ten years immersed in the world of gun-training. Throughout the dozens of classes he has taken, and thousands of shots he has fired, he has been taught that the world is filled with 'bad guys' who can only be stopped by the self-styled 'good guys'. He has learned that he must be prepared to kill or be killed, a division that lies the heart of the gun violence that's now playing out on a daily basis.
Shapira reveals that far from simply teaching the mechanics of gun safety these schools are teaching a way of living in the world that is rooted in racist fears, aggressive masculinity and an entitlement to violence. In storytelling that will take your breath away, we discover that the risk of widespread gun ownership is not simply the possibility of more gun violence and mass shootings. The risk is to the very foundations of democracy itself.
Reviews / Votes
Utterly brilliant. So much more than the usual diatribe about guns: it is deeply researched and thoughtful. It tells a story about a culture without inviting us to dislike any of the people involved -- Justin Webb, former North America Editor for the BBC At once page-turning and deeply disquieting . . . a must read for anyone who wants to understand not just why gun violence is so devastatingly prevalent in the US, but also, and as importantly, how gun ownership has become so normalized, so passionately defended, and so much a part of how countless people now measure their sense of safety as well as connect to their community. -- Heather Ann Thompson, author of Pulitzer Prize-winning <i> Blood in the Water </i> Masterfully crafted . . . penetrates the heart of American gun culture and, somehow, renders it both deeply human and utterly monstrous . . . A fascinating, disturbing and necessary book about the violence of everyday life in the United States -- Eric Klinenberg, author of <i>Palaces for the People</i> With analytic rigor, literary skill, and a deep understanding of his subjects, Shapira takes us into the culture of gun ownership and the far-right with a skill that surpasses most journalism on the subject -- Nicholas Lemann, author of <i>The Transaction Man</i> Groundbreaking ethnography . . . [A] fascinating deep dive into America's obsession with guns -- Adam Winkler, author of <i>Gunfight</i>More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pan Macmillan
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 153 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-5290-9920-1 (9781529099201)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Harel Shapira is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin. In Basic Pistol, as well as his previous book, Waiting for Jose: The Minutemen's Pursuit of America, he uses long term ethnographic research to understand right wing politics and gun culture in contemporary America. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation as well as the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, and his writing has been featured in The New York Times and The New Republic. In 2015 he was named an Andrew Carnegie Fellow, and in 2021 a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study.