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A review by lcl_reads
American Gun: The True Story of the AR-15 by Zusha Elinson, Cameron McWhirter
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
3.5
Overall, a very comprehensive history of the AR-15 and related guns. It is a bit slow, especially at the beginning and spares no detail at all (almost to a fault. I nearly put it down in the middle because it was just so detailed, to the point of starting to become boring).
The second half picks up a bit as it shifts from the invention of the gun to politics and mass shootings. Understanding the history of the gun does underscore the major point that this gun was never meant for civilian use and the explanation of gun mechanics also helps to understand how attempts at gun regulation have fallen short.
As someone who is not as interested in guns or how they work some parts felt very in the weeds for me. It definitely felt like it was written for a gun history buff, which I am not.
I also struggled with references to gangs, gun regulation, and the War on Crime without any connections to race. Some reviews laude the book as "unbiased" (I don't believe a book can be unbiased) which is what I think the authors were going for by not mentioning race, but it made the political discussion feel sanitized and superficial.
The second half picks up a bit as it shifts from the invention of the gun to politics and mass shootings. Understanding the history of the gun does underscore the major point that this gun was never meant for civilian use and the explanation of gun mechanics also helps to understand how attempts at gun regulation have fallen short.
As someone who is not as interested in guns or how they work some parts felt very in the weeds for me. It definitely felt like it was written for a gun history buff, which I am not.
I also struggled with references to gangs, gun regulation, and the War on Crime without any connections to race. Some reviews laude the book as "unbiased" (I don't believe a book can be unbiased) which is what I think the authors were going for by not mentioning race, but it made the political discussion feel sanitized and superficial.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Violence, War, Murder, Death, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Police brutality, Racism, Suicide, Religious bigotry, and Self harm