Too Many Times

August 15, 2020
A collection of writings that both explain and advocate against the explosion of gun-related crimes and deaths in the U.S. Few features of the culture separate America from the rest of the world more than gun violence. As Jill Lepore writes, more Americans own guns than citizens of any other nation on the planet; the runner-up is Yemen, which comes in at only half the rate of ownership per capita. "No civilian population is more powerfully armed," she notes. "Most Americans do not, however, own guns, because three-quarters of people with guns own two or more." There were clear constitutional reasons to permit gun ownership, writes former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, dissenting against a 2008 ruling giving much broader gun rights to individuals: "The stand-alone phrase 'bear arms' most naturally conveys a military meaning unless the addition of a qualifying phrase signals that a different meaning is intended." That there is no qualifying phrase suggests to Stevens that the Second Amendment has been misread. No matter: there are all sorts of miscreants out there in a culture of mayhem whose tutelary symbol might be Charles Whitman, the "Texas Tower Sniper" whose 1966 spree is one of the first mass killings of civilians in American history. (Said one Texan as the event was happening, "Well, I hope they get him off that Tower pretty quick, because the anti-gun people are going to go crazy over this.") But there are other villains in the piece, including corrupt and violent police, a subject on which writer Frank Serpico is an unassailable authority: "When police officers do wrong, use those individuals as examples of what not to do--so that others know that this behavior will not be tolerated." As to how the country became so overrun with weapons in the first place--its initials are NRA. Other contributors include Ibram X. Kendi, Andrew Ross Sorkin, and Shannon Watts. Powerful ammunition, so to speak, for advocates of gun control in a time of uncontrolled violence.

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from September 1, 2020
This spectacular anthology calls for collective action by actually modeling collective action. Its goal is to harness broad thought, expertise, and experience in service of a singular purpose: stopping gun violence. Thinkers of exceptional note, including Ibram X. Kendi and Jill Lepore, contribute essays of conceptual and historical importance. Kendi, for example, argues that guns have eliminated the necessity for white supremacists to gather in numbers to enact terrorism: now, one with a gun can form a lynch mob. In the opening essay, Pamela Colloff shares the direct testimony of dozens who were present at the University of Texas tower sniper shootings in 1966. Also included are the direct addresses of politicians (including New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern); the judiciary (Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens); and CEOs (from WalMart and social media giants). Best of all, the collection doesn't end with an abstract missive that "something" must be done, but with multiple lists containing specific, concrete, actionable items. Readers will walk away well informed and inspired to act.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)