What do you think?
Rate this book
Gun Crusaders: The NRA’s Culture War
Gun Crusaders is a fascinating inside look at how the four-million member National Rifle Association and its committed members come to see each and every gun control threat as a step down the path towards gun confiscation, and eventually socialism. Enlivened by a rich analysis of NRA materials, meetings, leader speeches, and unique in-depth interviews with NRA members, Gun Crusaders focuses on how the NRA constructs and perceives threats to gun rights as one more attack in a broad liberal cultural war. Scott Melzer shows that the NRA promotes a nostalgic vision of frontier masculinity, whereby gun rights defenders are seen as patriots and freedom fighters, defending not the freedom of religion, but the religion of individual rights and freedoms.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 18, 2019
Gun Crusaders is not a first gun related book so my review is a biased one. The book may be a good introductory book but may not be supplementary one.
March 9, 2020
Having worked with a lot of active NRA members when I lived in Texas, found this a good introductory analysis of the NRA.
September 9, 2016
Melzer looks at the NRA as a male dominated culture invested in frontier masculinity. A really good analysis for anyone wanting to understand the history and cultural appeal of the organization. Melzer's most interesting point is how conservatives have used the language about rights developed by identity politics for their own ends.
"Today's NRA is a cultural warrior for the right, so it is no surprise when fellow conservative cultural warriors are invited to speak at NRA gatherings about the perceived biases of the "liberal media," gun related and otherwise." 9
"Committed NRA members support for gun rights is about freedom, independence, self-reliance, and their American way of life. Though they rally behind and respond to these ideas, beneath all that is fear." 11
"What drives them to join the movement is not pride or celebration, but a dedication to stem the tide eroding their religion of individual rights and freedoms, to defend what I call "frontier masculinity."" 16
"This "separate spheres" doctrine, popularized by authors writing advice books for men, was clear-cut: men were in charge of the public (work) sphere, and women were confined to the domestic (home) sphere. This helped white men deal with the insecurities of losing their status as self-employed artisans and fearless outdoorsman, positions pushed aside by industrialization." 31
"Regarding a long standing come culture, The best research finds that 40 to 60% of the late 17th and early 18th century wealth holders owned a working gun, and that firearms were more prevalent among Southern, rural, White, non-poor man." 32
"The frontier had been transformed into that more modest outdoors." 35
"Challenges to gender and racial arrangements at a second Highpoint in the 1960s, highlighted by deindustrializaion and declining working class incomes, A failed war in Vietnam, and movements for civil rights, women's rights, and gay and lesbian rights." 47
"A far cry from their father's generation-The celebrated heroes who bravely fought against and defeated fascism, saved the world, and secured American freedom-The men of this later generation found that the Vietnam War had left deep scars on the American male psyche, as well as the entire nation." 56
"Though the NRA has been winning battles over gun control, American culture has largely veered to the left since the 1960s, even as US politics has a veered to the right." 59
"When threats of federal gun control legislation increased, NRA membership levels increased. When gun control threats faded, membership also declined."81
"Gun rights was the first "rights" issue for the right, used occasionally by the NRA even before the liberal rights movement of the 1960s. The emergence of a powerful gun rights movement in the 1970s help take back some control of the highly resonant "rights" frame from liberals." 105
"Just as with any large group, "conservative" vary tremendously in their social and political views. The three primary threads of US conservatism have been libertarianism, anti-Communist militarism (succeeded by neoconservatism) and traditionalism." 131
"Today's NRA is a cultural warrior for the right, so it is no surprise when fellow conservative cultural warriors are invited to speak at NRA gatherings about the perceived biases of the "liberal media," gun related and otherwise." 9
"Committed NRA members support for gun rights is about freedom, independence, self-reliance, and their American way of life. Though they rally behind and respond to these ideas, beneath all that is fear." 11
"What drives them to join the movement is not pride or celebration, but a dedication to stem the tide eroding their religion of individual rights and freedoms, to defend what I call "frontier masculinity."" 16
"This "separate spheres" doctrine, popularized by authors writing advice books for men, was clear-cut: men were in charge of the public (work) sphere, and women were confined to the domestic (home) sphere. This helped white men deal with the insecurities of losing their status as self-employed artisans and fearless outdoorsman, positions pushed aside by industrialization." 31
"Regarding a long standing come culture, The best research finds that 40 to 60% of the late 17th and early 18th century wealth holders owned a working gun, and that firearms were more prevalent among Southern, rural, White, non-poor man." 32
"The frontier had been transformed into that more modest outdoors." 35
"Challenges to gender and racial arrangements at a second Highpoint in the 1960s, highlighted by deindustrializaion and declining working class incomes, A failed war in Vietnam, and movements for civil rights, women's rights, and gay and lesbian rights." 47
"A far cry from their father's generation-The celebrated heroes who bravely fought against and defeated fascism, saved the world, and secured American freedom-The men of this later generation found that the Vietnam War had left deep scars on the American male psyche, as well as the entire nation." 56
"Though the NRA has been winning battles over gun control, American culture has largely veered to the left since the 1960s, even as US politics has a veered to the right." 59
"When threats of federal gun control legislation increased, NRA membership levels increased. When gun control threats faded, membership also declined."81
"Gun rights was the first "rights" issue for the right, used occasionally by the NRA even before the liberal rights movement of the 1960s. The emergence of a powerful gun rights movement in the 1970s help take back some control of the highly resonant "rights" frame from liberals." 105
"Just as with any large group, "conservative" vary tremendously in their social and political views. The three primary threads of US conservatism have been libertarianism, anti-Communist militarism (succeeded by neoconservatism) and traditionalism." 131
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews