1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910778528803321

Autore

Melzer Scott

Titolo

Gun crusaders [[electronic resource] ] : the NRA's culture war / / Scott Melzer

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, : New York University Press, c2009

ISBN

0-8147-5950-5

1-4416-3156-9

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (336 p.)

Disciplina

323.4/3

Soggetti

Gun control - United States

Firearms ownership - United States

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1 Frontier Masculinity, America’s “Gun Culture,” and the NRA -- 2 Why a Gun Movement? -- 3 Framing Threats to Gun Rights -- 4 Under Attack -- 5 Fighting the Culture Wars -- 6 The Politics of Commitment -- 7 Right and Far-Right Moral Politics -- 8 The Ties That Bind -- Epilogue -- Appendix -- Notes -- Index -- About the Author

Sommario/riassunto

Nothing conjures up images of the American frontier and a pick-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps view of freedom and independence quite like guns. 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.