Gun Crusaders

"The author argues a very credible thesis: that the National Rifle Association (NRA) is more than a single-interest group defending the right to own and bear arms. The NRA should also be understood as a social movement organization dedicated broadly to preserving traditional, conservative values." CHOICE "Melzer brilliantly integrates deep personal observation with data and theory to construct a three-dimensional portrait of the modern gun rights movement. In a wonderfully written, engaging, and scrupulously fair narrative, Melzer's book makes a major contribution to our understanding of this tumultuous social movement and also happens to be a really good read." Robert J. Spitzer, author of The Politics of Gun Control "Melzer takes us inside the NRA to reveal that more than gun control - much more - is at stake: a way of life and a definition of manhood that members feel is disintegrating in their hands... [This is] a book that is both balanced and brave, critical and yet compassionate to men who have so lost their way that their guns offer their last tenuous hold on their identity." Michael Kimmel, author of Guyland "This book is well written, and raises interesting issues about the transformation of interest groups in a period of polarized politics." Clyde Wilcox Political Science Quarterly