Armed America Photo Book

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grimjaw

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Book of portraits of American gun owners: "Armed America"

Sorry if this is a dupe, but I couldn't find it by searching.

Just saw a link to a new book of portraits of gun owners in America. It's titled "Armed America" from a photographer named Kyle Cassidy. I'm not familiar with his work other than this, so I can't tell you the man's opinions on firearms and the RKBA.

From the introduction on the website:
The question of gun ownership in America is a fractious one. Even the number of guns in the country is in significant debate. The National Rifle Association (NRA), the country's largest pro-gun lobbying group, quotes the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE)'s estimate that in 1999 there were about 215,000,000 guns in America and one gun in about half of the households in the country. The Brady Campaign (the nation's leading anti-gun coalition) estimates there are 192,000,000 guns in America, owned by 39% of the population.

This isn't a book about guns. It's a book about people.

Whether it's 39% or 50% of Americans, it's still an awful lot of people. I started wondering just who they were, what they looked like, and how they lived. Such was the genesis of Armed America: Portraits of American Gun Owners in Their Homes. The idea was to photograph a hundred gun owners, in their homes, and do a gallery show. I figured this would take about two years. But very soon after I started, it became evident that my ambitions were too low. My mailbox flooded with letters from people I didn't know wanting to participate -- I realized that I could probably photograph a hundred people in two months, but it wasn't a number of people that was important, it was their stories -- a cowboy in Texas, a survivalist in Montana, a deer hunter in Pennsylvania, a sheriff in Georgia, a soldier in Idaho.... What I really needed, I realized, was to get moving, to drive across the country and find America somewhere between here and there.
Click to expand...

http://www.armedamerica.org/

jm
 
Fascinating

I went to the link with passing interest and can't get off the website. I'm seeing most these people for the first time. I love gun owners it just feels like family. It feels right.
 
Armed America: Portraits of Americans and their Guns

Found this on BoingBoing -- a site dedicated to, well, in the authors own words:

"The question of gun ownership in America is a fractious one. Even the number of guns in the country is in significant debate. The National Rifle Association (NRA), the country's largest pro-gun lobbying group, quotes the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE)'s estimate that in 1999 there were about 215,000,000 guns in America and one gun in about half of the households in the country. The Brady Campaign (the nation's leading anti-gun coalition) estimates there are 192,000,000 guns in America, owned by 39% of the population.

This isn't a book about guns. It's a book about people.

Whether it's 39% or 50% of Americans, it's still an awful lot of people. I started wondering just who they were, what they looked like, and how they lived. Such was the genesis of Armed America: Portraits of American Gun Owners in Their Homes. The idea was to photograph a hundred gun owners, in their homes, and do a gallery show. I figured this would take about two years. But very soon after I started, it became evident that my ambitions were too low. My mailbox flooded with letters from people I didn't know wanting to participate -- I realized that I could probably photograph a hundred people in two months, but it wasn't a number of people that was important, it was their stories -- a cowboy in Texas, a survivalist in Montana, a deer hunter in Pennsylvania, a sheriff in Georgia, a soldier in Idaho.... What I really needed, I realized, was to get moving, to drive across the country and find America somewhere between here and there. "

More at: http://www.armedamerica.org/
 
Looks like a kind of a fun book, VacuumJockey. I looked at some of the sample pictures, and the guy doesn't seem to have an agenda. What does a Dane think of it? :)
Marty
 
I was photographed for this book :D I don't know if I'll get into the final cut, I THINK Kyle took more photos than room for images.

He has a blog: kylecassidy.livejournal.com and he regularly posts in the LJ guns community.
 
Bumm: We don't really have a gun culture in Denmark, although hunting is quite popular here. I don't hunt, so to me I suppose it's a classic case of the grass is always greener on the other side-itis

I'm trying to raise the money for a CZ-75, but they're almost twice as expensive here as in the US! So I guess I'm also a bit envious at your low, low prices for brand name merchandise...

And I also really like good portrait photos, and it seems this book is full of them. :)
 
Just a slice of typical America...hardly the menace anti-gunners paint us out to be. They have their job cut out for them if they're going to try demonizing each and every single person depicted in this book.
 
Several of them were minorities and very obviously city dwellers, but guns are "redneck, hillbilly, white trash.":rolleyes:
 
VacuumJockey was saying
>Bumm: We don't really have a gun culture in
> Denmark, although hunting is quite popular here.
> I don't hunt, so to me I suppose it's a classic
> case of the grass is always greener on the other
> side-itis
I wouldn't say so much that we have a gun culture here in America as much as a culture where guns are just accepted. The "gun culture" term seems to be more often used by anti-gunners. But heck, I don't mind a gun culture. :)
The town of Elkhorn, Iowa is maybe 20 miles or so South of me... a VERY Danish community. They've got an old Danish windmill down there that they hauled over in pieces and reassembled, and a Danish museum. And the deer are so thick down there you could get one blindfolded with a ball bat!
Marty
 
My appologies if this has been posted

I was looking through youtube and theres a photographer that was taking pictures of normal middleclass families throughout the United States for a photo book he was doing. Looks like the books getting good reviews too and a few people concerning their comments on youtube and amazon are changing their stereotypes on gun owners only being criminals. I ordered the book as i'm interested. Heres the youtube video and the books website

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LOAJgtHSo8E&mode=related&search=

http://www.armedamerica.org/
 
I've seen this book, and it looks pretty good. It shows you a photo of someone or someones with at least one firearm, and it gives the name of the person or people and the guns. Neat book. Little pricey, though.
 
I like how the book shows that a lot of the gun owners in America are your neighbors, your friends, your family, people that you would trust and the diversity of gun owners of different race, different locations be it in a suburban area or a rural area, etc. I will definitely be showing some people this book, so many uninformed believe anyone who owns a gun is a criminal in the streets or a cop. It is pricey, how many pages is the book?
 
I've been really surprised the last few weeks...I found out about 3 separate elderly couples 65+ that live near by ALL have firearms in their home and they were all proud of their guns and had fire in their eyes when talking about the possibility of ever having to use them in self defense.

I guess the older generation (at least around these parts) is just more in step with taking care of themselves and being prepared than some of the younger folks running around today.
 
They have some pictures on their website with captions and the type of guns, almost like reading a "where's waldo book" try to point out the gun :)
 
I'm a literary publicist

and my company is representing Armed America. We are planning a large talk radio push in mid-August so keep an ear out. It's really a nice book. The only thing I would have suggested doing differently is to have a little more geographic diversity. The book is heavily centered in PA and a few other states.
 
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