Good pro-gun books for teenagers?

[mlaustin]

As you may be able to guess from the little "Location" box on the left, I come from a very liberal state. I live in Davis now, but I grew up in the Bay Area, which is notable for having some of the most liberal beliefs of anywhere in the nation. My entire childhood, I was assaulted by anti-gun messages from school, TV, and neighbors. My father, who spent 9 years in the Navy and grew up in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, was glad to teach me about guns when I developed an interest, but my mother is staunchly anti-gun, so going to the shooting range with my Dad's friends was always our big secret. To give you an example of how bad it is where I'm from, when I was home a week ago for Thanksgiving, I saw some of our neighbors while I was walking our dogs, and said hello. They were very cold and didn't even reply, and when I asked my father why this was (some family feud or zoning/HOA thing, perhaps?), he explained that he'd told them he was cooking duck that I'd shot for dinner a few weeks ago and they decided that the fact that I hunted made me pure, complete evil. Such that they wouldn't even speak to me.

Anyways, the reason I'm posting here is that I have two younger sisters (18 and 13) who are being almost completely won over to the anti-gun side. This struck me really hard when my 18 year old sister came up to Davis for a week as part of applying for colleges (to see if she wanted to go to a big state school like I do) and was shocked and horrified that I owned guns and hunted.

I hate to see this happen, but I don't live at home and don't feel like starting arguments with my parents while I'm home (between work and school, I get to see my family for about 3 weeks a year and would prefer not to spend that arguing with them). So, since I know a lot of you are older and have kids, or entered into the gun culture at a younger age than I did - can you suggest any good, age appropriate books for 13 and 18 year old girls that might give a different perspective than the one sided one my sisters are currently getting? I'm not trying to indoctrinate them or anything, just to give them another voice, since I remember growing up in that environment and wish that someone had given me a pro-gun viewpoint before I turned 16 and started questioning what I'd been taught. My whole family are voracious readers. I spent a few hundred dollars on amazon last year and gave most of my adult friends One Second Later and Unintended Consequences as gifts, and they almost universally loved them (except for "UC could have been about 400 pages shorter..."), and more than one of my liberal friends has asked to come shooting with me so they'll know how guns work "just in case" and wound up enjoying themselves a great deal. Even my mother admitted that she no longer liked the ATF after reading UC.

I gave my 13 year old sister The Girl Who Owned a City last summer, which isn't really pro-gun, but is more pro-individualism, which she wound up loving. I'm just wondering if anyone else can recommend any other good pro-liberty, pro-gun books that are fun to read and age appropriate (I don't want my 8th grade sister reading about feeding ATF agents to pigs, for example).

 

[Nicodemus38]

"The road" might be good for anyone. open range would be good, heck just about any good classic western would be good.

 

[Shadow Man]

Hmm. Have you tried taking your sister's shooting with you? I have an older sister who is, as far as I can tell, rabidly anti-gun. She refuses to even touch one, and as far as I know has never been shooting. If I could stand being around her for long enough, I may take her out. Couldn't hurt.

As far as pro-gun books...that's a tough one. Most of the "pro-gun/shooting" literature is military related. If you give me a go on that, I could give you dozens of titles that you would probably enjoy yourself. You would have to decide who could read what though, because I started reading Clancy at 14, so my view of age-appropriate literature is a little...flawed

"The Road." Damn, that's sitting on my desk, waiting to be read. It's third in line though, so it will have to wait.

Edit: You got my creative juices working now sir, this just occurred to me: start the 18yr old on Vince Flynn books. He has a series, so start from the beginning. Not only pro-gun, bu pro-counter-terrorism. He is an excellent author, and his series squashed ANY liberal thought I EVER entertained.

 

[mlaustin]

I had read all the Clancy books by the time I was about 16 (except the non-fiction ones...never got into those) - they actually started shaping my beliefs as much as anything else while in HS. My parents have this great picture of me, age ~13 on a Boy Scouting trip reading a hardback copy of Patriot Games that looks HUGE in my hands. I remember that my first experience with politics was reading about a "right-wing" something in a Clancy book and having to ask my father what that meant.

And as to taking my sisters shooting, that's not happening. My mother would actually murder me (probably with a knife :-D). She tolerates my owning guns, but hates that I do.

I was looking more for books that would appeal to girls. I loved Clancy, but I can't picture either of my sisters reading it. The beauty of Girl Who Owned a City is that it's a young adult book written for girls first and an objectivist novel second. If I gave my sisters, even though they love reading, a copy of The Road (currently sitting on my desk unread too), they'd probably look at the grizzled man on the cover, read the words "post-apocalyptic" on the back, say something like "Uh...thanks..." and then never read it. Same with most western novels - these are girls who grew up in upper-middle class suburbia. I'm sure there must be some really good pro-gun fiction targeted towards teenagers (and hopefully towards teenage girls), I just never had much of a childhood reading phase (or childhood at all), and most of what I read back then or today is just not something that would appeal to them or that I could even give them in good conscious knowing the content of it.

Any pro-gun Dads who can recommend what thier teenage daughters liked to read?

 

[Shadow Man]

Sir, you and I are in the same boat. If my father had ever taken pictures of me on a Scout outing, it would have been Red Storm Rising in my hands.

My mother and sister, two not very hardline pro-gunners, enjoy Flynn. That's really the best I can do for you...they may not be marketed directly to girls, but once you start reading, I found them nearly impossible to put down.

 

[azyogi]

Anything R. Heinlein, Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land. Anne McCaffery, Farnhams Freehold [the whole series] E. Moon, anything [shes a retired Marine. David Weber, any of the Honor Harrington series. Mercedes Lackey, any of the Arrows of the Queen, not gun a book [no guns swords, bows etc.] but heavy into palidins, and training young folk in being aware of ones situation. That's just part of what I'd recomend for young ladies. For boys go with Rick Shelley, start with Cadet and he'll get all the way to Lt. Col.

 

[Mandolin]

+1 for Tom Clancy's work. While there are few instances of private citizens using guns (it's mostly LEO/ military or criminals) there is a great scene in Clear And Present Danger where a corrupt cop is murder by a pair of hitmen. The cop, with a S&W Chief's special, is out-gunned by the bad guys withe their MAC-10s and is killed as is his wife (collateral damage, opened the front door at the wrong time) Anyway, a kid up the street sees this going on and is cleaning a lever-action (?) .22. The kid loads it, and engages the hitmen, hitting one of them in the head, and the guy die ssoon afterward. The Clancy books are very accurate gun-wise, the only real goofs being the "MP-10" caried by Rainbow and giving the Apaches gunships 20mm guns.

 

[alemonkey]

Monster Hunter International.

My copy is currently being passed around to a few friends.

"The Road." Damn, that's sitting on my desk, waiting to be read. It's third in line though, so it will have to wait.

You need to move it up to the top of the list, IMHO. It's my favorite book of all time.

 

[Spencer5883]

For the eighteen year old i would recomend the Enemies Series by Mathew Bracken, but it may be a little strong for her liberal mind to handle. For example it involves killing senators and certain Attorney Generals. One of the main charecters is a women around college age. She is strong willed and independent and of course likes guns.

The first book is called Enemies Foreign and Domestic. Buy it on amazon for 15 bucks for yourself at least.

The Road is also great, but not nearly as pro gun as the Bracken books.

 

[geim druth]

Ease them into the idea of responsible weapons ownership with Harry Potter.

After they read the books point out to them that the wands are deadly weapons as well as handy tools. The wizard kids get their first weapons at 12 years old, their first duelling lessons at 13, and their government is completely incapable of protecting them from evil people.

 

[Shadow Man]

It would be first on the list, but it is proceeded by Blank Spots On the Map (full of leftist "we should know everything the govt does with its black projects" swill, but needed reading for the research) and The Utility of Force. I'll get to it in due time.

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

Unintented Consequences

 

[gunnutery]

I can't say I've seen too many 13 year old kids (especially of the female gender) to read Tom Clancy type books. But I haven't been that age for a little while now, so what do I know. If she enjoys classics or sci-fi, perhaps Lord of the Rings, (same thinking as the Harry Potter suggestion) it's not pro-gun but pro-arms.

 

[svaz]

Multimedia:

No Guns for Negros (part 1)
No Guns for Negros (part 2)

Penn & Teller: BS On Gun Laws (part 1)
Penn & Teller: BS On Gun Laws (part 2)
Penn & Teller: BS On Gun Laws (part 3)

Brits Want Their Guns Back

A little more light-hearted:

Bethany

 

[cauberallies]

I wish I could give you the name of an author or book, but I'm learning more from this thread than I'm contributing by far. I still have a few things to say, though.

First, I hear you on the whole mother issue. My mom HATES guns as well. There is no talking to her either. The sad thing is the reason why. My uncle(dad's brother) is about the worst, most exaggerated, stereotypical example of the crazy, weird, mannerless guy you'd see at a gun show talking your ear off about God knows what, and can't take a hint. Total gun nut, vehemently right-wing, lived an interesting life and enjoys talking about it. I'm not even going to get into the specifics as to why, because there is no real reason other than his personality, but my mom hates him with a passion, but she keeps it to herself, since he is family after all. I actually get along with him very well, and she can't stand it. She is SO worried that I'm going to turn out like him. I mean, she didn't grow up seeing guns in a positive light, but uncle Tim ruined all hope of changing her mind just by being himself.

Two years ago, at age 19, I bought my first gun. It was a POS walmart Maverick 88 12 gauge, but it was still somewhat of a major purchase to me at $200. Since I still live at home, I did the right thing and told my parents. My mother was so disgusted and horrified that she wouldn't be in the same room with me, let alone speak to me, for 2 and a half weeks. When she finally did speak to me, it wasn't pretty. She screamed at me at the top of her lungs for a half hour straight, hitting me, telling me how stupid I am, saying some truly hateful things that are SO out of character for my mother to say. She took my brand new shotgun, smashed it to pieces, threw it away, and said deal with it, or move out.

She still hates guns, my uncle, and anything that reminds her of my uncle, but she has sort of come around. This was achieved by the use of carefully chosen words, and a LOT of time. She still doesn't know that I have guns in the house, but she knows I own several, and thinks I keep them with the aforementioned uncle. The former remains a secret between me and my dad. My dad would rather have guns in the house than not, but my parents have been together for almost 30 years, and he, like many other husbands, figured out a long time ago that the only way to avoid major issues is to say "I agree, honey." to anything and everything he possibly can, short of life or death situations.

My 18 year old sister isn't a huge fan of guns either, but she is even less accepting of the idea of guns in my possession. She is afraid that I am going to fly off the handle sometime and shoot someone in a fit of rage, and I'm not a violent or abusive person. I've never laid a hand on her, or anyone else in my family, nor am I prone to have these fits of rage. I might get into a shouting match with my parents once or twice a year, but that's about it. What kills me is that while she is one of the greatest people I've ever known, she has a good head on her shoulders, and unlike a lot of girls her age, doesn't have the "follow the crowd" mentality, she is also not allowing this issue to be set straight. I don't know how to approach it in a way that either of them will even listen to.


I might try your idea, and give them a book to read that may help. If anyone else has any suggestions, i'm listening. Good luck with your sisters!

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

To give you an example of how bad it is where I'm from, when I was home a week ago for Thanksgiving, I saw some of our neighbors while I was walking our dogs, and said hello. They were very cold and didn't even reply, and when I asked my father why this was (some family feud or zoning/HOA thing, perhaps?), he explained that he'd told them he was cooking duck that I'd shot for dinner a few weeks ago and they decided that the fact that I hunted made me pure, complete evil. Such that they wouldn't even speak to me.

While they themselves ate turkey for Thanksgiving? How did they think the turkey got there?

 

[Shadow Man]

Cauberallies, I would have moved out of there a long time ago...but then again, I haven't been on real speaking terms with my family in quite awhile. As for your 18yr old sister, better fix her idea of guns now, before she heads off to college, because any uncertainty she has now will be blown into full out hatred by the skinny-jean-wearing, starbucks-coffee-sipping, incapable-of-an-original-thought generation that currently inhabits those institutes of higher education.

 

[danprkr]

Refuse to Be a Victim

Can't remember the author, but it helped my first wife come around.

 

[jfh]

For a 13-year old, check into Gary Paulsen's adolescent literature--

specifically, Hatchet.

Here is a link to the Wikipedia entry for it.

I read this when I was sub teaching JHS-HS English about 15 years ago--during the height of the antigun Clinton efforts, and I remember being both impressed that the main character had access to a firearm--and that the description of it was correct.

Jim H.

 

[Nicodemus38]

anything by Drake, Weber, Hammers Slammers series, even the BOLO series is both good at helping logical decisions, as well as breaking the myth of "gun makes you tyrant" crap the anti gun system loves.

 

[mlaustin]

Cauberallies - Thanks for sharing...I'm sorry that things went that way for you. I'd always wanted to own guns, and spent tons of time reading about them, researching them, etc, but was never that rebellious as to just buy one. One of the first things I did when I moved out the dorms at college was buy my first gun, and my parents are pretty accepting of the fact that I own guns and hunt. My mother's attitude is more one of "You're more likely to have an accident with children around guns" than "Guns are bad" which I can at least see the logic of, even if I don't agree with it - she wasn't raised around guns, so she doesn't trust them, and since we live in a very safe area, she doesn't feel the defensive benefits outweigh the liberal-news horror stories of children shooting their siblings. I just got off the phone with them an hour ago, and she's agreed to let me bring A gun home for xmas for hunting as long as it's locked at all times, since I have a weekend pass at Fort Hunter Ligget down south and would have to drive 2 hours north and then 5 south if I wanted to go to my apartment before hunting from my parents house, which is certainly a victory. I decided on my Mossberg (and the rifled barrel that Cabela's SHOULD have mailed out already :-/), and I'm going to try to bring her to shoot trap at least once, since that seems to be the shooting sport most people find the most fun. My father is the same way, except that his little act of subversion was to take me to a gun range in Stockton every month or so with his work buddies and swear me to never tell my mother where we had gone. I think, like most people who've been married 35 years, he's willing to roll over just so he can sleep at night without being nagged.

And Lone Haranguer - They're issue isn't with eating meat, it's with enjoying bloodsport. Apparently, farmed turkeys live an idealic life and then die a peaceful death, completely fulfilled, before being eaten, while i hunt ducks by slowly torturing them to death and therefore I must have mental issues to (and this is a direct quote) "enjoy killing a helpless creature and taking pleasure in it's pain".

Um, yeah. You caught me...*rolls eyes*

 

[mlaustin]

Also, I amazoned Starship Troopers and Arrows of the Queen for my youngest sister this morning. I'm sure she'll like Arrows, since it seems to be the strong teenage girl book, and I'm hoping she'll read Starship Troopers, which I read about a year ago and found to be one of the finest political books ever written but would never have thought of to give to her until it was suggested here. Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[Shadow Man]

"enjoy killing a helpless creature and taking pleasure in it's pain".

Funny, most responsible hunters I know (I don't hunt, for my own reasons, but I know how, and I am not turned off by the idea of harvesting my own meat) are some of the most compassionate people I know. And the amount of posts here on THR talking about ethical shot placement, and using a suitable caliber to ensure a clean kill would seem to contradict that statement. But I know how it is, all of us gun owners are blood crazed psycopaths.

I may be re-stating the obvious here, but its generally just ignorance of our culture that breeds the hate. Perhaps you could show your sisters some of the threads on THR, that might help, I don't know though.

 

[WinchesterAA]

Chemistry books, physics books, other math books, etc would be a good start..

Nothin dispels mystery like a good ol peek at what mystery is.

 

[Seanski]

Pro-gun book

I'll suggest a non-fiction book that I think would appeal to teens willing to examine the subject intellectually. I've given away about a dozen copies of this book to date, to both teens and adults. "Nation of Cowards", by Jeff Snyder provides an outstanding commonsense rebuttal to antigun nonsense. Easy to read and broken down into individual essays, I consider it an essential addition to my home library.