THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING FOLLOW-UP TO AMERICAN SNIPER Join Chris Kyle on a journedy to discover “how 10 firearms changed United States history” (New York Times Book Review) Drawing on his legendary firearms knowledge and combat experience, U.S. Navy SEAL and #1 bestselling author of American Sniper Chris Kyle dramatically chronicles the story of America—from the Revolution to the present—through the lens of ten iconic guns and the remarkable heroes who used them to shape history: the American long rifle, Spencer repeater, Colt .45 revolver, Winchester 1873 rifle, Springfield M1903 rifle, M1911 pistol, Thompson submachine gun, M1 Garand, .38 Special police revolver, and the M16 rifle platform Kyle himself used. American Gun is a sweeping epic of bravery, adventure, invention, and sacrifice. Featuring a foreword and afterword by Taya Kyle and illustrated with more than 100 photographs, this new paperback edition features a bonus chapter, “The Eleventh Gun,” on shotguns, derringers, and the Browning M2 machine gun.

Should you own a gun? -- Americans losing trust in each other and institutions -- Arms and the woman : a feminist reappraisal -- Guns are the tools by which we forge our liberty -- Gun control in American : a history of discimination against the poor and minorities -- Talk at Temple Beth Shir Shalom : Friday, April 30, 1993 -- Apocalypse now? -- They've had enough -- Author's call to arms gets answer -- The anti-enviro connection -- America's only realistic option : promoting responsible gun ownership -- What are the alternative? -- Lawsuit aims at gun industry -- Crime fighting's about-face -- Second thoughts on the Second Amendment -- Ten essential observations on guns in America.

In the United States more than thirty thousand deaths each year can be attributed to firearms. This book on the history of guns in America examines the Second Amendment and the laws and court cases it has spawned. The author’s thorough and objective account shows the complexities of the issue, which are so often reduced to bumper-sticker slogans, and suggests ways in which gun violence in this country can be reduced. Briggs profiles not only protagonists in the national gun debate but also ordinary people, showing the ways guns have become part of the lives of many Americans. Among them are gays and lesbians, women, competitive trapshooters, people in the gun-rights and gun-control trenches, the NRA’s first female president, and the most successful gunsmith in American history. Balanced and painstakingly unbiased, Briggs’s account provides the background needed to follow gun politics in America and to understand the gun culture in which we are likely to live for the foreseeable future.

Excerpt from Firearms in American History: 1600 to 1800 The Colonists in America were the greatest weapon-using people of that epoch in the world. Everywhere the gun was more abundant than the tool. It furnished daily food; it maintained its owners claims to the possession of his homestead among the aboriginal owners of the soil; it helped to win the mother country's wars for possession of the country as a whole. These facts alone raise the interesting questions of what the Colonists used for weapons and where they got them. Further, the ultimate outcome of all strife between the Colonists and other people was victory for the Colonists. While the Colonists may have been excellent fighters, operating in the main upon home ground, and while their wars with other white people were side issues of European wars and to a considerable extent dependent upon the outcome there, it is nevertheless a fact that a war is composed of two factors, only one of which is the combatants themselves. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

First published in 1910 by Charles Winthrop Sawyer, "Firearms in American History - 1600 to 1800" is an invaluable reference for the various types of firearms used in America prior to 1800. It contains historical information concerning the manufacture and use of firearms, as well as detailed technical data complete with photographs of specific types. It includes extensive information about military and sporting arms used by the American, French, British, and German troops who participated in the American Revolution, as well as those used against the indigenous Americans prior to and after that war. Also included are guns used for hunting and self-defense.

"An acclaimed historian explodes the myth about the 'special relationship' between Americans and their guns, revealing that savvy 19th century businessmen--not gun lovers--created American gun culture"--