The Way of the Gun: A Bloody Journey Into the World of Firearms - Paperback

by Iain Overton (Author)

In this compelling and revelatory book, an investigative journalist explores the lifecycle of the gun--following those who make firearms, sell them, use them, and die by them--with a special emphasis on the United States, to make sense of our complex relationship with these weapons.

We live in the Age of the Gun. Around the globe, firearms are ubiquitous and define countless lives; in some places, it's even easier to get a gun than a glass of clean water. In others, it's legal to carry concealed firearms into bars and schools. In The Way of the Gun, Iain Overton embarks on a remarkable journey to understand how these weapons have become an integral part of twenty-first century life, beyond the economics of supply and demand.

Overton travels through more than twenty-five countries around the world and meets with ER doctors dealing with gun trauma, SWAT team leaders, gang members, and weapons smugglers. From visiting the most dangerous city in the world outside a war zone to the largest gun show on earth, his journey crosses paths with safari hunters and gun-makers, paralyzed victims and smooth-talking lobbyists. Weaving together their stories, Overton offers a portrait of distinct yet deeply connected cultures affected by the gun and from them draws out powerful insights into our weaponized world. Ultimately, he unearths some hard truths about the terrible realities of war and gun crime, and what can be done to stop it.

Eloquent and accessible, infused with compassion and humor, The Way of the Gun is a riveting expose about guns and human beings that offers an eye-opening portrait of our time.

Back Jacket

In this gripping tour de force of investigative reporting, an award-winning journalist travels through America and beyond to understand the brutal reality--and consequences--of a world in which twelve billion bullets are produced every year for almost a billion guns.

According to the United States Bureau of Justice, more than 4.5 million Americans became victims of gun crime between 2004 and 2013. With the highest global rate of gun ownership and gun imports and exports--not to mention the controversial Second Amendment--America is justifiably the focus of a growing gun debate. But the five hundred thousand people around the world killed by guns every year suggest that it is far from the only nation in the cultural, political, economic, and lethal grip of the gun. Over a hundred countries have their own firearm industries, and twenty nations recently saw children carrying guns into conflicts.

The Way of the Gun is a shocking, eye-opening expose of the global gun ecosystem and its long-reaching impact. Traveling to America, the Middle East, South America, Africa, and Asia, veteran journalist Iain Overton meets murderers and law enforcement marksmen, gun fetishists and weapons smugglers, gun manufacturers and grieving relatives of victims. He unearths the sobering scale of the international gun economy, explaining the relationships between its legal and illegal players, and powerfully portrays its effects on health care, religion, law enforcement, politics, and, most of all, individuals.

Driven by firsthand research and objective reporting, The Way of the Gun is not a polemic. Overton, who works for the international nonprofit Action on Armed Violence but also hunts and once ran a gun club, eschews heated rhetoric for a compelling factual narrative that puts America's unique relationship with guns into an international context--providing a sobering perspective on the arguments dividing our nation and, increasingly, the world.

Shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Dagger Award for Nonfiction

Praise For The Way Of The Gun

"Every page is packed with emotional power and startling statistics. . . . A passionate mix of rhetoric and travelogue, Overton's book takes the gun debate into impressive new territory."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Adventurous, ambitiously tracing the often devastating impact of guns around the world. . . . Punctuated with thoughtful discussions on issues from the Second Amendment to the US Constitution to women's attitudes toward guns . . . contains moments of great poignancy."--Financial Times

"Riveting . . . poignant. . . . This book is more than just facts, it's insight and revelation on a very human level."--Independent

"Shocking. . . . Overton has supped full of horrors and is not reticent about sharing them."--Newsweek

"Gripping reportage that's as disturbing as it is enlightening . . . without--crucially--lapsing into an antigun diatribe."--GQ Magazine