Dr Kevin Yuill (with Joe Street of Northumbria University) has edited a book entitled, The Second Amendment and Gun Control, Freedom, Fear, and the American Constitution (Routledge
2018). The collection of essays situates discussion about gun controls
within contemporary debates about citizenship, culture, philosophy and
foreign policy as well as in the more familiar terrain of politics and
history. It features experts on the Constitution as well as chapters
discussing the symbolic importance of Annie Oakley, the role of firearms
in race, and filmic representations of armed Hispanic girl gangs. It
asks about the morality of gun controls and of not imposing them.
Published in the spirit of open debate about contentious subjects, it is
finely balanced between those who favour more gun controls and those
who oppose them. Dr Yuill’s chapter - 'From Virtuous Armed Citizen to
"Cramped Little Risk-Fearing Man": The Meaning of Firearms in an
Insecure Era' – argues that the two sides of the debate are simply
alternative strategies to deal with existential insecurities. One side
seeks a policy solution of removing all weapons while the other employs
the individual strategy of packing a gun.
