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Vote gun : how gun rights became politicized in the United States / Patrick J. Charles.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Columbia University Press, [2023]Description: xii, 472 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780231208840
  • 0231208847
  • 9780231208857
  • 0231208855
Subject(s): Summary: "After John F. Kennedy was shot and killed with a rifle purchased through a mail-order magazine, Congress enacted and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the 1968 Gun Control Act (GCA), regulating firearms under interstate commerce. The politics of firearms controls suddenly underwent a formative transformation. Though the politics of firearms controls date as far back as the late nineteenth century, and though the first gun rights movement was actively lobbying lawmakers by the early to mid-twentieth century, it was not until the enactment of the GCA that lawmakers began to stake out any firm firearms control policy positions, and subsequently make these positions part of their election campaigns. From that point onward, lawmakers increasingly outlined their respective firearms control positions, and over time political coalitions began to form. Vote Gun tells the story of this transformation from the early twentieth century through the 1980 elections. However, most of the book centers on the events immediately leading up to and following the GCA. Specific attention is given to how the passage of the GCA made firearms controls a wedge voting issue, as well as how three presidents-Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter-handled the issue of firearms controls politically. The book closes by examining how the 1980 elections cemented the partisan divisions over firearms controls that remain to this day"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Shelving location Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction Reference Display - Second Floor 363.3309 C476 Current Events - Gun Safety Available 33111011272636
Adult Book Adult Book Northport Library NonFiction 363.3309 C476 Available 33111009473949
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Today, gun control is one of the most polarizing topics in American politics. However, before the 1960s, positions on firearms rights did not necessarily map onto partisan affiliation. What explains this drastic shift?

Patrick J. Charles charts the rise of gun rights activism from the early twentieth century through the 1980 presidential election, pinpointing the role of the 1968 Gun Control Act. Gun rights advocates including the National Rifle Association had lobbied legislators for decades, but they had cast firearms control as a local issue. After the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 spurred congressional proposals to regulate firearms, gun rights advocates found common cause with states' rights proponents opposed to civil rights legislation. Following the enactment of the Gun Control Act, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle began to stake out firm positions. Politicians including Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan recognized the potential of gun control as a wedge issue, and gun rights became increasingly tied to the Republican Party.

Drawing on a vast range of archival evidence, Charles offers new insight into the evolution of the gun rights movement and how politicians responded to anti-gun control hardliners. He examines in detail how the National Rifle Association reinvented itself as well as how other advocacy groups challenged the NRA's political monopoly. Offering a deep dive into the politicization of gun rights, Vote Gun reveals the origins of the acrimonious divisions that persist to this day.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"After John F. Kennedy was shot and killed with a rifle purchased through a mail-order magazine, Congress enacted and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the 1968 Gun Control Act (GCA), regulating firearms under interstate commerce. The politics of firearms controls suddenly underwent a formative transformation. Though the politics of firearms controls date as far back as the late nineteenth century, and though the first gun rights movement was actively lobbying lawmakers by the early to mid-twentieth century, it was not until the enactment of the GCA that lawmakers began to stake out any firm firearms control policy positions, and subsequently make these positions part of their election campaigns. From that point onward, lawmakers increasingly outlined their respective firearms control positions, and over time political coalitions began to form. Vote Gun tells the story of this transformation from the early twentieth century through the 1980 elections. However, most of the book centers on the events immediately leading up to and following the GCA. Specific attention is given to how the passage of the GCA made firearms controls a wedge voting issue, as well as how three presidents-Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter-handled the issue of firearms controls politically. The book closes by examining how the 1980 elections cemented the partisan divisions over firearms controls that remain to this day"-- Provided by publisher.

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