Charles Fruehling Springwood (ed.) 2007: Open Fire. Understanding Global Gun Cultures. Oxford: Berg

摘要

According to estimates by the UN's Small Arms Survey, there are 700 million firearms across the world, of which 200 million are in the United States. Given that this artifact is so widespread, it is important to find out not only what its consequences are for violent conflict, but also what attracts people to owning and using it. This latter aspect is the focus of Open Fire, a book edited by Charles Fniehling Springwood. Open Fire offers an overview of the way in which guns are used and represented, in real life and in the media. Fourteen chapters, written by different authors, highlight the meanings that firearms have in cultures around the world. Apart from their use for conflict in real life, weapons are illustrated as symbolic tools during ritualized interaction (celebrations), and as a way of emphasizing masculinity and racial guidelines. In the opening chapter, Springwood clearly delivers the central point of this book, that guns have important value across the world and in many domains of social life. Apart from this, he offers the readers a personal tale of his experiences as a first-time buyer and owner of a gun. Also, he discusses a short history of suns and their technical development across time.