Let It Bang

A Young Black Man’s Reluctant Odyssey into Guns

Nonfiction, Sports, Outdoors, Shooting, History, Americas, United States, Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book Let It Bang by RJ Young, HMH Books
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Author: RJ Young ISBN: 9781328826329
Publisher: HMH Books Publication: October 23, 2018
Imprint: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Language: English
Author: RJ Young
ISBN: 9781328826329
Publisher: HMH Books
Publication: October 23, 2018
Imprint: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Language: English

The quest, funny and searing, of a young man black man learning to shoot—a fascinating odyssey into race, guns, and self-protection in America

The most RJ Young knew about guns was that they could get him killed. Until, recently married to a white woman and in desperate need of a way to relate to his gun-loving father-in-law, Young does the unimaginable: he accepts Charles’s gift of a Glock.

Despite, or because of, the racial rage and fear he experiences among white gun owners (“Ain’t you supposed to be shooting a basketball?”), Young determines to get good, really good, with a gun. Let It Bang is the compelling story of the author’s unexpected obsession—he eventually becomes an NRA-certified pistol instructor—and of his deep dive into the heart of America's gun culture: what he sees as the domino effect of white fear, white violence, black fear, rinse, repeat. Young’s original reporting on shadow industries like US Law Shield, which insures and defends people who report having shot someone in self-defense, and on the newly formed National African American Gun Association, gives powerful insight into the dynamic. Through indelible profiles, Young brings us up to the current rocketing rise in gun ownership among black Americans, most notably women.

Let It Bang is an utterly original look at American gun culture from the inside, and from the other side—and, most movingly, the story of a young black man's hard-won nonviolent path to self-protection.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The quest, funny and searing, of a young man black man learning to shoot—a fascinating odyssey into race, guns, and self-protection in America

The most RJ Young knew about guns was that they could get him killed. Until, recently married to a white woman and in desperate need of a way to relate to his gun-loving father-in-law, Young does the unimaginable: he accepts Charles’s gift of a Glock.

Despite, or because of, the racial rage and fear he experiences among white gun owners (“Ain’t you supposed to be shooting a basketball?”), Young determines to get good, really good, with a gun. Let It Bang is the compelling story of the author’s unexpected obsession—he eventually becomes an NRA-certified pistol instructor—and of his deep dive into the heart of America's gun culture: what he sees as the domino effect of white fear, white violence, black fear, rinse, repeat. Young’s original reporting on shadow industries like US Law Shield, which insures and defends people who report having shot someone in self-defense, and on the newly formed National African American Gun Association, gives powerful insight into the dynamic. Through indelible profiles, Young brings us up to the current rocketing rise in gun ownership among black Americans, most notably women.

Let It Bang is an utterly original look at American gun culture from the inside, and from the other side—and, most movingly, the story of a young black man's hard-won nonviolent path to self-protection.

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