Guns

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Christian Rummel

Length: 48 mins

Publisher's summary

In a pulls-no-punches essay intended to provoke rational discussion, Stephen King sets down his thoughts about gun violence in America. Anger and grief in the wake of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School are palpable in this urgent piece of writing, but no less remarkable are King's keen thoughtfulness and composure as he explores the contours of the gun-control issue and constructs his argument for what can and should be done.

King's earnings from the sale of this essay will go to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Stephen King is the author of 11/22/63, Under the Dome, Carrie, The Shining, and many other best-selling works.

"The overwhelming response from readers of the Kindle Single edition of Guns underscores the great need for thoughtful discourse on the issue of guns in America…I’m thrilled Audible is bringing Guns to the quickly growing audience of audiobook listeners." (Stephen King)

©2013 Stephen King (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"There are a handful of subjects in America so emotional and polarizing that the national dialogue around them amounts to little more than a shouting match. Chief among these is the subject of guns. In this intimate and moving Kindle Single, Stephen King employs all his gifts as writer and citizen to address gun violence in America. But why should we care what Stephen King has to say? As it turns out, there are a number of reasons. Despite his "liberal creds," King is an unapologetic gun owner himself. He is also the author of a novel--published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman--that has served as a "possible accelerant" for at least four real-life high school shooters. King had his publisher take that book off the market long ago, but the guns and the occasional bursts of unfathomable violence remain. When division is everywhere, is it possible for someone to argue passionately for the middle road? That is what King seeks to do here--this is a frank and thoughtful contribution to a dialogue in dire need of voices from the 'all-but-deserted middle.'" (Chris Schluep, Amazon.com)

Important words

Everyone in this country needs to read or listen to this essay. Whether they agree or not, it's so full of information and reason that it forms a necessary jumping off point for debate and communal understanding.

Well done from a liberal perspective

Would you consider the audio edition of Guns to be better than the print version?

Only heard the audio version

Would you recommend Guns to your friends? Why or why not?

Only the ones who can tolerate listening to an alternate viewpoint.

If you could give Guns a new subtitle, what would it be?

A liberal's view on why the 2nd amendment should be repealed.

Any additional comments?

Overall an excellent perspective from a rational liberal (yes they actually do exist - LOL!). There is considerable foul language in this audio book but it is part of artistic nature of this essay. It is used for shock value to emphasize points the author is attempting to get across. Although I disagree with both his conclusions and selected use of data, the author makes some interesting points. There are a number of times throughout the essay where the author displays his ignorance on some basics of firearms. The clip/ magazine terminology is one. The intentionally inaccurate and derogatory of automatic weapons vs. semi-automatic.is another annoying thing. His focus only on "gun violence" vs "non-gun violence" grossly mis-characterizes the point on the argument of "culture of violence". There is more to violence than just firearms.

As the point of this review is to deal with the art vs. the facts, I will stop here and recommend that both blue bloods and red necks take 45 minutes and listen to Mr. King's thoughts on this topic.

Surprisingly uninformed on the issue

Would you try another book from Stephen King and/or Christian Rummel?

Yes

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I was surprised to hear of Stephen Kings publication of "Rage" and then to find that it had some influence in multiple shootings afterward. I applaud him for pulling it from publication because of this.

Have you listened to any of Christian Rummel’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Was Guns worth the listening time?

Yes

Any additional comments?

First, I should say I am a centrist, one of the meager minority in our country according to King, and I would advocate for some forms of gun control myself, though King doesn't include many ideas that might actually help our gun problems, with the exception of background checks. In summary, he advocates limiting magazine capacity to 10, banning assault weapons, and comprehensive background checks. The background check is a no brainer, and no thoughtful person can make a case against that one. However, the term 'assault weapon' doesn't have a specific meaning. People include such things as flash suppressors and barrel shrouds, pistol grips, collapsable stocks, etc. None of these will have any effect on casualties in a mass shooting situation. The Clinton gun ban was also vague in it's definition, stating: "In general, assault weapons are semiautomatic firearms with a large magazine of ammunition that were designed and configured for rapid fire and combat use." Before we proclaim that we should 'ban assault weapons' we need to clearly define what that means. For most people it is a catchy term and sounds like something that should be banned, and it seems King is in that group. Next, limiting magazine capacities to 10. He presents no evidence at all that this ban will be effective. What is the point of banning something (relinquishing our freedom) if it won't have any effect. First, there are literally millions upon millions of magazines already existing in the US. Is the government going to grandfather them, or confiscate them? If they confiscate them, do we actually think the criminals will hand theirs over? Or that they won't be able to smuggle new ones in? Outlawing drugs has been real effective at keeping those off the streets... Also, in the age of 3D printers, a magazine is simply a piece of plastic and a spring that holds bullets. You could very easily print your own. Finally, he claims that the australia gun laws have been a success. In fact, the conclusions drawn by the vast majority of people looking at the issue, including snopes and factcheck, 15+ years after the ban went into effect, that there is no measurable difference in murders or gun violence. Great Britain's statistics after it's gun ban are similar. Oh, and one more thing, if you'll pardon the rant. He asserts that nobody wants to take your revolver, your hunting rifle, your sporting guns, etc, and seems to think that anybody who thinks otherwise is a crazy, paranoid idiot. I beg to differ. They tried to ban guns in Chicago and Washington DC, and that included all of them. When it finally went to the Supreme court, in spite of the fact that we have a second amendment and the court is supposed to uphold the constitution, these banning laws were voted unconstitutional by a vote of 5-4. That's right, if one of those 5 justices had voted the other way, then guns would be banned in 2 cities, and the precedent would have been set that politicians had the power to ban guns in defined areas. Are we honestly to believe that it would have remained only in Chicago and DC? No, I assert very strongly that we, pardon the pun, dodged a bullet on that supreme court decision, and that there are plenty of people out there who would love to take away our guns...and will continue to try.

It has been said by many already

First, I really liked Mr. Rummel's narration of the essay.
So I read many of reviews but I only saw those saying "Get your facts straight." I am sure someone has said this but let me tell you that the Aurora theatre shooter was not caught by his car. He ran past first responders and was caught because he wore a piece of gear that was non-issue. That is one of the facts I caught.
I also heard "assault weapon" used as the evil black rifle. Mr. King, a Revolutionary War rifle is considered an assault rifle because it has bayonet lug. One can take a simple 10/22 put it in a new configuration and it too would be labeled an assault rifle. You really sounded like Rep. Diane Degette talking about how one the 30 round "clip" it would be useless and thrown away.
Mr. King left out one of the big issues with the teenage shooters, several were on medication. Why are do we leave that part out every dang time? Hold on let me adjust my aluminum foil hat...
I blame, in part, of many of this due to parents. The next time you go out to dinner look at the parents with their noses stuck in their phones. Yeah kids get bullied and I do not like it but I find parents that cannot interact with their children heartbreaking.
There were great parts of the essay but Christ on a crutch man you reach out to more people in your books and you should have done a better job.
I will co,ntinue to read and listen to your books because I enjoy them.
Good try, it takes balls to put this out there, good or bad.
Rifles up! Tom Hering

Entertaining and Informative

The narrator did a great performance into this book. He had appropriate emotional tone and clarity. There was a lot of good information in this essay and the argument was presented articulately.

Well thought out and read essay.

Mr. King offers a neutral and information piece on guns, media, culture and America. He gives an inside view into his experience as an author, gun owner, and member of the public interesting news/politics, and he does it all without painting himself or the reader into a corner.

Excellent essay.

Narrator got the tone and delivered perfectly.

I highly recommend you buy it, and it'll have many listenings as you're sure to revisit it over time.

Not what you'd expect

If you are looking for the next thriller from probably the most prodigious and skilled master of the creeps, then this isn't it! This isn't a story, but an essay; a well-thought out and insightful discourse on the plague of mass murder by gun violence in America, and the inadequate way that American society deals with it.

Narrator Rummel keeps the listener riveted as he brings King's words to life. And King's common sense and incising words cut through the usual crap one reads on the subject.

Download and listen if you want a fresh perspective on this issue, but don't expect a horror story; THIS horror is for real!

excellent listen for both sides of the gun debate

I found this interesting to listen to. I grew up with a police officer grandfather who was a champion marksman & taught me to shoot when I was very young. I learned to respect the power of a firearm but never really cared much about them otherwise. It is chilling to see how people protect their guns over the value of human life though. Common sense is really what's needed and maybe some better mental health care

Honest and sensible

What we all think, but we hesitate to talk about for fear of having a “drunks in a bar” experience.

Listen to this book no matter what side of this issue you are on. Just listen and then belief what you feel is right.

A sobering look at the status of the United States

A sobering look at the state of gun violence in America, a few humble suggestions well meaning and worded at how to cure this strange uniquely American cancer.
I'd say listen twice and know this was 2013 almost 10 years and NO improvements.