c.2026, Little, Brown
$34
304 pages
Lately, you’re almost afraid to check the news.
You can’t bear to see footage of another mass shooting. You can’t stand to read about another young man losing his health, limbs or his life. It’s all too much, and you feel helpless. So read “The American Way of Killing” by Malcolm Gladwell. Maybe we’re looking at gun control the wrong way.
Abdullah Pratt had always had “a passion for science.”
He grew up in a Black community, went to museums, attended college and medical school, and he works where he was raised, in Chicago. Recently, Gladwell asked him how many of the people he knew growing up have died of gun violence.
“It’d probably be like in the 30s, 40s,” Pratt said, including his brother and at least 14 other close friends.
The stats, says Gladwell, don’t show the whole picture about gun violence because we’re looking at things all wrong and we’re having “dishonest” conversations. First of all, he believes, we should remember that “robbery and homicide are not siblings.” We should not lump all gun crimes into a category that includes gun deaths. Before we talk about public safety, we need to specifically define it. We must know exactly what is, and what is not, in gun control bills that Congress passes or doesn’t.
“Assault-rifle bans are gun control theater,” Gladwell says, “they pretend to be something they are not.”
As for the Second Amendment, we have to look at the era in which it was written and grammar used to understand what it means. And when it comes to reporting, we must ask the police to separate the level and degree of gun violence in their official reports. Was someone killed, or did the victim survive?
Without that information, it’s easy for medical professionals’ expertise to save a life, but which hides the facts and makes “it easier for Americans to live with their gun violence.”
Is there any American left who doesn’t have an opinion one way or another about gun ownership or control? Probably not – which is why “The American Way of Killing” is essential reading today, now.
The one thing you need to know before you start is this: author Malcolm Gladwell’s work here is calm, considerate, and balanced. You may notice nuances, but this book isn’t overtly pro-gun control, nor does Gladwell seem against it. Instead, he methodically shows readers the mistakes we make in our thought-processes, how we misunderstand laws, and where collective thinking can be more effective in an overall argument. In many ways, the two sides, pro- and anti-, aren’t as divergent as we might think we are, especially when presented with commonsensical, important and shocking statistics that could flip your understanding of the facts.
“The American Way of Killing” may not change minds, but it may loosen them considerably. It’s a book for both sides, and for anyone who wants to save lives. Gun violence, as Gladwell shows, isn’t new news, but our attitudes and our work to end it might start here.
