American Gun

The True Story of the AR-15

By: Cameron McWhirter, Zusha Elinson

Narrated by: Roger Wayne

American Gun: The True Story of the AR-15 presents the epic history of America’s most controversial weapon.

In the 1950s, an obsessive firearms designer named Eugene Stoner invented the AR-15 rifle in a California garage. High-minded and patriotic, Stoner sought to devise a lightweight, easy-to-use weapon that could replace the M1s touted by soldiers in World War II. What he did create was a lethal handheld icon of the American century.

In American Gun, the veteran Wall Street Journal reporters Cameron McWhirter and Zusha Elinson track the AR-15 from inception to ubiquity. How did the same gun represent the essence of freedom to millions of Americans and the essence of evil to millions more? To answer this question, McWhirter and Elinson follow Stoner—the American Kalashnikov—as he struggled mightily to win support for his invention, which under the name M16 would become standard equipment in Vietnam. Shunned by gun owners at first, the rifle’s popularity would take off thanks to a renegade band of small-time gun makers. And in the 2000s, it would become the weapon of choice for mass shooters, prompting widespread calls for proscription even as the gun industry embraced it as a financial savior. Writing with fairness and compassion, McWhirter and Elinson explore America’s gun culture, revealing the deep appeal of the AR-15, the awful havoc it wreaks, and the politics of reducing its toll. The result is a moral history of contemporary America’s love affair with technology, freedom, and weaponry.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Critic reviews

"[A] superb history . . . [American Gun] is a meticulously researched and impressively informed book . . . A riveting exploration of the cost of the nation’s fascination with an iconic weapon." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"A captivating tale of unintended consequences . . . The authors put a human face on a politically charged story. The result is a fascinating genealogy of a weapon that has become the flash point of the contemporary gun control debate." —Publishers Weekly

"American Gun is an engrossing read. It is both a revealing biography and a thorough autopsy of a historical figure that resides in millions of American homes: the AR-15 rifle. Created in a garage but worshipped as if born in a manger, the AR-15 has become destructive weapon of choice in many mass killings and a source of heartbreak that gnaws at the souls of millions of Americans every day. Through exhaustive research and superb writing, Cameron McWhirter and Zusha Elinson haven’t missed an important moment in the life of this weapon—and they answer the question: what would the inventor of the AR-15 think about the monstrous ways it is being used today?" —Hank Klibanoff, Pulitzer Prize–winning co-author of The Race Beat

"American Gun is an unforgettable story of American ingenuity and mayhem, built with hard-core reporting and gripping prose. This is social history at its finest." —Jonathan Eig, author of King: A Life

"Cameron McWhirter and Zusha Elinson have written the definitive biography of the AR-15, a weapon that has been demonized, deified, and fetishized in the never-ending American gun debate. This book should be of vital interest to both gun-rights advocates and those who would ban the AR-15 as the instrument of ruthless death at schools, Walmarts, and grocery stores. At this fraught moment, there is no more compelling symbol of the unique American fascination with—and horror over—firearms." —Paul M. Barrett, author of Glock: The Rise of America's Gun

Good but over focused on shootings

Had a really good history in the first part but the second part was all just a list of mass shootings. The content seemed factual and fair but it was more a call to gun control then a historical account of the AR15

Utterly Fascinating

goodness there is so much here. they're I had no idea about the story behind the AR-15 and it is told so well. The performance of this audiobook is really really one of the best that I have ever ever heard captured all the emotions of of the complex nature of this book. I do think it did a pretty good job of covering both sides of the argument but never straying from the fact that the AR-15 was never meant to be a civilian gun I think this is one of the best books I've read / listened to in a very long time and I highly recommend it

This books comes off anti AR15

The first half of the book was great. It is a good history of Stoner and the development of the rifle. Then about halfway through the book turns into a history of the government trying to ban it and murderers killing people with it all while the authors seem to try and convince the reader the rifle should be banned.

Historically accurate but politically motivated.

The first half of the book was, in fact, an accurate story of the AR15's creation and its inventors life. There were some left-leaning comments on the power and effectiveness of the rifle but they were few and far between. The second half of the book was spent detailing the misuse of the weapon by criminals and terrorists and the horrific consequences of being shot. It details the tragic story of one of the San Bernardino victims. All true and painful to listen to but irrelevant to the design and popularity of the rifle. These injuries were not rifle specific but used as a political tool to bring in to question the morality of one popular firearm that makes up a minuscule percentage of the shootings and not the exclusive weapon of mass shooters as they would seem to make the case for.

Don't Look Away

Certified Lib here. After this book, I find myself not seeking to ban AR-15s. I do, however, find myself siding with Colt executive Gerry Dinkel who thinks there should be way more scrutiny in who owns one, similar to how full autos are regulated. This book doesn't pretend to have the answer to mass shootings. As Americans we make our own decisions anyway. I just hope we can all come together and start making some good and much needed choices. The way forward is through. Don't look away.