Give a Boy a Gun

i really recommend that if you choose to read this book then please read the 20th anniversary edition like i did. It gives stats on gun violence since this book was written in 2000.

I live in australia and the last mass shooting we had was in 1996 and it wasn't on our mainland but in tasmania. After that our government banned guns, bought our guns off us and then destroyed them all. Australians now live normal lives without fearing being shot down in normal places such as school, work, leisure time. Yes we still do have gun violence and knife crimes but it's extremely rare. The gun violence we do have here rarely turn out fatal and it's always a personal matter, rarely someone shooting up strangers.

This book was set in the US and most of the stats the book gave were about US violence. It's crazy that now days the US has a mass shooting every day of the year. Kids are killed getting an education all because their government refuses to ban guns.
There is absolutely no reason for most guns to exist. I actually agree with households keeping guns to protect their homes and themselves (unpopular opinion) but there is no reason a person should be able to buy a weapon that is designed for mass destruction. Most assault rifles are bad for hunting as it causes too much damage to the animal and you can't salvage any meat or fur/skin and they are mostly used for wars and army training. They are made to kill humans and here are some governments letting average citizens buy them! it's unbelievable. Saw a post on instagram the other day of an average man in america who owns a bazooka. He lives in a little flat, has a criminal backround!!! but has a bazooka.

As i said before, i do personally think households should be able to keep a pistol to defend their homes (if they are permitted to, backround checks and training will have to be a must) but there is no reason for an average citizen to own a gun that causes severe damage.

This book heavily focuses on bullying and i feel like if you were never bullied then you'll never understand how mentally taxing it is to even step foot into school.
I can only speak from the Australian high school experience. Most Australian high schools have a huge popularity issue, popular kids feel superior and put unpopular kids down. Most schools here don't have in school sport or cheerleaders, all that stuff is outside school activity so our popularity isnt based on those two sports but rather looks or how much of a dickhead you can be. It's harsh here but students usually unite no matter their popularity.

This book had so much promise (especially today) but truly fell flat.

It was not as poignant as I would have hoped.

I thought that the writing style of the interviews was different and neat, but could get confusing sometimes. I kept forgetting who different people were which made it confusing at times to try and place how they related to the story.

One line, and really only one, stood out to me:

You've got about as much chance of getting people to give up their guns as you do getting them to give up driving or drinking beer at baseball games.

Take that line however you want it, all I can say is that this book did not deliver in a way that it could have and for that I am disappointed.