Merchants of the Right: Gun Sellers and the Crisis of American Democracy

University of Arizona sociologist Carlson (Policing the Second Amendment) offers an illuminating deep dive into how gun sellers navigated the “surging demand” for firearms brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, civil unrest over the murder of George Floyd by police, and Donald Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was rigged. Of the 23 million guns sold in 2020, more than eight million were bought by first-time gun owners, many of whom “didn’t fit the mold of the ‘typical’ gun owner: a conservative, white, straight male who already owned guns.” But rather than embrace their new, more liberal, more diverse clientele, gun sellers “doubled down” on the conspiratorial thinking, anti-elitism, and commitment to “self-reliance, anti-statism, and individualism” that have made them, according to Carlson, avatars and proselytizers of conservative politics in America. She supports her case through interviews with gun sellers who believe Covid-19 “was made in a lab in China” and express disdain for their “panicked, naive, [and] hysterical” new customers; astute analysis of legal, political, and public health matters; and close readings of “online gun news outlets.” Though Carlson’s overarching thesis occasionally gets lost in the shuffle, she packs the proceedings with intriguing insights and observations. It’s a fresh take on how guns and politics mix. (May)