After Gun Violence

Mass shootings are now part of normal American life, and public deliberation in the wake of a mass shooting follows a familiar pattern: blame is cast, political positions are taken, and no meaningful policy changes are made. Using a rhetorical lens to analyze how we talk about gun violence and gun control in political speeches, news reports, and policy statements, Criag Rood examines the reasons underlying our country’s political gridlock and draws a roadmap of how we can move beyond this tragic impasse.

Selling Points:

• Gun violence and efforts to regulate it are timely issues, especially in light of the recent momentum in anti-gun violence activism and the upcoming presidential election.

• Political gridlock is also front and center in American politics today, and the conclusions that the author draws about the gun debate are relevant to improving public deliberation more broadly.

• Provides suggestions for how people on both sides of the argument might achieve mutual understanding and productive deliberation.

• Outlines a rhetorical history of the gun debate in U.S. politics.

Mass shootings have become the “new normal” in American life. The same can be said for the public debate that follows a shooting: blame is cast, political postures are assumed, but no meaningful policy changes are enacted. In After Gun Violence, Craig Rood argues that this cycle is the result of a communication problem. Without advocating for specific policies, Rood examines how Americans talk about gun violence and suggests how we might discuss the issues more productively and move beyond our current, tragic impasse.

Exploring the ways advocacy groups, community leaders, politicians, and everyday citizens talk about gun violence, Rood reveals how the gun debate is about far more than just guns. He details the role of public memory in shaping the discourse, showing how memories of the victims of gun violence, the Second Amendment, and race relations influence how gun policy is discussed. In doing so, Rood argues that forgetting and misremembering this history leads interest groups and public officials to entrenched positions and political failure and drives the public further apart.

Timely and innovative, After Gun Violence advances our understanding of public discourse in an age of gridlock by illustrating how public deliberation and public memory shape and misshape one another. It is a search to understand why public discourse fails and how we can do better.

• Gun violence and efforts to regulate it are timely issues, especially in light of the recent momentum in anti-gun violence activism and the upcoming presidential election.

• Political gridlock is also front and center in American politics today, and the conclusions that the author draws about the gun debate are relevant to improving public deliberation more broadly.

• Offers suggestions for how people on both sides of the argument might achieve mutual understanding and productive deliberation.

• Outlines a rhetorical history of the gun debate in U.S. politics.

Craig Rood is Assistant Professor of Rhetoric at Iowa State University.

Craig Rood is Assistant Professor of Rhetoric at Iowa State University.