Excellent book. This book presents average people from all areas of american culture and their reasons for owning and using firearms. Some for defense, some for hunting, some for target shooting all humans. This isn't a portrait of "crazed madmen" running bazerk with their automatic weapons. They are real people with real interest in firearm ownership. None of which are used for gang violence, street killings or criminal activity. People who are conscience and responsible gun owners. A great book with a very non-biased view of the people and their firearms.

Great pictures showing the diversity of firearm owners across the country. This is a great book to show your friends if they are of the "all gun owners wear camo and drive pickup trucks" mentality. My only gripe is there are no firearm owners from Illinois in the book, When Illinois suffers from deep-seated stereotypes that law abiding citizens work hard every day to overcome.

Kyle Cassidy got the inspiration for this fascinating book while at his vet's looking through a copy of `Hunting Dogs: a Photographic Tribute'. If Krause could publish that then they might publish his book, which was just an idea at that stage. I was very pleasantly surprised when I first flipped through it because the publishers are known for mostly doing books for collectors and hobbyists which don't have the same design criteria as art photo titles. The book looks the part with one large photo on each right-hand page, printed with 175 screen on matt art paper.

As other reviewers have noted Cassidy pushes no point-of-view with his photos and this, I think, is one of the strengths of the book. Here are average folk in their homes with their pets, books, furniture and guns. I doubt that the photos would have quite the same impact if they were taken outdoors, while the owners were hunting or at a target range because the interiors reflect the personalities of each person and this contributes another strength: these photos are a snapshot of how many Americans lived at the start of a new century.

The photos are taken in a no-nonsense style: no fancy angles, soft-focus or other techniques because it's just not necessary. The people and their homes have enough visual pull to grab you as the pages are turned and a nice extra, on each page facing the photo, are their views on firearms. Another neat idea, in so many of the photos, was to include family pets and Cassidy seems to have captured them as relaxed as their owners.

With 198 impressive photos I thought Armed America worked as a perfect photo book and it could turn out to be a classic as the years go by.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

Did not do a good job in answering his own question. Good idea with bad execution.

This book gave me hope that all is not lost in America. The people portrayed came from all races, creeds, ages and financial backgrounds. It showed that not all who own firearms are "nuts" and that they have a true understanding of what the Founding Fathers envisioned for their place in society.
Thank you for writing and publishing this book.

Awesome idea! Everyone should buy this book! Very well written and excellent topic. The author did a fine job photographing people in various their homes. It really opens your eyes to gun ownership and makes you realize that not just criminals own them. The author even has gun owners reasons as to why they own firearms.

In a sporting goods store I watched as a man and his schoolage daughter examined all sorts of little black knives, before he reluctantly put the last knife down and told her, "Come on, we're gonna go look at guns."
"Guns! Guns!" she sang happily as she skipped off with her Dad.
The salesman and I stared bemusedly after them, and laughed when I said, "God bless America."
I keep this book in my waiting room and get feedback that is almost all good, except for a disturbed look from one non-gun-owner. Just big pictures of people posing in their own homes with their gun, one or many.
On each facing page appears a quote about why they feel they should have a gun. The combination of the candid photo and the equally revealing comments displays the whole diversity of our culture. There are scary looking people I'd not like to run into, especially now that I know they're armed. On the other extreme there's the gentleman who said, "As a Jewish American I am cognizant of the fact that 6 million of my people went into air pollution in the 30's and 40's...It's hypocritical to deny someone the most basic of human rights, which is the right to defend youself." Interesting book.

An interesting collection of candid photographs of Gun owners and their families and guns.

A nice coffee table book for killing a little time. Not a book I would find myself refering to after the first read.

Could be informative in showing non-shooters that "normal" people own guns too.

This is a fabulous book full of nothing but pictures with short captions which portray Americans across the country. It's on our coffee table and is getting rave reviews from all who look at it. The photography is excellent too. I recommend it to everybody, whether you like guns or not.

Kyle Cassidy has succeeded in achieving the highest goals in this book. The photos are documentary, yet show an acutely articulated style. His viewpoint is free from overt political dogma, yet I don't see a standoffish distancing from the people or subject manner. Photographically it manages to be undeniably modern without sacrificing any of the traditional virtues of high craftsmanship.

I keep flipping through it kinda randomly so as not to feel like I've seen all of the pictures; I'm trying to make it last 'till his next project gets published...

Bob Palmieri

When I picked up this book at a friend's house, I thought "here we go another hatchet job on gun owners". I couldn't have been more mistaken. The book is not preachy, does not take any position ... in fact the book is so well done, you could literally take almost any message away from it you want.

Cassidy takes a look at the "typical gun owning American, only to find that there really is not a "typical gun owning American". Gun owners are as diverse as the montage suggests and don't readily fit the stereotype that pop culture has perpetuated. They are fairly represented in almost every socio-economic demographic imaginable.

I think the saddest thing about this book is that it even had to be made in the first place, but kudos to Cassidy for doing it.

I love it. The photography is excellent. Its fun to look at each picture and try to find the guns and pets mentioned in the captions. Kyle Cassidy got a wide range of people, sometimes very wacky people, across the US for his photos, but I think he spent too much time in Pennsylvania.

If the subjects were each holding a cupcake instead of a gun, I don't think the portraits in this fabulous book would be less meaningful or moving. Kyle's photographs are beautiful works of art. They capture one moment in the lives of his subjects and tell a story that requires no words. Each story is totally different than the next, yet each share a common bond.

...who's got a gun in the house?

I was already familiar with Kyle's work and looked forward to seeing this.

What I wasn't prepared for was my wife and grand-daughter pouring over every page also. Me for the guns and subject comments, my wife for the decor (or lack of it), and my grandsweetie for the pets.

A Great book on a divisive subject. There was even a gun-nut in there somewhere (like me).

This book may be helpful for those who have never met anyone who owns guns, to see the pictures in their homes and read their comments.

Reading the introduction makes me think I helped fund a political research agenda, but the book was still interesting.

I love this book. It has pictures of ordinary Americans doing something the Founding Fathers considered ordinary, and the Nannyists of the past two generations have made seem alien and hostile.

One of the most interesting pictures is of a you pair, the male has on a knitted hat, and has tattoos traversing his arms all the way from his wrists to beyond his sleeves, he's sitting on the couch in their very neat home next to a teddy bear.

Great photography but that's about it....Too many inaccuracies and I felt the book did not represent a true cross-section of American gunowners....

Nice to see publication for pro - armed America.. Great table top book to read and out down . Conversation starter also.

I make my living teaching good people hoe to kill bad people. Hundreds of days a year are spent on pistol, rifle and shotgun ranges teaching police, military, and private citizens how to defend themselves against evil. It is my passion.



Part of my job security is making sure that our Second Amendment Rights aren't trampled upon. That is how I happened across Kyle's book. I think it is an artistic and wonderful look inside the "gun culture". Not everyone that owns a gun wears army fatigues and has a crew cut. This book shows all of us that our civil rights transcend race, creed, color and religion.



As an amateur photographer I really appreciate the trouble Kyle went to with arranging the shoots, lighting, angles and every other small detail he took care of to make this book look like it came off without a hitch (I am sure it did not!)

I make my living teaching good people hoe to kill bad people. Hundreds of days a year are spent on pistol, rifle and shotgun ranges teaching police, military, and private citizens how to defend themselves against evil. It is my passion.

Part of my job security is making sure that our Second Amendment Rights aren't trampled upon. That is how I happened across Kyle's book. I think it is an artistic and wonderful look inside the "gun culture". Not everyone that owns a gun wears army fatigues and has a crew cut. This book shows all of us that our civil rights transcend race, creed, color and religion.

As an amateur photographer I really appreciate the trouble Kyle went to with arranging the shoots, lighting, angles and every other small detail he took care of to make this book look like it came off without a hitch (I am sure it did not!)

Really impressive photography, and great subject matter. Didn't like that Mr Cassidy managed to sneak an anti in there through dubious means (page 30 - a 'lamp' made of old guns does not make one 'armed' - then again neither does a tattoo of a gun!), but overall, good stuff.

Armed America is funny and sobering all at the same time. The fabulous photos capture so much more than just a person who owns a gun. I have been fascinated for hours by these images, and everyone who sees this book cannot put it down. Educational, surprising, artistic, sad, inspiring....this book has it all.

The photos show the rich and diverse environments. Each photo contains a hundred clues as to who these people are, what they are like, and how they interact. I truly enjoyed it.

Whatever your opinion on gun ownership, this book is sure to make you re-think your point of view. And truly, that is the point of art.

Cassidy does a great job.
Like anything else with the Bill of Rights, its not a Right vs Left issue....its "the state" vs you. It really should be no surprise that the Second Amendment is used by every type of American in this country. But then, it should be no surprise the the First Amendment is used by every type of American in this country as well. Liberty works for everyone, and each Bill of Right is needed to protect this individual liberty from Govt.

Cassity must have had a great time with this project. Meeting average citizens and hearing what they have to say on why they own a gun. I bet he learned more than the book displays. I would.

What I saw in the pictures where concepts of self reliance and a strong resolve of America's citizens. Life is risky, liberty is risky....guns are just a tool to protect both.

The quality is great, the pictures masterful, this book takes you on a journey to see what gun owners are like. And it turns out they are just like you and me.

This is not about guns, or politics; this is about free people living in a free country.

Since getting my copy, I have spent many hours looking at it and am endlessly facinated with the people in it - what their houses, apartments, rooms look like; what kind of pets they share their space with; what kind of guns they own and the reasons why they own them.

Kyle - thanks for letting me be a part of this project - for taking amazing photos and letting the subjects of them speak for themselves.

Kyle Cassidy has done a great job of capturing and presenting American gun owners from all walks of life. He presents his subjects without either glorifying or demonizing the firearms they own.

This is a book that shatters stereotypes. One is immediately struck with the diversity of his subjects which cut across the strata of American society. They are old, middle aged, young, straight, gay, single, married, urban, rural, liberal, libertarian, conservative, white, african-american, hunters, animal lovers, casual target shooters, competitors, police, military, civilian, wealthy, working-class, male and female. Whew!

Their reasons for owning firearms, presented in their own words, are as diverse as they are.

I picked up this book hearing high praises about it. Guns tend to be a taboo to those who are unfamiliar with them. The people that are afraid of them generally don't want to know anything about them and the mere sight of such a thing would be treated as if someone stumbeled across someone in the nude on tv.

I liked the book because it showed who the gun owners are that people keep talking about. The general feel is that gun owners are shady folks or involved in militas dressed in camo planning to overthrow the government, neo nazi skinheads or criminals roaming the street. I like the idea that the book defeats that stereotype. It shows a diverse selection of gun owners of every race and background, poor, middleclass and rich, straight, bisexual, or gay. Gun owners come in all form, some support restrictions some don't.

The pictures of the book were very detailed and even if you are not a fan of guns or don't know anything about them, the detail of the pictures and the objects around the house are interesting, also lots of pets. There are details to the left of the pictures generally that have a little dialouge on why the person owns guns along with their name and state and listing the model of firearms.

I enjoyed the book and some of my friends who don't own firearms also enjoyed it not realizing that so many gun owners were just everyday people that lived in their neighborhood.

In his book, Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in Their Homes, photographer Kyle Cassidy makes no attempt to lead the reader to one side or the other of the fiercely debated topic of gun ownership. What he does do is show us the human (and sometimes canine, feline, or in one case rodent) face of those in our country who own firearms.

When I ordered my copies, I had them shipped to my office. Upon arrival, many of my coworkers enjoyed the opportunity to peruse the book, making note of the people, their pets, interior design of their homes, and in one case- even their shoe collection. All walked away with a sense of awe at Mr. Cassidy's ability to present such depth and personality in a two dimensional image. The guns were the common ground, but the people were as different from one another as could be.

I personally know two individuals in this book and after viewing the rest of the portraits, can think of countless others that I would like to meet. Rarely, if ever, have I felt that level of connection to a person of whom I have only seen one photograph. This collection of expertly photographed portraits provides great insight into the lives of these individuals.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in photography, people, interior design, pets, or... yes, guns.

well done, Mr. Cassidy. Well done.

Kyle Cassidy's book is wonderful. The images are lovely and curious. You want to delve into the lives of each person in the photograph. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

I found this book superb, first and foremost because Kyle does not advocate one side or the other in the great gun-control debate. No matter what your opinion on the subject, roughly half of America thinks you are wrong either way. He merely provided stunning photographic evidence of the fact that our friends and neighbors, co-workers and fellow citizens are not just statistics.
They are real people, they are you and me. These pictures remind you of that simple fact. Many of us choose to own guns for a sweeping variety of reasons and many people think we are wrong for doing so in an equally broad fashion.
I hope this book brings insight and provokes discussion on both sides of the subject because like it or not, we are all americans and have an obligation to look out for each other as well as ourselves.
Your government is not capable of protecting you every moment of your life nor is it obligated to do so. Those of us who are responsibly armed may have an opportunity to help, but the only one who can ensure your own safety is you, and that goes far beyond just owning a firearm.

As I said, this book captures a glimpse of a private part of the daily lives of many americans that has become far too controversial and vilified by many who dont understand their own rights and responsibilities as citizens of this once great country.

I truly hope that it may act as a catalyst for meaningful discussion and not just the usual knee-jerk reaction that both sides seem to be so fond of.

I would love this book even if I wasn't in it (on Page 40, by the way), Kyle has done a fabulous job finding and photographing us all. Buy his book, please, he has a kitten to feed....

I am embarrassed that I started out with such a small-minded view of gun ownership. I thought I was against guns and seeing pictures of them was viscerally disturbing them to me. However, reading what people actually had to say about their gun ownership did make me open my mind on the issue.

I appreciate that the book portrays first and foremost the people and does not slant or objectify them (there is no political agenda) which leaves me able to digest the contents for myself. The author's intro paragraph is very succinct and imaginitive; he is not only a gifted photographer but a unique writer as well. The photos are also really interesting because there's usually something going on in the background - you can see pets in motion captured at a moment in time or interesting expressions on the people's faces.

Kyle,

I received your book on, of all days, Independence Day (it was delivered yesterday to my office and I didn't see it until today). My first impressions are - WOW. It reached me on so many different levels: the 'familial' based on one of our LUG family creating a masterpiece; the photographic, based on the technique in achieving the images - bounce flash, rear fill flash, and the inadvertent (?) self portrait on page 127; the contextual notion that the Second Amendment (I am a left wing Democrat, christian more of an Episcobuddhist, anti-war, anti-violence, etc. ) must be always enforced, and in light of the recent idiocy in the WH seems ever more important; and finally the sub-context of all of the animals is just delightful.

This is so much different, and better, than what I had expected after reviewing the online images. Seeing the images in print form allows for so much more detail; the messiness/neatness of the subject environs; the additional items, or lack thereof, in their living areas adds so much more to the meaning of each photo. I can't help but wonder how much of the shoot was staged vs. their actual environment. And the captures of the animals are priceless. This was no easy task.

I was also struck by the verbosity or lack thereof of the subjects when commenting on their gun ownership and what stuck me most was the argument that the Second Amendment, like all of the Amendments, must be upheld against the moneyed interest purchasing politicians attempting to take away ANY freedoms. This is akin to the NRA, ACLU and Sierra club all agreeing on the same thing.

I don't like guns. I was going to say I don't have any guns but that isn't exactly true - I have an old flintlock from the Spanish American war that belonged to a relative of mine standing in the corner of my living room. Why? It just looks neat. This book doesn't necessarily change my need to have or not have guns but it does cause me to rethink any notion of banning guns.

Well, done, Kyle, well done.

Kyle,

I received your book on, of all days, Independence Day (it was delivered yesterday to my office and I didn't see it until today). My first impressions are - WOW. It reached me on so many different levels: the 'familial' based on one of our LUG family creating a masterpiece; the photographic, based on the technique in achieving the images - bounce flash, rear fill flash, and the inadvertent (?) self portrait on page 127; the contextual notion that the Second Amendment (I am a left wing Democrat, christian more of an Episcobuddhist, anti-war, anti-violence, etc. ) must be always enforced, and in light of the recent idiocy in the WH seems ever more important; and finally the sub-context of all of the animals is just delightful.

This is so much different, and better, than what I had expected after reviewing the online images. Seeing the images in print form allows for so much more detail; the messiness/neatness of the subject environs; the additional items, or lack thereof, in their living areas adds so much more to the meaning of each photo. I can't help but wonder how much of the shoot was staged vs. their actual environment. And the captures of the animals are priceless. This was no easy task.

I was also struck by the verbosity or lack thereof of the subjects when commenting on their gun ownership and what stuck me most was the argument that the Second Amendment, like all of the Amendments, must be upheld against the moneyed interest purchasing politicians attempting to take away ANY freedoms. This is akin to the NRA, ACLU and Sierra club all agreeing on the same thing. And who knew BD's first name was Bennett?

I don't like guns. I was going to say I don't have any guns but that isn't exactly true - I have an old flintlock from the Spanish American war that belonged to a relative of mine standing in the corner of my living room. Why? It just looks neat. This book doesn't necessarily change my need to have or not have guns but it does cause me to rethink any notion of banning guns.

Well, done, Kyle, well done.

I pre-ordered this book because I'd seen some of Kyle Cassidy's work and knew he was a great photographer, and I'd seen a couple of these gun pictures online. Despite my high regard for Mr Cassidy's work, I was not prepared for the greatness of this book.

The title led me to believe that it was pictures of guns with their people, but in fact it is pictures of people and their pets in their own homes, who are (incidentally) posing with some guns. Some people have one or two guns; others have dozens of guns. Pistols, machine guns, sniper rifles -- doesn't matter. These guns are just as matter of fact as the books and furniture and the paintings on the wall. All of the guns are well cared-for, even the brace of pistols that has been made into a table lamp by one subject.

You could airbrush the guns out of these pictures and they would still be great pictures, though perhaps one of the secrets of getting good portraits is to make the subject feel strong by having them holding a gun. Nobody brandishes a gun, nobody looks menacing or dangerous. Everybody looks interesting. I envy Mr Cassidy the opportunity to have met these people and talked to them and be invited into their homes.

I found myself playing sort of a "Where's Waldo" game with these pictures, trying to find and identify all of the guns that were named in the caption. Sometimes it's obvious, as the caption will say that there is one rifle and the subject is holding it. Other times it's far less obvious, as there will be half a dozen guns named in the caption but only two or three of them are obvious. The others are surely there, perhaps sitting quietly next to the ashtray or the paperback book or the lamp. There's one pistol that I still haven't found yet, but I will, because I know that I'm going to look at this book over and over and over again.

When my wife first saw this book, we were in a fancy restaurant with a few other people. She was so spellbound by it that she totally ignored her expensive dinner (herb roasted chicken au jus with mashed potatoes and fresh green snap beans) while she studied every page. Everyone else at the table had finished dessert and was sipping coffee; she was still spellbound by the book and her dinner was untouched. Half a dozen times the waiter asked her if she wanted her plate taken away and she shooed him off. Finally she finished the book and started on her meal, but all she could talk about was the book. "How is your chicken, dear?" "Did you see that picture where the child was wearing a Superman outfit?" "Well, no, because you wouldn't let go of the book, so I haven't actually had a chance to read it yet."

When it's time to put this book on the bookshelf, which it isn't, yet, it's going to go beside my books of Diane Arbus, Yousuf Karsh, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, and W Eugene Smith.

I was not sure what to expect when I cracked the cover of the book and from the onset I knew something different was behind the pages. What an amazing sampling of people to be photographed and I found myself playing a game of "where is the gun" and "where is the animal" with all of the creative uses and expression of the human and firearm form.

Thank you for a wonderful reading and viewing experience. My coffee table has a new resident.

I have to admit I'm not a gun fan myself, but the question of who owns guns and why is an interesting one and to his credit, photographer Kyle Cassidy shows us an unbiased glimpse of the diversity that makes up this country. The photos are gorgeous, full of so much detail that it's almost an overload the first time you look at them. Other reviewers have more elegantly said what I lack the words for in regards to the artisty and creativity on display here so perhaps I'll move onto something that has not been mentioned yet. I hope that people will take the time to read the introduction that leads into these amazing photos. As is usually the case, the journey is half the story and Kyle's trek across the US while shooting this project is no different. The words and travel photos are poignant and say that much more about the value of exploring and experiencing what this world has to offer and perhaps, gives us a glance into the heart of the person behind the camera.

This is an important book. It makes no editorial statement, proffers no venomous rhetoric. It simply puts a human face on the typically abstract and much maligned "gun owner." They are our neighbors, our friends, our coworkers. We normally would not fear these people, so why should we fear them with guns?

That said, it is understandable to fear a stranger with a gun. And, in our modern society, there are more strangers than acquaintances within our close proximity. This is partially because our communities (read, suburbia) are so large and uninviting that we tend not to actively participate in them. This makes us suspect and fear those around us, which is why I believe most gun owners own guns in the first place.

This is a book for "gun nuts" - and for the people who hate them. A collection of self-posed portraits of American gun owners in their homes, Kyle Cassidy's "Armed America" is unlikely to change a single mind on the highly charged issue of gun ownership. But that's alright, because Cassidy isn't attempting to change minds with this collection of hypnotically fascinating photographs. He is trying, quite successfully, to simply show us that gun owners look like the men, women, and children who live next door to us - whether we live in inner city Philadelphia, or on a farm in Wisconsin. Gun owners, Cassidy is showing us, are us. Make of that what you will.

While this is a photo book, and will be of interest to anyone interested in trends in contemporary photography, it is far more than just a photo book. For what Cassidy has produced here is a fascinating, valuable, work of photographic anthropology. He has turned his lens on an American subculture, and given us what appears to be an unbiased, and probably quite complete portrait of that subculture.

I noted when I began that this is a book for gun nuts and those who hate them, and it is. For whatever view of gun ownership you bring to the book you will take away from it. If you believe that we would all be better off if all our Mamas were pistol packin,' these photos will convince you you're right. And if you believe that in our modern, largely urban society only police and members of the armed forces should have access to firearms, this collection of photographs will reinforce your opinion. Which is to say that if Kyle Cassidy has an opinion on the issue of gun ownership, he isn't sharing it with us. All he's sharing is is talent as a photographer and his journalistic curiosity, and for that we should be grateful.

Kyle's photos are nothing short of fantastic. The subjects' thoughts on the topic of gun ownership are fascinating. Many times while reading them I found myself thinking, "I'd really like to meet this person". A few times I found myself thinking, "what the hell's wrong with this person?"

As an artist myself, I find my ability to stare at an image and examine every minute detail for long periods of time far exceeds that of a normal person's. I can spend literally hours looking at one image, where most people will flip through the whole book in ten minutes. If you're like me, you'll love the details in this book.

The glimpse into total stranger's lives is truly fascinating, and I found myself really relating to the people who live in, and aren't ashamed to be photographed in, a state of chaos. The perfectly clean houses gave me the willies a little.

The access Kyle was able to get to people and their private lives is really amzing, and surprising. I know a lot of gun owners can be suspicious when someone wants to start documenting them and showing them off to the rest of the world. Sometimes very rightly so. Kyle did not betray their trust- he put forth a beautiful and honest book of portraits. Portraits of and about people first and formost. "People who own guns" is almost secondary.

In his latest work, photographer Kyle Cassidy manages to capture a diverse and possibly representational cross-section of American gun owners with both artistry and a refreshing lack of overt political agenda. By placing the subjects of his lens within the context of their own homes, and providing only their own commentary for textual content, Cassidy manages to avoid any sort of editorial slant and instead let his models tell their own stories.

The gun owners presented in the book keep firearms for a variety of reasons, from the political to the artistic to the strictly utilitarian, and surprisingly the vast range of expressed opinions on firearms ownership range from the fervently pro- to the neutral to the equally fervently anti-. While it seems counterintuitive that a firearm owner would be against private firearm ownership -- well, you'll have to see for yourself how that works, but it's fascinating.

The photographs themselves are expertly composed, mostly wide-angle shots rich with colour and geometric arrangement. Guns aren't the focus of these pictures. While hardware fans will have plenty to drool over, it's clear that people and their homes (and their families and pets and interior design choices) are the central attraction.

Armed America succeeds as a study of firearm ownership issues, a collection of portrait art, and as a uniquely American work. Regardless of one's personal feelings on the firearms issue, the book is sure to provoke thought and inspire debate.

Every time I open "Armed America," I am struck by a different image... another face or interior that begs attention and complete focus... which, I think, is a testament to how powerful the photography itself is. As someone who has always regarded guns with apprehension and never considered firing one, let alone owning one, "Armed America" has forced me to reconsider my stance. There is such a broad cross-section of the American population represented that each page seems to bring a different revelation. The fact that the subjects are allowed to speak for themselves, their words printed below their image, allows you to draw your own conclusions, without the photographer's own views, (which remain a mystery,) getting in the way.

It's a fascinating document of American culture... both past and present... and in turning each page, you feel you're on a journey with the photographer, rediscovering this vast, complex country.

A few weeks ago, I can home and found one of my housemates cleaning a gun on my front porch. It was a sunny day made for outdoor activity, with cool breezes and low humidity. So the housemate decided that the Japanese WWII-era pistol hed had soaking in transmission fluid for six months was ready to be disassembled, cleaned, and maybe restored. The gun was safe: small and utterly ammo-less, it wouldnt even have made a decent blunt instrument. My first problem, then, was whether it was legal in my city to clean a firearm in public. My second was concern over what might happen if my neighborsthe religious peace activists with the nine-year-old soncame up the steps and spotted my housemate banging away at a deadly weapon.



This is one of the things you worry about when you live in a neighborhood like mine.



I talked him into cleaning the gun in my basement. To make up for the inconvenience (and to be less of a priss), I set up a vise at my workbench, made tools available, and helped him separate the trigger housing from the grip and barrel.



For roughly a year before _Armed America_ saw print, friends of Kyleslets add myself included, to get the disclosure out of the wayhad the privilege to read about his weekend trips to, say, a suburb in Wisconsin or a stretch of highway in Arizona or a punk-rock squat in Oregon. Wed get to see some of the photos from that shoot, along with some surprising and compelling story about the people holding the guns. Eventually, websites such as _Boing Boing_ or _Metafilter_ would reference Kyles project. Their subscribers, duly introduced to _Armed America_, would erupt in commentary.



If you find those online opinion-fests, youll find that the reactions to _Armed America_ are less varied and less surprising than the people Kyles assembled here.



Lets take the cover photo, of Donny and Judy and their boy Uzi, as an example. The room is in a restored Old House, tastefully decorated, with preserved stained glass and wood trim. We could readily believe that the family would be eager viewers of PBSs home shows. The photos on the walls are black-and-white, almost abstracts, so Donny and Judy have a taste for the modern as well. Judys wearing a daring black dress, while Donnys put on a fine suit that presents his barrel frame as something strong, reliable, and responsible. Little Uzis a classic American kid, and you can readily see Donny picking him up and swooping him around the room so he can really feel like Superman before tucking him in at night. Its a perfectly dignified portrait of a happy American middle-class family.



But for a lot of people, the guns throw the whole picture out of whack. They didnt own guns, didnt want to own guns, and couldnt understand why anyone other than a psychotic or fanatic would want to keep instruments of death in their homes, next to their children. Its one thing to see a guy in a wife-beater T-shirt holding a Glock in a gangsta pose. Its another to see Donny and Judy holding rifles in their living room.



Or Timothy in Washington; Gwen, Jep and Diana, and Barbara and her dogs, in Pennsylvania; BD with his dog Opus in Massachusetts; Cicily and Rob in Wisconsin; cheerful Craig in North Carolina; Beth, Paul,Gavin and Emma in Virginia; Elanor and Drew, and Jerry and Colin, in New Jersey; B.A., Wayne, and Jean and Fleming, all in Arizona; and David with his apparently teenage daughters, all of whom are comfortable with powerful weapons. The rooms are clean and well-kept, the furnitures well-coordinated, the pile carpets are white, the chairs are overstuffed, comfortable, and kept immaculate for when company shows up& and everyones posing with heavy, well-oiled mechanical devices that drive bullets with high-temperature explosions.



A lot of people wanted to see Kyles photos as being subversive of middle-class Americans. Maybe they saw the book as a variation on the old _Saturday Night Live_ film Show Us Your Guns, where suburbanites would cheerfully bring out their hidden firepower and wave it at a passing camera. (The big laugh was a woman reaching into her baby carriage and drawing out a submachine gun.) Strip the gag of its humor, and it becomes a dreary chant about how placid, conservative middle-class American society requires violence to protect its lifestyle and perpetuate its hegemony, and our countrys sexual fetish for guns is an inevitable expression of this political truth, etc., etc., et., and can we move on to something _interesting_ now?



Europeansand I am not making an unfair generalization saw many of these photos as evidence that Americans were overfed burghers, content in our ignorance and isolation from the victims of our corporations and military. Theyd zero in on what they saw as telling details, like Eds wall-chart of tank profiles or Mark and Loris collection of models, as evidence of our pervasively militaristic society. Its an interesting exercise; go on the blogs, read the comments from Brussels or Lyons or Berlin, and explain why insults about peoples living room décor, hair styles, facial hair and obesity are actually political analysis. Spend about half an hour reading _that_, and after a while you _want_ to project to the world the message that yes, we _are_ armed to the teeth.



So that was the general range of reaction: shock and surprise, the hunt for irony, the desire for evidence that Americans are bloated, kill-happy all rednecks, and general appreciation for Kyles skills as a photographer.



Gun owners, however, liked the photos. And why not? Theyre well-composed, dignified, and flattering portraits of people with whom they share something important. If gun owners got worked up over anything, it was when other people seized upon Kyles photos as grist for their ideological mills. Gun owners can be very sensitive, and not just about the Second Amendment.



Aaron and Brittny could be the newlywed couple who just moved in down the blockand so could Chris and Cecilia, even though one couples squeaky-clean and neat while the others sporting tattoos and Black Flag logos. Danielle, whose father was a Philly cop, has perfectly pragmatic reasons for owning a gun. Jacobs got that wonderful dentists chair in his living room. Ryan and Zach put the guns to the side and pose with their instruments.

Several guys in this bookAndrew in PA, and Chris in Missouri, to name twopose here in kilts, marking them as eccentrics Id otherwise know through science fiction fandom or the Society of Creative Anachronism. Brother Robb poses with The Net Bible, and Averys got a wall of DVDs and tchotchkes, and I recognize a similar karass. However, Ry sits in a corner with nothing around him but gun gear, and Dan has that stack of take-out pizza boxes stacked as neatly as hes arranged his rifles and pistolsand maybe Im confessing some prejudice on my part, but for their sake, I really hope that theres some healthy chaos or evidence of other interests just outside the picture frame.



If there are low points in _Armed America_, its when Kyles let the subjects indulge in some wish fulfillment, and let them pose theatrically, with lighting and set design. Im thinking of another Dan looking like Michael Corleone, or Patrick dressed like Wild West Show trick-shot. Theyre fine photos, and theres probably no more than three or four in the entire book, but they violate the rest of the project because they show more of what the subject wants to be more than what he is in his everyday life.



The real treat of _Armed America_ is that Kyles assembled an interesting and wide-ranging crew of patriots here. You could choose the two most culturally disparate people in Armed America, put them in the same room, and theyd easily fall into a mutually-enjoyable discussion. Itd probably be about ammunition, sure, but itd be real sociable.