What We've Become

Jonathan M. Metzl has long been the forefront of a movement advocating for American gun reform as a matter of public health but in 2018 a racially charged mass shooting in Nashville led him on a path towards recognising the limitations of biomedical frameworks for fully diagnosing or treating the complexities of American gun politics. In What We've Become, Metzl looks at the cycle in which mass shootings lead to shock, horror, calls for action, and, ultimately, political gridlock, he explores what happens when violence is normalised as an acceptable trade-off for freedom. What We've Become points to mass shootings as a symptom of America's unresolved national conflicts, and sets out a path of alliance forging, racial reckoning and political power brokering that America must take to put things right.