Author and Professor David Yamane
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In 2011, David Yamane, a liberal sociology professor from the San Francisco Bay Area, stood at a firing range with a gun in his hand for the first time. That single moment sparked a journey that would take him deep into the heart of America’s gun culture, a world he had never imagined entering. Now, after twelve years of immersive research, Yamane shares his surprising experiences and insights in his new book, “Gun Curious: A Liberal Professor’s Surprising Journey Inside America’s Gun Culture,” set for release on June 1.

Professor David Yamane’s new book.

Published by Exposit Books, the book chronicles Yamane’s transformation from a gun novice to a gun owner, AR-15 enthusiast, concealed carry permit holder and trained armed citizen. As an Asian American academic with deep liberal roots, Yamane’s journey offers a unique perspective on the gun debate, one that seeks to bridge the divide between gun enthusiasts and skeptics.

“Initially, I was just curious about why nearly 100 million Americans own so many firearms,” Yamane said. “I wanted to understand the culture, the motivations, and the values behind gun ownership.”

One chapter of “Gun Curious” delves into the story of Michael Sodini, founder of Walk the Talk America (WTTA), who also transitioned from an outsider to a significant figure in the gun community. Yamane highlights how Sodini’s leadership of Eagle Imports and his work with WTTA, which aims to connect mental health care with responsible gun ownership, exemplify the potential for finding common ground on contentious issues.

Pre-release copies of “Gun Curious” will be available at the National Rifle Association (NRA) Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Dallas, Texas, this weekend. Yamane will be the lunchtime keynote speaker at the National Firearms Law Seminar on May 17 and will make several appearances throughout the event to discuss and sign his book.

“Gun Curious” is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.

Walk the Talk America, the non-profit organization founded by Sodini, seeks to enhance the perception of mental health among gun owners and elevate the standard of mental health care within this community. The organization uses insights from gun-owning mental health professionals to offer practical solutions, aiming to bridge the gap between two seemingly disparate worlds.

Yamane’s book and his journey reflect a broader narrative about understanding and bridging divides, an endeavor as crucial as it is timely in today’s polarized climate. Whether all gun owners will embrace Yamane’s views remains to be seen, but the book creates an interesting juncture at which people with a shared passion but differing backgrounds can begin to find common ground.

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44 COMMENTS

  1. We own guns because history has taught us the lesson of the cattle car. A lesson that is as old as history itself. Older than guns and cattle cars.

    Evil never stops. It showers with its 11 yo daughter but it never stops.

      • Cattle car’s? How about Japanese concen er internment camps? All from a rich Dim named Roosevelt. I don’t need a leftie gat owner’s book to know that. Or a doddering poopie pants pervert. The “debate” will determine if the comptroller of slow Joe decides to push aside Joe in favor of Gordon Gecko of the failed state of Commiefornia. Michelle has too much centrally located baggage🙄

        • “How about Japanese concen er internment camps? All from a rich Dim named Roosevelt“

          Interesting claim.

          So would you actually have proof of your claim, perhaps the text of Roosevelts Executive Order sending Japanese Americans to internment camps?

          • Executive Order 9066, signed 2/19/1942 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

            Executive Order No. 9066
            Executive Order
            Authorizing the Secretary of War to Prescribe Military Areas
            Whereas the successful prosecution of the war requires every possible protection against espionage and against sabotage to national-defense material, national-defense premises, and national-defense utilities as defined in Section 4, Act of April 20, 1918, 40 Stat. 533, as amended by the Act of November 30, 1940, 54 Stat. 1220, and the Act of August 21, 1941, 55 Stat. 655 (U.S.C., Title 50, Sec. 104);
            Now, therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of War, and the Military Commanders whom he may from time to time designate, whenever he or any designated Commander deems such action necessary or desirable, to prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as he or the appropriate Military Commander may determine, from which any or all persons may be excluded, and with respect to which, the right of any person to enter, remain in, or leave shall be subject to whatever restrictions the Secretary of War or the appropriate Military Commander may impose in his discretion. The Secretary of War is hereby authorized to provide for residents of any such area who are excluded therefrom, such transportation, food, shelter, and other accommodations as may be necessary, in the judgment of the Secretary of War or the said Military Commander, and until other arrangements are made, to accomplish the purpose of this order. The designation of military areas in any region or locality shall supersede designations of prohibited and restricted areas by the Attorney General under the Proclamations of December 7 and 8, 1941, and shall supersede the responsibility and authority of the Attorney General under the said Proclamations in respect of such prohibited and restricted areas.
            I hereby further authorize and direct the Secretary of War and the said Military Commanders to take such other steps as he or the appropriate Military Commander may deem advisable to enforce compliance with the restrictions applicable to each Military area here in above authorized to be designated, including the use of Federal troops and other Federal Agencies, with authority to accept assistance of state and local agencies.
            I hereby further authorize and direct all Executive Departments, independent establishments and other Federal Agencies, to assist the Secretary of War or the said Military Commanders in carrying out this Executive Order, including the furnishing of medical aid, hospitalization, food, clothing, transportation, use of land, shelter, and other supplies, equipment, utilities, facilities, and services.
            This order shall not be construed as modifying or limiting in any way the authority heretofore granted under Executive Order No. 8972, dated December 12, 1941, nor shall it be construed as limiting or modifying the duty and responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with respect to the investigation of alleged acts of sabotage or the duty and responsibility of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice under the Proclamations of December 7 and 8, 1941, prescribing regulations for the conduct and control of alien enemies, except as such duty and responsibility is superseded by the designation of military areas hereunder.
            Franklin D. Roosevelt
            The White House,
            February 19, 1942.

          • Please enlighten us Miner, who sent asians to the internment camps during World War Two? You mean Executive Order 9066? What’s your point?

            • I never give place to trolls. Minor is a troll. And a stupid one to comment on FDR🙄

              • I always appreciate you perspective FWW.
                But this man that I am talking about I truly loved. Bob was my mentor and he was so measured in his discussions about his family’s internment that I couldn’t beleive it! I remember practically screaming at him how can you forgive these people? I was 24 at the time. He told me “If all I do is live in the past then how can I move forward?”

            • I worked with one of the nicest engineers that I have ever met. His name was Bob Utani. He has been long gone now but I loved him as he was one of my mentors and one of the sweetest persons that you could ever know. He got 20K in 1985 as reparations after the FED’s took his parents home and business away from them and incarcerated them during the war. I’m thinking he was screwed over.

              • “He got 20K in 1985 as reparations“

                Yes, and they weren’t paid any reparations until after Pres. Gerald Ford formally rescinded Executive Order 9066 on February 16, 1976.

                Say, do you think other people unjustly held should be do reparations as well?

              • Reparations for loss of rights should be paid miner. I have lost many of my 2a rights just because I live in CA.

                Anybody that has been unjustly held, including the mostly peaceful protestors on J6 should be paid.

                Anybody alive in the US today that has had their rights abused by the fascist left should get paid for the abuse.

            • “who sent asians to the internment camps during World War Two?”

              Not FDR.

              “And a stupid one to comment on FDR“

              You are the one who claimed FDR sent Japanese Americans to internment camps, and you lack the ability to stand behind your words.

              More empty speech.

              • “Issued by President Franklin Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, this order authorized the forced removal of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to “relocation centers” further inland – resulting in the incarceration of Japanese Americans.”

            • “You mean Executive Order 9066? What’s your point?“

              Why yes, indeed.

              Now, if you are capable, copy and paste the text from executive order 9066 wherein Franklin Delano Roosevelt orders the internment of Japanese American citizens.

          • So fascist miner standing up for fascist fdr.

            This is my surprised look.

            Nuremberg 2.0 looms closer.

            • “So fascist miner standing up for fascist fdr“

              More false claims, just blathering from those who lack the ability to support their opinions with facts.

              Nuremberg 2.0? Already in progress:

              “Four Men from California Sentenced to Prison for Conspiracy and Other Charges Related to Jan. 6 Capitol Breach

              Friday, April 19, 2024
              Shareright caret
              For Immediate Release
              U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia
              WASHINGTON – Four men from California were sentenced to prison today after they were previously convicted of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and other charges related to their conduct during the January 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. Their actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

              Erik Scott Warner, 48, of Menifee, California, was sentenced to 27 months in prison.

              Felipe Antonio Martinez, 50, of Lake Elsinore, California, was sentenced to 21 months in prison.

              Derek Kinnison, 42, of Lake Elsinore, California was sentenced to 33 months in prison.

              Ronald Mele, 54, of Temecula, California, was sentenced to 33 months in prison.

              In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth ordered each defendant to pay $2,000 restitution and complete 36 months of supervised release.“

            • hitler, stalin, mao and now biden.

              All have used the power of the state to grind their enemies down.

              Not a good look for your side, miner.

              Just remember. When you’re facing the People’s Justice that ‘I was just following orders’ is not a valid defense.

          • @Miner49er

            “How about Japanese concen er internment camps? All from a rich Dim named Roosevelt“

            To which you. Miner49er, replied:

            “Interesting claim.

            So would you actually have proof of your claim, perhaps the text of Roosevelts Executive Order sending Japanese Americans to internment camps?”

            This is common historical knowledge – that President Franklin D. Roosevelt (AKA ‘FDR’) did indeed send Japanese Americans into internment camps.

            Its easily found by search engines, its taught in schools, its common public knowledge, its history.

            Miner49er, I suggest you learn what context means, what research means, how to read, how to use a search engine, and if there was a way to go back in time that you attend school again and learn something like about reading and context and comprehension and also how not to be so blatantly ignorant and how not to be a fascist troll.

            FDR orders Japanese Americans into internment camps > https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fdr-signs-executive-order-9066

            “On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066, initiating a controversial World War II policy with lasting consequences for Japanese Americans. The document ordered the forced removal of resident “enemy aliens” from parts of the West vaguely identified as military areas.

            Japanese immigrants and their descendants, regardless of American citizenship status or length of residence, were systematically rounded up and placed in prison camps. Evacuees, as they were sometimes called, could take only as many possessions as they could carry and were forcibly placed in crude, cramped quarters. In the western states, camps on remote and barren sites such as Manzanar and Tule Lake housed thousands of families whose lives were interrupted and in some cases destroyed by Executive Order 9066. Many lost businesses, farms and loved ones as a result.”

            “internment” by definition is the act of interning someone or the state of being interned, often in a camp or prison.

            Japanese Internment Camps > https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/japanese-american-relocation

            The internment of Americans of Japanese descent during World War II is one of the more shameful chapters in United States history – a democrat president did that, period.

            This ‘concept’ of ‘needing to do something with a dis-favored class to remove the from society or subjugate them’ has always been at the core of the democrat party. For example: Johnson did it with ‘welfare’ for the Black demographic to ‘tame’ them into voting democrat and keep them subjugated to the ‘government’ by use of ‘welfare’ and voting democrat. The democrat party KKK did it to the Black demographic.

            Every single large scale (as in nationwide) ‘subjugation’ or ‘oppression’ of a society demographic ‘people’ in the last 150 years has been at the hands of the democrat party or a democrat politician. And now Joe Biden and various other democrat governors are doing it to Americans as a whole by their attacks on the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 15, and 14th amendment rights trying to make them controlled by a ‘democrat run government’ – another large scale ‘subjugation’ or ‘oppression’ of a society demographic ‘people’ by the democrat party and democrat ‘government’ called tyranny.

            Take your ignorance and fascism elsewhere Miner49er.

            • You are still wrong.

              All you have is editorial summarizing in popular websites.

              Still, no one has shown the actual text of executive order 9066 because it clearly shows FDR did not order the internment of Japanese American citizens.

              Y’all folks really can’t understand the actual facts of history, it’s just so amazing.

              Again, if you want people to believe your bullshit claims, you really need to post actual text of FDR‘s action to intern Japanese American citizens.

              Otherwise, your editorial comments are just more right wing empty speech in an attempt to unjustly vilify FDR.

              I’m not surprised by the history ignorance displayed here, I’m sure most folks on this forum also believe Columbus discovered America.
              Its amazing how often what folks consider ‘common knowledge’ is disproven by the actual facts of history.

              • So fdr was not the commander in chief when Japanese Americans were rounded up and put in concentration camps, miner?

                Or it was done without his consent and knowledge?

                You are not that stupid. But then again, you support biden so you are that stupid.

              • @Miner49er.

                FDR issued the order, told the war department to execute it and they did and FDR did not come back and say “wait, that’s not what I meant” and instead supported and lauded the war department for doing it.
                FDR..the buck stopped with him, he did it plain and simple.

                so stop it with your probably false semantics games and ignorance and learn what context means you stupid piece o $hit lying deceiving fascist troll.

            • Let me help you folks with a bit of actual history, here’s a summary and you can find the actual text of executive order 9066 on this site as well.

              When researching history, it’s best to consult the primary sources.

              “The West Coast was divided into military zones, and on February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 that authorized military commanders to exclude civilians from military areas. Although the language of the order did not specify any ethnic group, Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt of the Western Defense Command proceeded to announce curfews that included only Japanese Americans.

              General DeWitt first encouraged voluntary evacuation by Japanese Americans from a limited number of areas. About seven percent of the total Japanese American population in these areas complied. Then on March 29, 1942, under the authority of Roosevelt’s executive order, DeWitt issued Public Proclamation No. 4, which began the forced evacuation and detention of Japanese-American West Coast residents on a 48-hour notice. Only a few days prior to the proclamation, on March 21, Congress had passed Public Law 503, which made violation of Executive Order 9066 a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison and a $5,000 fine.“

              It was General Dewitt who issued Public Proclamation No. 4 AFTER the Congress of the United States gave the EO the force of Federal Law.

              https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/executive-order-9066

              • How did Congress correct this overreach?

                The fact is, at the time no one thought it was overreach.

                “U.S. Representative Leland Ford (R-CA) of Los Angeles joined the bandwagon, who demanded that “all Japanese, whether citizens or not, be placed in [inland] concentration camps.”

                Even today, many Republicans continue to support the internment of Japanese Americans:

                “16 House Republicans vote against bill to promote education on internment camps
                BY CRISTINA MARCOS 03/16/22 07:29 PM ET

                More than a dozen House Republicans on Wednesday voted against legislation to promote public education about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

                The bipartisan bill was authored by Republican Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) and passed handily by a vote of 406-16. All of the no votes came from Republicans, including several members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.“

                Perhaps you are unaware of the fact that Japanese-American citizens helped IJN forces kill American citizens, Leading to the internment action because of the risk.

              • quoting from above:

                under the authority of Roosevelt’s executive order, DeWitt issued Public Proclamation No. 4, which began the forced evacuation and detention of Japanese-American

              • to Miner49er
                Thank you for outing yourself. You are an outstanding example of a Liberal avoiding responsibility.

                The commander in chief during WW2 was totally responsible, for not protecting the civil rights of law abiding Americans, during war time.

                And I’m against teaching the history of Japanese American interment. Unless you teach the illegal interment of ALL LAW ABIDING Americans during the war.

                It was widely reported in the news media of that time. That the americans of japanese, italian, and german descent, and others. Were being forcibly removed and placed into camps.

                I learned about the “Manzanar” camp taught in my HS history class in california. And that was months before the 1970s TV movie came out about it.

                But my class was not taught about the internment of the Germans, italian americans, and Latin Americans.

                Yes that’s correct. Americans of Latin descent had their civil rights violated too. By the thousands.

                I wonder why they avoid talking about the violation of civil rights, of nearly twenty thousand white european americans???

                Maybe the government wanted to steal the private property of white people???

                Just like they stole the private property of the indians tribes.

                Your liberal racist attempts to smear american society are not working.

                You see, your skin color doesn’t matter. When you are considered an enemy of the state.

          • You see, the government will treat you and your white family very well.

            When your threatened with deadly force to leave your home. And relocate to one of the many German or Italian american interment camps.

            German American interment camps inTX during WW2. video 21 min long
            This is a US government video from the 1950s.

            FEMA camps in the 21st century. Really??? That’s never happened in US history before.

            https://youtu.be/1UjCG142i8I?si=v-QZBcqbWXeVV_eh

  2. Before we can proceed mr. liberal it’s not a Gun Culture. It is Citizens Exercising a Constitutional Right. Allow me to assist you…Gun Curious: A Liberal Professor’s Surprising Journey Inside A Constitutionl Right.”

  3. Perhaps it is a good thing that a leftist learns the majority of gun owners are not the violent thugs, racists, and in general monsters looking for any excuse to shoot someone we get painted as by the anti gun/disarmament crowd and leftist media.
    Doubt I will purchase his book, but might check it out if I see it on the library listings.
    Too bad so many are indoctrinated and refuse to understand their rights to everything they hold dear are contingent upon both freedom of speech and the right to keep and bear arms. Being able to discuss or disagree with the current narrative and being able to defend your self, home, families, and rights are the only things that keep people free from the camps and gas chambers.

  4. Do the Pr0gtards have him on a “cancellation” list?

    Pr0gtards have a thing about lists. We all know some of the l3ftists on this site were compiling lists for “special cancellation”.

  5. Sorry folks, you just can’t have it Both ways.. Either the Right to Defense and the Second Amend is in the marrow of your bones, or it’s not. The masses that don’t seem to “GET IT” are impossible to reason with, they are insane in the membrane. Evil.

  6. Anyone who calls himself a liberal does not believe in the Second Amendment.

    They don’t believe in the First Amendment. They believe the 1st amendment is about their pornography.

    And they are very happy to burn down the entire Bill of Rights when the government tells them to.

    What was this liberal professor’s position in 2020 on the lockdowns???
    Forcing christians to not go to church services on Easter.

    Did this liberal professor support the black lives matter protests??
    The allowed gay marches during that year, while other people were told to not go to restaurants. Businesses were forced to close because the government wouldn’t allow customers into their establishments.

    What was this liberal professor’s position???

    Inquiring minds want to know.

    • Modern liberals are mostly just “socially” liberal. Otherwise, they tend to support ever-expanding government control, even when it conflicts with the Bill of Rights.

  7. “I wanted to understand the culture, the motivations, and the values behind gun ownership.”

    He was never really a liberal, he just identified as one. A real liberal has no curiosity to understand anything about the other side and why they think the way they do. The other side is evil, why would you humanize Hitler?!?

  8. I’ve got plenty of toilet paper stocked away so I don’t need this book to supplement for emergency bowling tickets.

    Who cares if lefty lucy got over its fear of guns and now can be a good socialist gun-owner with one Fuddy nerfed AR. Don’t care. Storm is coming.

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