NOTE: I recently unpacked my hodgepodge of notebooks about gun culture to begin thinking about writing another book in 2025. Seeing John McPhee’s Tabula Rasa in a local bookstore inspired me to empty those notebooks here. Be advised: These are truly notes and not composed ideas.

I brainstormed many possible titles/subtitles for what was ultimately published as Gun Curious: A Liberal Professor’s Surprising Journey Inside America’s Gun Culture. I recently found a couple of those lists. I’m happy with the title we chose, but below are some other contenders we considered.

Possible Titles

*So You Want to Talk About Guns?

*Guns are Normal

*The Truth About Gun Culture

*Why America Will Never Eliminate Guns

*Knowledge Can Build a Bridge

*Bridging the Gap / Mending the Divide: Understanding America’s Evolving Culture of Firearms

Possible Subtitles

*The Remarkable True Story of a Liberal Professor’s Journey to Gun Ownership

*The Untold Story of American Gun Culture

*My Unexpected Journey into Gun Ownership and the Lessons I Learned for America

*My / A Liberal’s / A Professor’s / A Liberal Professor’s Search for the Truth about American Gun Culture

*Lessons / Surprising Lessons from My Journey Inside American Gun Culture

Talking Heads Inspired Titles

Some possible titles drew inspiration from the Talking Heads, harkening back to my coming out talk at the NFLS in 2019.

I mocked up a couple of these myself (excuse the poor graphic design). I shied away from these because I did not want to get sued for copyright infringement. But they won’t sue me for just giving the titles here, right?

Cynical Titles

Of course, as the rejections flowed, I became cynical and decided I would have been better off promoting what people seem to want: heat over light.

So I mocked up some red meat titles for left and right partisans to chew on.