Former Congressman Steve Israel spoke about and signed his new novel, “Big Guns” at Huntington’s Book Revue on April 19. Interviewing the politician and author was Suffolk County Executive, Steve Bellone.
“Big Guns” satirizes the debate about gun control in the U.S. Israel said he watched the coverage of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and President Obama’s tearful reaction and thought to himself that day, “‘now is going to be different. We’re going to do something now. We’re going to go back to Washington on Tuesday and we’re going to finally do something about this.’ Nothing was done. And I began thinking, ‘maybe there’s a book here.’”
After the shooting, Israel said state and local governments began debating and passing “sensible measures not to take guns away from people but no-fly, no-buy; universal background checks.” The small city of Nelson, Georgia did not. Israel said Nelson was “repulsed” by the regulatory measures other state and local governments we trying to pass. So, the city passed an ordinance requiring every resident to own and carry a gun, otherwise, face fines. Israel said he read this and thought he had found his story, “only I know nothing about Nelson, Georgia. But, I do know about the United States Congress. And so, the conceit of this book is that the United States Congress forces every American to own and carry a gun.”
Israel wrote “Big Guns” during hearings about gun violence in order to answer the question he was most asked question after every shooting, which was, he said, “why doesn’t Congress do something?”
“Big Guns” is hardcover and on sale at bookstores for $26.
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