"Timely, relevant, and necessary" More Americans have died from guns in the US in the last fifty years than in all the wars in American history . Though the people of the United States total 5 percent of the world's population, they own almost half the world's guns . With well over 300 million guns in the US, there are more guns than people . America also has the world's most gun deaths--including homicide, suicide, and accidental gun deaths--at 105 per day , or about 38,000 per year . But the world doesn't have to be this way. Beating Guns shows how we can all be part of the solution. Inspired by the prophetic image of beating swords into plows, Shane Claiborne and Michael Martin offer a clarion call to change our hearts regarding one of the most significant moral issues of our time. "Sometimes we get stuck in our frustration with problems that seem like they will never go away.

This book is how we get unstuck on guns." -- Shaun King , writer, speaker, and activist "Finally we have a winsome, reasonable approach to an issue that usually generates far more heat than light." -- Philip Yancey , New York Times bestselling author "As a Black woman, mother, and reconciler who has witnessed countless parents losing their children to gun violence, one of my greatest concerns is to find a way to stop this senseless loss of life. That's why I highly recommend this timely, relevant, and necessary book!" -- Brenda Salter McNeil , author of Roadmap to Reconciliation and A Credible Witness "With mass shootings regularly in the news, this powerful, provocative new book is not only timely but critical reading." -- Michael Curry , presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church "Timely and moving, this important book deserves a wide audience and will be eye-opening for any reader concerned about the effects of America's open embrace of guns."-- Publishers Weekly (starred review).