David Yamane

Was reminded today that my TEDx talk at @wakeforest.bsky.social crossed over 100,000 views a while back. Grateful for the response and some of the 1,600 comments! 😂 youtu.be/BzB8MX4v8ko?...

This short MP4 animated map is one fruit of my work on the history of concealed carry laws in the US. The works are free to use but please give credit: David Yamane, Gun Culture 2.0.

This short GIF animated map is one fruit of my work on the history of concealed carry laws in the US. The works are free to use but please give credit: David Yamane, Gun Culture 2.0.

Save the dates: November 19, December 3, and December 17, 6:00-7:00 pm Eastern time. Book info: link.amazon/B06R7tn3X

My fav variation: Q: “How many sociologists does it take to change a light bulb?” A: “Four. One to change the bulb and three to discuss the root causes of darkness.”

I’m no Malcolm Gladwell. But his new book, The American Way of Killing, and my book, Gun Curious, both invoke the parable of the blind men and the elephant. Turns out it matters what part(s) of the elephant you’re touching. lightoverheat.substack.com/p/im-no-malc...

I take no pleasure in this woman's humiliation. I blame her boss who privileges blind loyalty over qualification for putting her in a no-win situation. If only he would ask a few members of his cabinet to "reconsider." Katie Zacharia Is Out After 5 Days www.nytimes.com/2026/10/16/u...

I saw "Social Reckoning” yesterday. Facebook’s choice to manipulate its algorithm emphasized the negative side of that technology’s dualism. The re-release of this @Liberal Gun Owners Lens Podcast on guns and AI is timely in light of this. open.spotify.com/episode/7bWB...

Concealed carry laws keep changing, so capturing them in a table is like trying to freeze a river. I built one anyway, covering competency, training, course, and live-fire requirements. Free to view, and corrections welcome. lightoverheat.substack.com/p/freezing-t...

Women's gun ownership seems to have ticked up from 2014 to 2024. But is the percentage of men who own guns in 2024 "quite a bit lower" than the ownership rate from two decades prior? Or "may be lower"? Or "seems to be lower"? I added the dashed lines to the published graphic.

September Illuminations Digest - Mas vale tarde que nunca. lightoverheat.substack.com/p/illuminati...

NY Times: "[Yamane] maintains that contemporary gun culture is rooted in ordinary people converting fear into information to manage uncertainty and protect themselves, often in restrained and socially acceptable ways." I am David Yamane and I endorse this message. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/b...

Upgrading ourselves to reduce negative outcomes with firearms, one man's view. lightoverheat.substack.com/p/upgrading-...

Are Guns Tools or Weapons? Yes. Resist the binary. lightoverheat.substack.com/p/are-guns-t...

When idiocy, alcoholism, anger, and entitlement, and guns combine. They Argued About Trump at a Dog Park. Then They Pulled Their Guns. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/05/u...

I was surprised to find that no one (that I could find despite extensive searching) has used the term "handgunization" before to describe this shift in American gun culture. Working on Chapter 3 of my book Gun Culture 2.0 ongoing. lightoverheat.substack.com/p/handguniza...

This Substack post cites A LOT of research on firearms related harms, and also some about guns and gun owners.

Full and productive day of gunology yesterday, completing a solid draft of 10 paragraphs on "handgunization" totaling 1,800 words. That's more than one paragraph an hour!

Many ways to slice the data pie. Are you a lumper or a splitter when it comes to gun ownership data? (Not to be confused with the splitters in Monty Python’s Life of Brian.) lightoverheat.substack.com/p/are-you-a-...

One of the questions we take up in my Sociology of Guns seminar. No easy answers. lightoverheat.substack.com/p/how-do-you...

Who would drive 3 hours each way for a one hour class presentation? This guy! "The Paradox of Guns: Normality and Violence" at Randolph College.

A Tenured Professor Can Survive. I may not be able to skin a buck or run a trotline, but I sure as hell didn't wait for our copier tech to show up to change the cyan cartridge on our machine. Own first responder! #selfreliance

Malcolm Gladwell says our gun conversations are dishonest. I say guns cloud people's thinking, and I'm not immune. So I spent 30 minutes checking one footnote in my new Substack post to make sure I didn't get a fact wrong. lightoverheat.substack.com/p/guns-cloud...

I've been working on the same book chapter for 10 years or more. The world won't stand still long enough for me to capture it in words. But I love the research, thinking, and writing that are at the heard of the scholarly life. Truly privileged.

I use Claude to proofread my work for structure, sensibility, repetition, spelling, and grammar, and it does well at capturing basic problems. But it's got nothing on my human writing accountability partner, Lynn, as this post-Claude feedback shows.

My chat w/ @stephengutowski.bsky.social about “Teaching Gun Sociology” is the 11th most-viewed vid on The Reload’s YouTube channel, and that includes three videos with Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons fame. It would be cool to bump this video into the Top 10, wouldn’t it? youtu.be/yRos26YEJw8?...

Fourth and probably final Fall 2026 Sociology of Guns student field trip reflection essay: “My Opinion Has Become More Complicated." lightoverheat.substack.com/p/my-opinion...

Curiosity and open-mindedness are key virtues I hope students develop in my class. But I also recognize some of them bring these with them. As this student's gun range field trip reflection shows. lightoverheat.substack.com/p/i-started-...

I've been spending some time with historian Catherine Fletcher's new book, "The Firearm Revolution: From Renaissance Italy to the European Empires." It's quite interesting. We'll be discussing Part I in book club next week. Please join us! davidyamane.com/welcome-to-v...

Send energy to England. I sent a proposal for my Gun Culture 2.0 book to Polity Books this morning. It's a strong proposal. But I have anticipatory anxiety having been rejected 32 times when trying to place Gun Curious.

“The smell, recoil, and weight of the firearm quickly bring you to reality.” Second Sociology of Guns student field trip reflection essay. lightoverheat.substack.com/p/the-smell-...

I say this as a subscriber: "The New York Times is Afraid of Guns." lightoverheat.substack.com/p/the-new-yo...

“The more we did it, the more natural it became.” This is the first of an uncertain number of student gun range field trip reflection essays from my fall 2026 Sociology of Guns seminar. lightoverheat.substack.com/p/the-more-w...

I always enjoy speaking with @stephengutowski.bsky.social and appreciate the opportunity to speak to his Reload audience about my Sociology of Guns seminar at @wakeforest.bsky.social, Version 11! youtu.be/yRos26YEJw8?...

When a mass murder at a church happened while I was observing a gun training class: From Mozambique to Istanbul to Sutherland Springs. lightoverheat.substack.com/p/from-mozam...

I've continued to dip into my blog archive in thinking about the heroic actions of Jordan Salinas in trying to stop an active shooter. What would you do "When You Are Called on to Change History"? lightoverheat.substack.com/p/when-you-a...

Jordan Salinas' recent DGU in Twin Falls had me going back into my blog archive to find some posts about Gabe Suarez's Pistol Gunfighting School in 2017: Who Did It, With What, and Where? Playing “Tactical Clue” in the Civilian Gun Training Industry lightoverheat.substack.com/p/who-did-it...

Illuminations #11 -- the Light Over Heat monthly digest for August 2026 -- just dropped. It was a busy month. I hope you find something enlightening (or at least useful) here. lightoverheat.substack.com/p/illuminati...

Virtual book club is back for year 3, book 3. September 17, October 1, and October 15, 6:00 - 7:00 pm Eastern Time. Join us via Zoom Webinar. More info: davidyamane.com/welcome-to-v...

First classroom session for Sociology of Guns today, and we will talk about my AI policy (recall: lightoverheat.substack.com/p/ai-is-a-to...). On this slide I try to distill some of the key differences between what I’m trying to achieve in class and what AI does. What am I missing?

My book came out a couple of years now and I'm guessing there are some people out there who missed the first opportunity to get signed book plates at the release. If you'd like one, just send me your mailing address and to whom you want the book plate signed.

I had students complete my "Let's Talk Guns" project. The two word clouds below compare their responses to those of others who have completed the project (mostly from within the gun community). The differences are pretty striking. Read more on my Substack. lightoverheat.substack.com/p/the-word-c...

On the first day of my Introduction to Sociology class at @wakeforest.bsky.social, I ask the students a question to make explicit our class social contract: “What do we owe each other during our time together?” Here is my digest of their responses. I think it is a good social contract. Do you?