Tragedy in Aurora is about the 2012 murder of budding sports journalist Jessica (Jessi) Redfield Ghawi in a public mass shooting, and the widening circle of pain it inflicted on her family, friends, police, medical first responders, and others. The book is at the same time a deep examination of the causes and potential cures of the quintessential 21st century American sickness-public mass shootings. At the heart of that examination is an unpacking of America's deep polarization and political gridlock. It addresses head on the question of why? Why is American gun violence so different from other countries? Why does nothing seem to change? The "Parkland kids" inspired hope of change. But the ultimate questions stubbornly remain-what should, what can, and what will Americans do to reduce gun violence? Tragedy in Aurora argues that the answer lies in a conscious cultural redefinition of American civic order. Over recent decades, America has defined a cultural "new normal" about guns and gun violence. Americans express formalistic dismay after every public mass shooting. But many accept gun violence as an inevitable, even necessary, and to some laudable part of what it means to be "American." Although Americans claim to be shocked with each new outrage, so far they have failed to coalesce around an effective way to reduce gun death and injury. The debate is bogged down in polarized and profoundly ideological political and cultural argument. Meanwhile, America continues to lead the globe in its pandemic levels of gun deaths and injuries. Combined with the cynical "learned helplessness" of its politicians, the result is gridlock and a growing roll of victims of carnage. Is there a path out of this cultural and political gridlock? Tragedy in Aurora argues that if America is to reduce gun violence it must expand the debate and confront the fundamental question of "who are we?" Tom Diaz gives a new understanding of American culture and the potential for change offered by the growing number and ongoing organization of victims and survivors of gun violence. Without conscious cultural change, the book argues, there is little prospect of effective laws or public policy to reduce gun violence in general and public mass shootings in particular.
Tom Diaz is a retired lawyer, former journalist, writer, and gun owner who has authored a number of non-fiction books, monographs and articles about crime, terrorism, and firearms. He has been a guest on CNN, HLN, MSNBC, NPR, and other national and foreign news media. Diaz is the author of Making a Killing: The Business of Guns in America (1999), Lightning Out of Lebanon: Hezbollah Terrorists on American Soil (with Barbara Newman) (2005), No Boundaries-Transnational Latino Gangs and American Law Enforcement (2009), and The Last Gun: How Changes in the Gun Industry Are Killing Americans and What It Will Take to Stop It (2013). He was Democratic counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice from 1993 to 1997, where his specialties included terrorism and firearms regulation. He was senior policy analyst at a Washington-based gun violence reduction organization from 1997 to 2012.
Diaz and the Phillips present an engaging piece of research on a contentious and all-too-real piece of American culture, and provide an entree into this discourse that will be valuable to anyone wanting more context, or anyone wanting to find a way "in" to activism on the gun control side of things - the very thing we believe the authors may be hoping for. * Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books * Retired lawyer and former journalist Diaz (The Last Gun), in collaboration with Lonnie and Sandy Phillips, the parents of Aurora shooting victim Jessica (Jessi) Redfield Ghawl, write an earnest examination of U.S. gun violence. Chapters alternate between personal details (the horrific irony of Ghawl's being present at but escaping the June 2, 2012, Toronto food court shooting only to die six weeks later in the Aurora tragedy), and ambitious attempts to provide a historic context for how we got to this point and why nothing seems to be changing. The authors' use of statistics is compelling; they write, "We are shadowed by the knowledge that at any minute of any day another public mass shooting erupt," completing this book just before 12 people were killed at a Virginia Beach Municipal Center in June 2019; how many more mass shootings before there's dedicated change? * Library Journal * Diaz insightfully observes that the United States' problems with firearms and mass shootings are symptomatic of an even more dangerous malady: a broken democracy failing its people. As he suggests, by healing the underlying cultural divide, we may find common ground on solutions to gun violence and many other important issues, so that America can once again glimpse its full potential -- Adam Lankford, Criminology Professor, The University of Alabama Diaz does the diligent work of an investigator, activist, and historian who weaves together events, organizations, and individuals to tell a story that culminates in tragedy. The juxtaposition of the political and institutional mechanisms with the personal story of Jessica Ghawi demands that we examine our collective moral compass and decide the direction we want for the future of gun laws and violence. If the overwhelming empirical and historical evidence is somehow insufficient, the courage and fortitude of the Phillips cannot and should not be ignored. By providing a thorough explanation of how the United States has arrived at a point in which violence is mourned, yet seemingly accepted, this book will hopefully encourage a more informed narrative and encourage lawmakers to reexamine gun control so that the legacy of Jessica and victims like her will inspire change. -- Sarah Daly, PhD, Assistant Professor of Criminology, Law, and Society, Saint Vincent College
