~ RGVRC Affiliate Scholar ~

David Yamane is a professor of sociology at Wake Forest University and an internationally recognized scholarly authority on guns in America. He is best known for identifying and analyzing the defensive core of contemporary gun culture, which he calls “Gun Culture 2.0.” Yamane is the author of Gun Curious: A Liberal Professor’s Surprising Journey Inside America’s Gun Culture (2024) and is currently completing a book on the evolution and contours of Gun Culture 2.0. An Asian American and lifelong liberal from the San Francisco Bay Area, Yamane became a first-time gun owner at age 42 and embarked on a 12-year journey into the complex world of firearms in America. This unique positioning—with one foot outside and one inside gun culture—allows him to speak with a distinctive voice that reaches audiences across the spectrum of opinion on guns. He especially seeks opportunities to speak to the broad middle of the American population whose views do not skew to extremes. Yamane promotes “Light Over Heat” on his YouTube and Substack channels, serving as a calming voice in our divisive national arguments about guns.