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"Traces the deadly pipeline of assault weapons into the hands of organized crime."―Rolling Stone
MacArthur "Genius" Fellow Ieva Jusionyte turns the familiar border narrative upside down, following American guns as they move south into Mexico—and revealing how their violence ricochets back across the border.
American guns have entangled the lives of people on both sides of the US-Mexico border in a vicious circle of violence. After treating wounded migrants and refugees seeking safety in the United States, anthropologist Ieva Jusionyte boldly embarked on a journey in the opposite direction—following the guns from dealers in Arizona and Texas to crime scenes in Mexico.
An expert work of narrative nonfiction, Exit Wounds provides a rare, intimate look into the world of firearms trafficking and urges us to understand the effects of lax US gun laws abroad. Jusionyte masterfully weaves together the gripping stories of people who live and work with guns north and south of the border: a Mexican businessman who smuggles guns for protection, a teenage girl turned trained assassin, two US federal agents trying to stop gun traffickers, and a journalist who risks his life to report on organized crime. Based on years of fieldwork, Exit Wounds expands current debates about guns in America, grappling with US complicity in violence on both sides of the border.
MacArthur "Genius" Fellow Ieva Jusionyte turns the familiar border narrative upside down, following American guns as they move south into Mexico—and revealing how their violence ricochets back across the border.
American guns have entangled the lives of people on both sides of the US-Mexico border in a vicious circle of violence. After treating wounded migrants and refugees seeking safety in the United States, anthropologist Ieva Jusionyte boldly embarked on a journey in the opposite direction—following the guns from dealers in Arizona and Texas to crime scenes in Mexico.
An expert work of narrative nonfiction, Exit Wounds provides a rare, intimate look into the world of firearms trafficking and urges us to understand the effects of lax US gun laws abroad. Jusionyte masterfully weaves together the gripping stories of people who live and work with guns north and south of the border: a Mexican businessman who smuggles guns for protection, a teenage girl turned trained assassin, two US federal agents trying to stop gun traffickers, and a journalist who risks his life to report on organized crime. Based on years of fieldwork, Exit Wounds expands current debates about guns in America, grappling with US complicity in violence on both sides of the border.
Price: $24.95
Pages: 350
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Series: California Series in Public Anthropology
Publication Date:
01 April 2025
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9780520419308
Format: Paperback
"Traces the deadly pipeline of assault weapons into the hands of organized crime."
"An extraordinarily brave researcher, [Jusionyte] spent years getting to know gun runners, members of critical gangs, law enforcement officials on both sides of the border, and the journalists and community members who have witnessed the terrible toll of U.S.-made guns in Mexico. . . . In her epilogue, Jusionyte makes suggestions for enlightened policies to mitigate the plague of gun violence in Mexico and the ‘border crisis’ caused by people fleeing repression and extortion."
"It is a must-read in a conversation that is surely to continue heating up."
"A deep dive into how and why guns from the United States are continually flowing into Mexico."
"A work of remarkable diligence, shrewdness, and empathy that follows the 'iron river' of firearms that flows from north to south; the violence this trade generates; and the players that keep it in motion."
"Jusionyte focuses her narrative overview largely on guns based on multiple interviews with people on every side of gun smuggling, from those trying to prevent illegal exports from the United States to those using the weapons for sport or murder in Mexico. The book reflects her background as an anthropologist and ethnographer and employs the skills of a journalist."
"It wasn’t until [Jusionyte] worked as an emergency paramedic along both sides of the border in Nogales, Arizona—and earned a PhD that included ethnographic research—that she was thrust into a world that forced her seismic mental shift away from popular beliefs about guns and the U.S.-Mexico border."
"The book’s success lies in the people she meets and the stories they tell…Jusionyte reports these stories richly and with great sympathy."
"Jusionyte was reluctant to start research into guns, but the primary accelerant of the cycle of violence and migration seemed just too obvious, and too little remarked on in the US, to ignore."
"An extraordinarily brave researcher, [Jusionyte] spent years getting to know gun runners, members of critical gangs, law enforcement officials on both sides of the border, and the journalists and community members who have witnessed the terrible toll of U.S.-made guns in Mexico. . . . In her epilogue, Jusionyte makes suggestions for enlightened policies to mitigate the plague of gun violence in Mexico and the ‘border crisis’ caused by people fleeing repression and extortion."
"It is a must-read in a conversation that is surely to continue heating up."
"A deep dive into how and why guns from the United States are continually flowing into Mexico."
"A work of remarkable diligence, shrewdness, and empathy that follows the 'iron river' of firearms that flows from north to south; the violence this trade generates; and the players that keep it in motion."
"Jusionyte focuses her narrative overview largely on guns based on multiple interviews with people on every side of gun smuggling, from those trying to prevent illegal exports from the United States to those using the weapons for sport or murder in Mexico. The book reflects her background as an anthropologist and ethnographer and employs the skills of a journalist."
"It wasn’t until [Jusionyte] worked as an emergency paramedic along both sides of the border in Nogales, Arizona—and earned a PhD that included ethnographic research—that she was thrust into a world that forced her seismic mental shift away from popular beliefs about guns and the U.S.-Mexico border."
"The book’s success lies in the people she meets and the stories they tell…Jusionyte reports these stories richly and with great sympathy."
"Jusionyte was reluctant to start research into guns, but the primary accelerant of the cycle of violence and migration seemed just too obvious, and too little remarked on in the US, to ignore."
Ieva Jusionyte is an anthropologist and associate professor at Brown University. A former paramedic and Harvard Radcliffe and Fulbright fellow, she is the author of the award-winning Threshold: Emergency Responders on the US-Mexico Border.
Contents
Map of the US-Mexico Borderlands
The Workshop
Shape of Wounds
Recruited
Arming the State
With a Side of Beans
Collateral Damage
Ghost Highway
The Last Letter
The Camp
The Player
Poisoned City
Fallen Sovereigns
Blurred Lines
Brothers
Revenge
50 BMG
Attitude
Caged
Homefront
Metal Afterlives
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About This Project: Methods, Ethics, Sources
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
Map of the US-Mexico Borderlands
The Workshop
Shape of Wounds
Recruited
Arming the State
With a Side of Beans
Collateral Damage
Ghost Highway
The Last Letter
The Camp
The Player
Poisoned City
Fallen Sovereigns
Blurred Lines
Brothers
Revenge
50 BMG
Attitude
Caged
Homefront
Metal Afterlives
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About This Project: Methods, Ethics, Sources
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index