Fear is a selling point that has turned out profits for gunmakers, author Gerry Souter said Tuesday at a Society of Midland Authors program at the Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago.

"What's the tool that we have that can make all this work? Fear," said Souter, a lifelong gun enthusiast.

Souter, who with his wife, Janet, has written or co-authored more than nonfiction 50 books, is author of a new book titled American Shooter: A Personal History of Gun Culture in the United States.

"They [guns] are not just for sport. They are not just for fighting a war. They [have] become a fabric of everyday life. And that's where there is a problem," Souter said.

"We've taken a sport that has tradition that goes back to the earliest settlers that taught a lot of kids respect for rules," Souter said. "... [Now] there are sport shooters in the United States who are embarrassed by the NRA."

Souter, who calls himself a liberal in the NRA, says he represents the typical experience of American shooters who have grown up with firearms and appreciate how marksmanship skills help build character, respect and eye-hand coordination.

Read more about American Shooter here.

Read a March 1 Sun-Times editorial on gun laws here.

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