To see a selection of images from Kyle Cassidy's book, click on the multimedia link, below left

The deaths of 32 students and teachers at Virginia Tech in April placed gun control back at the top of the political agenda in the United States.

The university campus became the scene of another bloodbath in the wake of the deaths of 12 students and a teacher at the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. This time, an identikit young misfit, Cho Seung-hui, vented his frustrations on his contemporaries with two semiautomatic handguns – both legally purchased.

Such a tragedy prompted new calls for increased arms controls from presidential candidates, among them Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama; the issue also enjoys bi-partisan support. Nancy Pelosi, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, is an outspoken anti-firearm campaigner, insisting that US gun manufacturers and retailers be held responsible in law for gun misuse.

But in America, getting serious about gun control might well amount to a one-way ticket to the political wilderness. There are over 200m guns in the US, almost enough to arm every American adult; however, only a quarter of US adults own guns. A recent survey showed that gun ownership is most prevalent among the college-educated middle classes living in rural states, most of them Republican.

The right to bear arms has been enshrined for more than two centuries in the Second Amendment to the US constitution. Few politicians, of any hue, wish to be seen chipping away at the bedrock of the republic.

Kyle Cassidy spent two years photographing American gun owners in their homes, starting in his home state of Pennsylvania. His extraordinary pictures confirm that gun ownership in America is not confined simply to a narrow social class – he met doctors, lawyers, business executives, tattoo artists, web designers, all with an enthusiasm for firearms. His pictures have a haunting, surreal quality; the overwhelming majority of those who were happy to be photographed are law-abiding and God-fearing. It’s just that along with the walk-in wardrobe and ice-dispensing refrigerator, they happen to own an Uzi submachinegun.

“I was surprised to find that gun ownership in America is not a monocultural thing,” says Cassidy. “People from all backgrounds and locations are keen on guns. Gun ownership has become part of their lives, and they would be very reluctant to give up their weapons.”

In some cases Cassidy spent months trying to persuade families to sit for his photographs. Many were suspicious at first, but he persisted and eventually they invited him into their homes, displaying their suburban arsenals as they would a home-made quilt. The first family he photographed were Judi and Donno, from Pennsylvania and their son, Uzi.

Cassidy ran into Donno at a party. “He was wearing a National Rifle Association badge on his leather jacket and I asked if I could photograph him in his house with his guns. His only response was, ‘Can I wear my suit?!’ What I found in this couple was a complete lack of suspicion. They were happy to be in the photograph and fun to be around. After being glowered at for nearly a year, I’d finally met the right people. They were proud of being gun owners and having everybody know they were gun owners.”

Some of his subjects, Cassidy says, are enthusiastic collectors, owning guns that are family heirlooms. Others are weekend hunters, anxious to maintain the American frontier tradition of finding and gathering food for themselves. Mike, a chef from Oregon, said: “Two years ago I realised that I wanted to shoot, cook and eat a wild turkey for Thanksgiving. It’s hard to describe, but it’s a lot different when you actually have to pluck the feathers and reach your hand into the warm body and pull out the guts rather than just slicing up a pre-frozen package that’s wrapped and sanitised for your own protection.”

This hunting tradition accounts for many shooters photographed by Cassidy, particularly in the rural states. In some areas of Wisconsin, Cassidy said: “Gun ownership is so widespread that if I’d gone from door to door looking for potential subjects I’d have been hard pushed to find a single family who didn’t own a firearm.” Weekend hunting, mainly for deer, is engrained in the local culture; more surprising perhaps is what commentators including Cassidy have described as the rise of the “security moms”.

Primarily middle class, white, educated and liberal, a security mom is a soccer mom with a lethal weapon. They have taken to carrying handguns – or at least keeping them in their homes – as a way of defending their family from the threat they perceive from Al-Qaeda. A handgun is a natural extension of the fire extinguisher or the burglar alarm; some security moms took up arms after the chaos that ensued after Hurricane Katrina.

“After September 11, many of these women felt powerless,” says Cassidy. “They had a sense of general helplessness. They could not protect their families – and some of them addressed this by buying a handgun.”

Few of Cassidy’s subjects have fired a shot in anger. One man had a run-in with a local vagrant which led to the police taking a long-term interest in his gun ownership. Others are quite happy just to shoot the occasional round at their local gun club. Meanwhile, the security moms are still buying more handguns, waiting for an attack on middle America by snipers from Al-Qaeda.

Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in their Homes, by Kyle Cassidy, is published by David & Charles on September 6, priced £14.99. It is available at the Sunday Times BooksFirst price of £13.50, including p&p. Tel: 0870 165 8585 or click here to buy

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