I criticize the Philadelphia Inquirer a lot, especially on the gun control issue. But today I was delighted to see some favorable coverage, if not of guns, at least of some gun owners, in the form of Natalie Pompilio's review of photographer Kyle Cassidy's Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in Their Homes. From the review:

A lot can be learned by paging through photographer Kyle Cassidy's Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in Their Homes.

Gun owners are married or single. Some have children. Many have pets, usually cats.

They have clean, almost sparse homes, or messy ones with unmade beds. The men are just as likely to wear camouflage - three - as they are to put on skirts or kilts - four. A few chose suits, one donned a Renaissance Faire costume, one wore his chef's whites.

In short, gun owners can pretty much look like anyone.

It's inaccurate to say the gun issue is hot right now, as it always seems to be. The difference is only in the intensity, and the fires are burning now.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that Americans have a constitutional right to have guns in their homes for self-defense, a decision that drew applause from the pro-gun people. Since taking office in January, Mayor Nutter has pushed gun-control laws that some say will fight crime in a city that averaged more than a murder a day in 2007. Others say they harm the law-abiding.

The passionate on either side might enjoy Cassidy's book if only to see if it reinforces their stereotypes.

Cassidy, 42, traveled 15,000 miles across the United States to shoot this collection. The West Philadelphia resident said he previously bought into the idea that a gun owner was "a guy in a dirty baseball cap with a pickup truck with a Bush/Cheney sticker on the back."

"Ultimately, so much of it surprised me," he said. "It made me realize we put so many stereotypes on people based on how they look or what their favorite movies are or what they wear. I realize I'm doing it all the time. We're all doing it all the time."

Well, I "represent" myself, but here's the cover, and it doesn't bother me in the least:

And here's the book's web site.

Read the whole review. Especially if you're tired of gun owners being demonized and stereotyped.

I don't know what Natalie Pompilio's position is on gun control, and right now I don't care, because I am always delighted to see fair coverage of this issue -- especially the simple acknowledgement that gun owners can be regular human beings.

Like, who knew?

MORE: Via Snowflakes in Hell, a link to an interview with author Kyle Cassidy.

By the way, don't confuse this book with Clayton Cramer's Armed America. To avoid confusion, I'd suggest buying both!