https://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/08/28/the-third-bullet-concluding-the-saga-of-bob-lee-swagger-american-gunman/feed/PJ Media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Our reporters and columnists provide original, in-depth analysis from a variety of perspectives.en-usWed, 10 Jun 2026 09:07:35 -0400<![CDATA[When Stephen Hunter&#8217;s fictional hero Bob Lee Swagger came to bookstores with the 1993 novel Point of Impact, most of the critics attributed the character&#8217;s success to Hunter&#8217;s vivid writing style, especially as applied to the lore of the gun.  As much or more than any other writer alive, Hunter understands that firearms and the men who wield them, what he calls the American Gunman &#8212; though not in the pejorative sense &#8212; constituted a major cultural theme in the history of the United States. He is Shane riding into a frontier town, or John Dillinger wreathed in Thompson submachine gun smoke, or Audie Murphy holding a battalion of Nazi infantry at bay. The American Gunman was a figure of myth at par with Achilles and his nodding plumes and Hunter hit the mother lode in depicting him.]]>Tue, 28 Aug 2012 13:30:51 -0400<![CDATA[Richard Fernandez]]>https://pjmedia.com/richard-fernandez/2012/08/28/the-third-bullet-concluding-the-saga-of-bob-lee-swagger-american-gunman-n142322