Burbick, Joan.  Gun show nation: gun culture and American democracy.  New Press, 2006.  232p bibl index ISBN 1-59558-087-5, $24.95; ISBN 9781595580870, $24.95. Reviewed in 2007jul CHOICE.
44-6413  HV7436  2006-44415 CIP 

In this unusual combination of academic scholarship and personal journalism, Burbick (American studies and English, Washington State Univ.) provides a brief history of the gun rights movement in the US from Buffalo Bill Cody through the contemporary National Rifle Association. She points out that since the 1960s, the movement has focused on gun ownership as a way to protect decent citizens from criminal (and recently terrorist) activity; earlier, hunting and target shooting were the primary rationales for private citizens to own guns. Burbick’s journalistic segments are based on visits to dozens of gun shows nationwide during the past several years, at which she interviewed hundreds of gun owners and rabid Second Amendment supporters. She treats them fairly, noting, for example, “[W]ith religious gun owners, I often found ordinary [people] trying to make sense of a decadent and dying society.” Burdick ends, however, with a ringing critique of gun culture, concluding that “the Second Amendment has become a political weapon to stop democratic processes,” a threat to the very values that many gun owners think they are protecting. More readable and accessible than scholarly tomes like William Vizzard’s Shots in the Dark (CH, Jun’01, 38-5638). Summing Up: Highly recommended. All libraries. — A. O. Edmonds, Ball State University 
 
Churchill, Robert H.  To shake their guns in the tyrant’s face: libertarian political violence and the origins of the militia movement.  Michigan, 2009.  370p index afp ISBN 0-472-11682-7, $35.00; ISBN 9780472116829, $35.00. Reviewed in 2009nov CHOICE.
47-1611  HN90  2008-48161 CIP

In a riveting book, Churchill (Univ. of Hartford) examines the rise of the US militia movement that became manifest after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. The explosion killed 169 people, constituting the worst terrorist attack on US soil to that point in history. In the days after the explosion, Americans learned about various militia groups, and these organizations were demonized as anti-government extremists that posed a direct threat to the American public. Churchill scrupulously researched the topic, dismantling the mainstream interpretations of the militia movement and establishing connections between the contemporary movement and earlier manifestations that cropped up to challenge the authority of the federal government. The book follows a case-study approach and is hardly comprehensive, but by any standard the finished product stands as a welcome contribution, placing the militia movement and its ideas within the context of the US experience. There is no formal bibliography, but the endnotes amplify the text, and the book also contains an interesting appendix. Churchill has made an invaluable contribution to understanding the complex militia movement, and this reviewer hopes to see additional work from this historian. Summing Up: Essential. All levels/libraries. –
J. B. Cook, North Greenville University 
  
Cornell, Saul.  A well-regulated militia: the founding fathers and the origins of gun control in America.  Oxford, 2006.  270p index afp ISBN 0-19-514786-3, $30.00; ISBN 9780195147865, $30.00. Reviewed in 2007jul CHOICE.
44-6509  KF4558  2005-36605 CIP

Cornell (history, Ohio State Univ.) describes the origins of the Second Amendment and how different conceptions of the right to bear arms were formed. The gun control debate is rooted in early American history, when colonists believed that bearing arms was a civil obligation. Opponents of gun control often espouse the theory of individual rights, holding that gun ownership is an individual right protected by the Second Amendment. Proponents of gun control claim the Second Amendment applies to the rights of states, not individuals. The author finds fault with both arguments, claiming they obscure the link between citizenship and bearing arms in the founding period. To the framers, arms bearing was viewed not so much as a means of self-defense or a way to repulse an overly invasive government but as a public virtue and a communitarian type of activity. Cornell suggests that supporters of guns rights formulate an acceptable regulatory scheme for public safety to override concerns based on the fear of gun violence. He recommends either requiring citizens to pay a national firearms tax or requiring mandatory gun insurance. Both recommendations would shift part of the social costs of gun violence back to gun owners and still permit private gun ownership. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and undergraduates. — R. A. Strickland, Appalachian State University 
 
Goss, Kristin A.  Disarmed: the missing movement for gun control in America.  Princeton, 2006.  282p bibl index afp ISBN 0-691-12424-8, $29.95; ISBN 9780691124247, $29.95. Reviewed in 2007may CHOICE.
44-5311  HV7436  2005-34121 CIP

Goss (Duke Univ.) has written an excellent book, useful to all students of lobbying. Her point of view, briefly, is that no major movement exists to oppose the guns-for-all advocates in the United States. Membership motivation, intimidation, and ample funds that convert into influence and power fuel the NRA and all other firearms lobbyists. Nationwide public opinion polls consistently indicate a stated desire by a majority of people for greater controls on use and ownership of firearms. No major lobbying effort has managed to sustain this desire to enact effective national legislation. Indeed, local and state regulations are often more effective than federal statutes. The author suggests that frequently these gains have been nibbled away (by the NRA), while gun control advocates vainly devoted their efforts to implementing national regulation. This thoughtful, well-documented book should be read and examined by would-be gun control activists and other advocates for social reform, as it illustrates the dilemma of government-that-is, as opposed to government-that-should-be. The author includes notes, references, and excellent bibliography and index. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers, upper-division undergraduates through practitioners. — S. L. Harrison, University of Miami 

Halbrook, Stephen P.  The founders’ Second Amendment: origins of the right to bear arms.  Ivan R. Dee, 2008.  425p index afp ISBN 1-56663-792-9, $28.95; ISBN 9781566637923, $28.95. Reviewed in 2008nov CHOICE.
46-1672  KF3941  2008-1451 CIP 

Halbrook (research fellow, The Independent Institute, Oakland, CA) is a well-published scholar who has written a timely, well-informed, lucid book on the “origins of the right to bear arms.” He covers the Second Amendment’s historical underpinnings from 1768-1826, and so offers readers a rich interpretive framework from which to grasp the US Supreme Court’s (conservative) decision in June 2008, which was handed down after the book’s publication. The decision affirms the constitutional right of individuals to keep guns at home for self-defense, and prohibits government from violating said right. (That is, the Court struck down the District of Columbia’s ban on individual ownership of handguns.) In brief, Halbrook explores why he believes the “original intent” of the framers was to underscore a personal, and not merely a militia-based, collective right to bear arms. Given his interpretation that only individual persons have substantive rights, whereas it is states that possess “powers” in the requisite sense, it is not unexpected that the author’s argument supports the Supreme Court’s subsequent decision. Fine index; no bibliography. Summing Up: Recommended. Suitable for educated readers, all levels. — A. S. Rosenbaum, Cleveland State University 
 
Horwitz, Joshua.  Guns, democracy, and the insurrectionist idea, by Joshua Horwitz and Casey Anderson.  Michigan, 2009.  274p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780472115723, $65.00; ISBN 9780472033706  pbk, $26.95. Reviewed in 2010apr CHOICE.
47-4703  JC599  2009-14539 CIP 

Horowitz (Johns Hopkins Univ.) and Anderson (Georgetown Univ.) create an argument unique to the gun debate and not only challenge the conservative argument that more guns equal more freedom, but argue that the insurrectionist idea is a true threat to freedom. The authors frame the gun debate as one that should be viewed as a discussion on America’s civic health. The book is broken into three main sections: “The Insurrectionists,” “History according to the Insurrectionists,” and “Insurrectionism, Democracy, and Freedom.” They begin by defining insurrectionism and explain the political agenda of the insurrectionists. This section of the book is especially valuable for scholars because it is emblematic of inconsistencies within the insurrectionist idea. The middle chapters address the historical founding of the insurrectionists. These chapters are particularly fascinating as the authors trace the guns laws from the Articles of Confederation through contemporary democracies and include acts of genocide. The authors use the final chapters to make more aggressive arguments regarding the gun debate. The relationship among gun rights and democracy are far more complicated than the insurrectionists believe. The sheer originality of this book makes it a necessity for undergraduates, graduates, and laypeople interested in a fascinating conversation about the gun debate and insurrectionists. Summing Up: Essential. All readership levels. –
A. R. S. Lorenz, Ramapo College 

Kleck, Gary.  Armed: new perspectives on gun control, by Gary Kleck and Don B. Kates.  Prometheus Books, 2001.  363p index afp ISBN 1-57392-883-6, $27.00.  Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 2002may CHOICE.
39-5254  HV7436  00-69932 CIP 

Stimulating, arresting, judgmental, unfailingly provocative, this study of gun ownership arraigns gun control statistics and arguments, including those of public health authorities and the New York Times–indeed, all “liberal media.” Kleck (criminology, Florida State Univ.) and attorney Kates claim that “honest, responsible people” need self-defense, “self-protective devices” (because police cannot be depended upon). They minimize the number of accidental deaths caused by guns; reject contentions that a decline in handgun ownership would reduce murders; cite and dismiss international statistics demonstrating that low violence and strict gun laws are related (e.g., Switzerland); endorse only narrowly targeted “moderate gun controls,” such as those advocated by a “pro-control” group of gun owners. The authors have a superb command of the literature and make a powerful case for gun ownership, which is diminished by tendentious and repetitive argument, puffed-up, self-serving commentary, unnecessarily impassioned rhetoric (e.g., the “false claims,” “falsehoods,” “fabricating statistics and falsifying references,” and “the speciousness and atavistic, insidious malignancy” of some gun control advocates), as well as their dubious assertions about the Second Amendment. Their linguistic excesses work against the authors’ empirical skills and wealth of materials. But their book, a valuable and compelling addition to the literature, has to be taken seriously by all those interested in the subject. — M. Cantor, University of Massachusetts at Amherst 
 
Spitzer, Robert J.  Gun control: a documentary and reference guide.  Greenwood, 2009.  333p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780313345661, $85.00. Reviewed in 2009jul CHOICE.
46-5981  KF3941  2008-37472 CIP 

Spitzer (SUNY at Cortland) offers an excellent compilation of primary documents and other information on one of the most contentious and divisive topics that many first-year students research for entry-level English and speech classes. Although several reference-type books on gun control are available, including Harry Henderson’s Gun Control (rev. ed., 2005; 1st ed., CH, Jan’01, 38-3004) and Glenn Utter’s Encyclopedia of Gun Control and Gun Rights (CH, Sep’00, 38-0069), this book is more useful for high school and undergraduate students. Covering contemporary and historical areas of the great gun debate, this volume allows students to approach their arguments from a variety of angles. They can pull from political debates, the Republican versus the Democratic platform, federal and state laws, federal and state court cases, primary resources such as letters and documents, and analysis and commentary on the issues, among other sources. The easily comprehensible format, the many bibliographic sources provided, and the list of gun control Web sites will enhance students’ research. The US witnesses the consequences of gun control or the lack thereof every day. This book, on a vital and interesting topic, would be an excellent addition to large public libraries and to high school and college libraries. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-level undergraduates and general readers. — D. J. Turner, Auraria Library 

Tushnet, Mark V.  Out of range: why the Constitution can’t end the battle over guns.  Oxford, 2007.  156p index afp  (Inalienable rights series, 3); ISBN 9780195304244, $19.95. Reviewed in 2008jul CHOICE.
45-6455  KF3941  2007-11748 CIP 

Tushnet (Harvard Law School) writes about the Second Amendment with awareness of what is going on in the courts, at law schools, and in the streets–or in this case, the woods. He begins with campaign photo ops containing guns. From this vantage point he describes the impact of gun culture on “the right to bear arms.” Tushnet does not seem frightened by his finding that gun culture is very strong in the US. He moves from there to reasoned inquiry into experiments with gun regulation. The book evinces considerable immersion into the worlds of people who own guns, including what they believe, where they live, and how they argue. This should be informative to his traditional, critical legal audience. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers, all undergraduate students, and professionals. — J. Brigham, University of Massachusetts 

Uviller, H. Richard.  The militia and the right to arms, or, how the Second Amendment fell silent, by H. Richard Uviller and William G. Merkel.  Duke University, 2003 (c2002).  338p index afp ISBN 0-8223-3017-2  pbk, $19.95. Reviewed in 2003oct CHOICE.
41-1140  UA42  2002-11510 CIP 

This strikingly timely work explores the historical antecedents behind the crafting of the Second Amendment, the designs of its architects, and contrasting interpretations of its meaning. Uviller (law, Columbia Univ.) and Merkel emphatically assert that this measure sought “to secure a personal, individual entitlement to the possession and use of arms.” At the same time, they underscore that such a right was tied to an individual’s service in a state or federal militia. Thus, the amendment was designed to prevent congressional or presidential moves to disarm state militias through the disarming of militiamen. The right to bear arms involved that “collective, essentially republican purpose,” which in turn was an attempt to stave off the emergence of “a corruptible standing army.” With the passage of time, the National Guard supplanted the mission of state militia. The final chapters grapple with the meaning of “a right of access to arms,” underscoring that the disappearance of late-18th-century-styled militia means that “no remnant of the original context” of the amendment remains in play today. At the same time, this volume acknowledges that the Constitution is decidedly “neutral” regarding the hot-button issue of gun control. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. — R. C. Cottrell, California State University, Chico 

Williams, David C.  The mythic meanings of the Second Amendment: taming political violence in a constitutional republic.  Yale, 2003.  397p index afp ISBN 0-300-09562-7, $45.00. Reviewed in 2003sep CHOICE.
41-0611  KF4558 2nd  2002-11549 CIP 

Williams (law, Indiana Univ.) examines two diametrically opposed theories or “myths” currently used to explain the meaning of the Second Amendment’s right to keep and bear arms. Supporters of each are sure of the rightness of their positions and, Williams argues, both naive and historically wrong. The individual rights theory interprets the amendment to guarantee an individual right to bear arms, while the collective rights position takes the view that this right is not an individual one but is designed to protect state militias from federal abolition. The former is naive in its belief that disparate individuals possessing arms will coalesce into a force to thwart governmental oppression, while the latter’s naiveté comes in its trust in the government not to be oppressive. Williams provides substantial evidence to rebut both theories and to support his view that the Amendment was intended to provide a right to revolt against an oppressive government by the “Body of the People,” a universal militia united by a common culture. Since this no longer exists, the author suggests ways in which we might achieve new forms of popular unity and checks and balances in 21st-century society. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels. — M. W. Bowers, University of Nevada, Las Vegas 

Wilson, Harry L.  Guns, gun control, and elections: the politics and policy of firearms.  Rowman & Littlefield, 2007.  277p bibl index afp ISBN 0-7425-5347-7, $72.00; ISBN 0742553485  pbk, $34.95; ISBN 9780742553477, $72.00; ISBN 9780742553484  pbk, $34.95. Reviewed in 2007feb CHOICE.
41-0611  KF4558 2nd  2002-11549 CIP 

This is a clearly written, well-documented summary of the gun control issue in the US. Wilson, director of the Center for Community Research at Roanoke College, runs a course where students receive college credit for engaging in survey research, including research on the gun control issue. The volume capably covers the constitutional rulings interpreting the Second Amendment and synthesizes debates over how to frame the issue in a political context. Wilson describes national and state policies regulating firearms, analyzes public opinion about gun rights and gun control and its role in the voting calculus, and portrays how interest groups on all sides of the issue pursue their respective agendas. The author insightfully studies the distinctive role the mass media play in the overall discussion. Throughout, the coverage is balanced, not an easy task for such a controversial issue. The book draws upon an extensive array of social science research from several disciplines, especially criminology and political science. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates. — E. T. Jones, University of Missouri–St. Louis 

Editor’s note:  Other pertinent title with review forthcoming:

Melzer, Scott.  Gun crusaders: the NRA’s culture war. New York University,  2009. 322p index afp ISBN 9780814795507, $45.00

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