Gun Control in the United States: A Reference Handbook(Contemporary World Issues)

This up-to-date second-edition work will stimulate and clarify readers' thinking on the key issues surrounding guns in the United States—especially on the debate over gun control. Most public debate and discussion about guns in U.S. society is rarely guided by research—not surprising, as most individuals have a personal opinion on this highly inflammatory topic based on their upbringing or personal experiences. Additionally, most research about gun use in America is confusing and contradictory, making it difficult for citizens to gain much from their attempts to investigate the topic objectively. This book offers concise, understandable coverage of all aspects of the issue, including incidence of gun violence; gun control; gun rights; government regulation, legislation, and court decisions; gun organizations (for gun control and for gun rights); gun enthusiast subcultures—for example, hunters, target shooters, and collectors; and U.S. attitudes toward guns. Many of the covered topics are placed in historical and cross-cultural perspective. The new edition of Gun Control in the United States: A Reference Handbook enables the reader to navigate and interpret the research to become sufficiently educated on any specific aspect of the gun issue to make an informed decision—for example, whether to support stricter or more lenient gun control; whether to become a gun owner; whether to support a particular political party or candidate; or whether to develop or to refine a particular philosophy regarding guns. Other aspects of the contemporary gun debate that are addressed include whether the Supreme Court's ruling that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right will withstand future challenges, whether the strong gun regulations used in Europe would be effective and applicable in reducing gun violence in the United States, and whether the diversity explosion created by the high rate of immigration from countries where guns are strictly controlled will soon change the politics of the U.S. gun control debate.

Table of Contents:
Preface, 1 Background and History, Introduction, Gun Prevalence, Gun Control, and Violence, Cross-National Comparisons, The Nature of Gun Violence in the United States, Victimization, Homicide, Suicide, Accidental Death and Injury, Crime-Related Injury and Assault, Active-Shooter, Mass-Murder Events, Establishing Causality—Not an Easy Task, The Knotty Problems of Causal Direction and Defensive Gun Use, The Magnification Hypothesis, The Second Amendment, How the Proponents of Gun Control View the Second Amendment, The Gun Rights View of the Second Amendment, A Limited Individual Right, Public Opinion and Gun Control, Do Americans Want Strict Gun Control?, Social and Economic Correlates of Support for Gun Control, Is the Will of the People Being Thwarted?, The Role of Politics, References, 2 Problems, Controversies, and Solutions, Introduction, The Public Health Approach, National Violent Death Reporting Systems, Controlling Guns in the Home: Child Access Protection Laws, Trigger Locks, Internal Locks, and Personalized "Smart Gun" Technologies, Cheap Handgun Control, Tracing Crime Guns to Reduce Illegal FFL Trafficking, Controlling the Trafficking of Cheap Handguns and Other Firearms—Monitoring FFLs and One-Gun-per-Month Laws, Transportation of Guns, Assault Weapons Control, Including High-Capacity Ammunition Magazines, Ballistic Fingerprinting, Bullet Serial Numbers and Microstamping, Registration, Licensing, Training, Point-of-Sale Controls, Background Checks, The Secondary Market, "Shall-Issue" (Right-to-Carry) Concealed Weapons Laws, Open Carry, Gun Buyback Programs, The Law Enforcement Approach, Enforcement of Current Gun Control Laws, Gun-Focused/Place-Oriented Community Policing, Gun Courts, The Lawsuit Approach, Product Liability and Other Legal Theories Used in Gun Lawsuits, Immunity Legislation, Conclusion, References, 3 Perspectives, Introduction, Stricter Gun Laws Are Reasonable and Sensible: Robert J. Spitzer, The United States Doesn't Need More Gun Laws—Indeed Fewer: Lawrence Southwick, Whether Gun Laws Should Be Strict Depends on the Type of Law: David B. Kopel, 4 Profiles, The Gun Control Side: Key Individuals and Organizations, Individuals, Joseph Biden Jr. (1942–), Michael Bloomberg (1942–), Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (1947–), William J. Clinton (1946–), Philip J. Cook (1946–), Dianne Feinstein (1933–), Gabrielle Giffords (1970–), David Hemenway (1945–), Arthur L. Kellermann (1955–), Barack H. Obama (1961–), Charles E. Schumer (1950–), Robert J. Spitzer (1953–), Franklin E. Zimring (1942–), National Organizations, Americans for Responsible Solutions/Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence/Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence/Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, Everytown for Gun Safety, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: Harvard Injury Control Research Center, States United to Prevent Gun Violence, United States Conference of Mayors, Violence Policy Center, Violence Prevention Research Program, The Gun Rights Side: Key Individuals and Organizations, Individuals, George W. Bush (1946–), Paul D. Clement (1966–), Chris W. Cox (1978–), Jay W. Dickey Jr. (1939–), John D. Dingell (1926–), Alan Merril Gottlieb (1947–), Alan Gura (1971–), Stephen P. Halbrook (1947–), Marion Hammer (1938–), Don B. Kates Jr. (1941–), Gary Kleck (1951–), David B. Kopel (1960–), Wayne R. LaPierre Jr. (1950–), John R. Lott Jr. (1958–), Larry Pratt (1942–), National Organizations, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms/Second Amendment Foundation), Gun Owners of America, National Rifle Association, National Shooting Sports Foundation, 5 Data and Documents, Introduction, Summaries of Key Federal Gun Laws, Mailing of Firearms Act (Miller Act) (1927), National Firearms Act (1934), Federal Firearms Act (1938), Federal Aviation Act (1958), Gun Control Act of 1968, Armed Career Criminal Act (1984), Firearms Owners' Protection Act (McClure-Volkmer) (1986), Law Enforcement Officers Protection Act (1986), Undetectable Firearms Act (Terrorist Firearms Detection) (1988, Reauthorized 1998, 2003, 2013), Crime Control Act (1990), Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (1993), Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act (Assault Weapons Ban) (1994), Gun-Free Schools Act (1994), Lautenberg Amendment (Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban) (1996), GCA Firearms Safety Updates (1998), The "Bailey Fix" (1998), Nonimmigrant Aliens Firearms and Ammunition Amendments (2002), Arming Pilots against Terrorism Act (2002), Background Check Restriction ("Tiahrt Amendments") (2004), Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act (2004, Amended 2010), Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (2005), Child Safety Lock Act (2005), NICS Improvement Act (2008), Protecting the Right of Individuals to Bear Arms in the National Park and National Wildlife Refuge Systems (2009), Amtrak Checked-Baggage Firearms Program (2010), Key State Gun Laws, Selected Documents, The Second Amendment (1791), District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), 6 Resources, Introduction, Gun Violence: The United States vs. Other Economically Developed Nations, The Second Amendment, Public Opinion, The Role of Politics, Gun Control and Gun Violence: The Public Health Approach, Gun Control and Gun Violence: The Law Enforcement Approach, Defensive Gun Use, 7 Chronology, Glossary, Index, About the Author,

About the Author :
Gregg Lee Carter is professor of sociology at Bryant University in Smithfield, RI.

Review :
The new content in this critical debate is presented in a balanced approach to educate readers about gun control and the specific laws and legislation in place at federal and state levels of U.S. government. . . . . Summing Up: Recommended. High school through undergraduate students; professionals/practitioners. This is a balanced, well-researched, and formidable book in the Contemporary World Issues series. . . . . This book would be a valuable resource for public and academic libraries, and perhaps might be useful in and appropriate for high school libraries which have extensive collections and a strong research focus. Recommended.