Guns in America: A Reader

New York, New York, U.S.A.: New York Univ Pr. New. 1999. Hardcover. 0814718795 .*** FREE UPGRADE to Courier/Priority Shipping Upon Request *** - *** IN STOCK AND IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE FOR SHIPMENT - FLAWLESS COPY, -- 517 pages; clean and crisp, tight and bright pages, with no writing or markings to the text. -- TABLE OF CONTENTS: Pt. I The Rise of Gun Culture in America Introduction: Guns Made Us Free - Now What? * A Independent Yeomen, Enterprising Manufacturers, and Manifest Destiny * 1 The Origins of Gun Culture in the United States, 1760-1865 * 2 Guns, Gun Culture, and the Peddling of Dreams * 3 The Cowboy Subculture * 4 "Another Branch of Manly Sport": American Rifle Games, 1840-1900 * B Ambivalence and Gun Culture * 5 Guns, Politics, and Public Policy * 6 The Impact of Agenda Conflict on Policy Formulation and Implementation: The Case of Gun Control * 7 A Loaded Question: What Is It about Americans and Guns? * 8 When the Time Comes to Give Up a Firearm * 9 Americans Love Their Guns but Fear Violence * 10 The Party of Gun-Haters * Pt. II The War over Guns * Introduction: Numbers Don't Count * A Pro-Gun * 11 Self-Defense: The Right and the Deterrent * 12 Confessions of a Former Gun Control Supporter * 13 A Nation of Cowards * 14 Self-Defense: A Primary Civil Right * 15 The Second Amendment: America's First Freedom * B Anti-Gun * 16 Statement of Sarah Brady * 17 Violence in America: A Public Health Emergency * 18 Firearms and Assault: "Guns Don't Kill People, People Kill People" * 19 Loaded Guns in the Home Analysis of a National Random Survey of Gun Owners * 20 Political Snipers: How the NRA Exploited Loopholes and Waged a Stealth Campaign against the Democrats * Pt. III As American as Apple Pie: Guns as a Cultural Battleground * Introduction: On the Cultural Battlefield * A Guns as a Way of Life - Sort Of * 21 Self-Transformation in Combat and the Pleasures of Killing * 22 Violence and Honor in the Southern United States * 23 The Great Bambi War: Tocquevillians versus Keynesians in an Upstate New York County * B The Breakdown of Civil Society * 24 The Crisis of Public Order * 25 Crime and Community * 26 The Incidence of Defensive Firearm Use by U. S. Crime Victims, 1987 through 1990 * 27 Does Allowing Law-Abiding Citizens to Carry Concealed Handguns Save Lives? * 28 Should You Own a Gun? * 29 Americans Losing Trust in Each Other and Institutions * C Who Will Protect Us? Minorities and Guns * 30 Arms and the Woman: A Feminist Reappraisal * 31 Guns Are the Tools by Which We Forge Our Liberty * 32 Gun Control in America: A History of Discrimination against the Poor and Minorities * 33 Talk at Temple Beth Shir Shalom: Friday, April 30, 1993 * D When Government Is the Enemy * 34 Apocalypse Now? * 35 They've Had Enough * 36 Author's Call to Arms Gets Answer * 37 The Anti-Enviro Connection * Pt. IV Living with Guns - Seeking Middle Ground in the Battlefield * Introduction: Can We Live with Guns? * 38 America's Only Realistic Option: Promoting Responsible Gun Ownership * 39 What Are the Alternatives? * 40 Lawsuit Aims at Gun Industry * 41 Crime Fighting's About-Face * 42 Second Thoughts on the Second Amendment * 43 Ten Essential Observations on Guns in America * Works Cited * Suggested Readings * Contributors. -- DESCRIPTION: Library Journal: "A trio of academics with expertise ranging from American culture to public policy administration have compiled this collection of scholarly and insightful essays tracing the position of firearms in our society. The uniqueness of the American Colonial and Revolutionary experience and the rugged nature of the American frontier combined to foster an attitude about guns and a prevalence of firearms unmatched by other Western industrialized nations. The problems posed by this historical legacy as it collides with our modern, more urban, and more civilized society are fully explored. Collectively, these essays point to a common conclusion: guns are here to stay. Even though the need for an armed citizenry has disappeared, the framers of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights worded the Second Amendment in a deliberately vague manner so as to allow for a happy medium that provides for a modicum of governmental control and regulation over firearms without infringing on the individual liberties that gun ownership was supposed to protect. These essays are carefully researched and documented and yet written in a clear and lucid manner that could benefit either a college or general audience. " -Philip Y. Blue, New York State Supreme Court Criminal Branch Law Lib. , New York -- with a bonus offer-- .