Guns and Violence: The English Experience FROM THE PUBLISHER
Joyce Lee Malcolm presents a historical study of England, whose strict gun laws and low rates of violent crime are often cited as proof that gun control works. She looks at the level of armed crime in England before its modern restrictive gun legislation, the limitations that gun laws have imposed, and whether those measures have succeeded or failed in reducing the rate of armed crime.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
This historical study is a companion to Malcolm's earlier book, To Keep and Bear Arms: The Origins of an Anglo-American Right. While the first book focused on the constitutional and legal aspects of gun control, this new work takes a much closer look at the role of the gun in British society, from the Middle Ages to the present. Despite Britain's long history of strict gun laws, Malcolm cites statistical evidence of increased violence in England and assesses the "deterrent impact" of an armed public. She makes useful comparisons with the United States (where, despite millions of privately owned firearms, violent crime continues to decline) and feels that the British people are just embarking upon the kind of gun control debate that we have had in this country for the past 30 years. This book will stimulate renewed discussion and examination of guns in society and will be more accessible for general readers than Peter Squires's recent Gun Culture or Gun Control?: Firearms, Violence and Society. Malcolm's book is highly recommended for academic and large public libraries. Thomas A. Karel, Franklin & Marshall Coll. Lib., Lancaster, PA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
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