Gun Violence in America

From Booklist
The gun-control debate continues . . .DeConde, an emeritus professor of history at the University of California at Santa Barbara, ranks with Michael Bellesiles (Arming America, 2000) and Garry Wills (A Necessary Evil, 1999) as a challenger of gun ownership myths. DeConde explores the opposition to private gun ownership, which developed early and became increasingly organized as the nation grew more urban and industrialized. He traces these movements; considers the roles of local, state, and federal government; and addresses attitudes toward the militia and popular resistance to conscription. "From the time firearms became reasonably reliable personal weapons," DeConde declares, "local authorities attempted with various restraints to keep them out of the hands of the wrong people." The U.S. experience is "exceptional," he suggests, only in that "most other peoples do not have . . . an enigmatic gun 'right' imbedded in a Constitution and vaunted as a civil liberty." Mary Carroll
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DeConde (history, emeritus, University of California-Santa Barbara) delves into the myths and politics regarding gun-keeping, as well as the controversies over gun use, crime, and policing, from the early days of the republic to the present. He shows that far from being a recent development, the gun-control movement gained momentum among private citizens as an increasingly urbanized and industrialized country expanded westward and as small firearms became more numerous and more deadly. He explains why the US, with all its resources, fails repeatedly to confine gun violence to the same low levels achieved by other advanced democracies. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)


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