Every Handgun Is Aimed at You: The Case for Banning Handguns [Paperback]

Josh Sugarmann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2002

A powerful argument for banning handguns that "should be required reading for those who want to be better informed—whether they are for or against gun control" (Publishers Weekly). Gun-control advocates of every political stripe routinely call for trigger locks, "smart guns," or the licensing of handgun owners and the registration of their weapons. But as Every Handgun Is Aimed at You reveals, none of these measures is likely to have a significant effect in reducing the epidemic levels of gun violence in American society. Josh Sugarmann makes the convincing case that the only way to reduce gun violence is to ban handguns completely. Widely recognized in other industrialized countries, this truth remains largely unspoken in the United States, even as the handgun-related death toll rises. In this must-read book for anyone interested in the gun debates, Sugarmann includes a brief history of the handgun, an analysis of handgun ownership, and a review of the Second Amendment debate. He tackles issues from suicide to self-defense, and discusses the effects of handguns on women, juveniles, minorities, and the general public. Finally, the book includes practical steps any citizen can take to advance the cause of banning handguns. B/W charts and graphs throughout.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"A single consumer product holds our nation hostage: the handgun," notes Sugarmann bluntly at the opening of this book-length editorial in favor of banning handguns in the United States. The author, executive director of the antigun Violence Policy Center, debunks myths about handgun control and makes the strong argument that limited moves toward handgun control, such as licensing and registering, won't stem the tide of violence. The book begins with a brief historical survey that argues (interestingly supporting Michael Bellesiles's argument in Arming America) that handguns did not become widespread in the U.S. until the Civil War, when the introduction of the Colt pistol and westward expansion fueled gun sales and deaths. But most of the book's focus is on present-day issues such as crime and self-defense. Sugarmann emphasizes, for instance, the correlation between the availability of guns and suicide rates. Sugarmann criticizes gun manufacturers and distributors for marketing campaigns that target not only women on the benefits of gun ownership for self-defense (a statistically unfounded argument, he claims) but also minorities (with bluntly racist overtones)--both groups have lower handgun ownership rates than white males. This muckraking book should be required reading for those who want to be better informed--whether they are for or against gun control--though in fact it will probably sell only to antigun advocates. (Mar. 30) Forecast: Both stronger in its antigun position than Philip Cook and Jens Ludwig's Gun Violence (Forecasts, Oct. 30, 2000) and more accessible to the general reader, this book, with its provocative title, could achieve impressive sales.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Sugarmann (National Rifle Association: Money, Firepower, and Fear), executive director of the Violence Policy Center, argues forcefully here that handguns, with or without licenses or safety features, have and will continue to have an extremely dangerous impact on United States, society. While handguns represent only about 32 percent of guns in the United States, they account for most of the gun deaths and injuries. Thousands of suicides, homicides, and accidents each year result from their easy availability, yet the use of handguns in self-defense is rare. Interesting portions of this book deal with suicide, the promotion of gun sales to children and women, and the author's analysis of the impact of more stringent licensing, enforcement, and safety features. Other chapters cover facts and history, the use of handguns in crime and self-defense, handguns and minorities, and handguns in public. The author favors a ban on handguns and offers advice on working toward this goal. While there are many books on gun control (over 400 in OCLC in the past five years), this is a very strong book advocating an uncommon point of view: a complete handgun ban. It is well argued, replete with facts, and carefully presented statistics. Recommended for all public and academic libraries. Mary Jane Brustman, SUNY at Albany Libs.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: New Press, The; 1st Printing edition (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565847059
• ISBN-13: 978-1565847057
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,328,876 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 96 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An opportunity to study one of the great propagandists, April 2, 2001

By 

Dr. Michael S. Brown (Vancouver, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Every Handgun Is Aimed at You: The Case for Banning Handguns (Hardcover)

- Read this book not as a scholarly review of the gun debate, but as a way to study one of the great propagandists of our time. Josh Sugarman is the most influentual force within the gun prohibition movement and has invented some of its most ingenious and effective sound bites.

Before Sugarman, nobody had heard of the term "assault weapon", which has since been used as a powerful club to beat gun rights supporters. Ever since this success, the anti-gun marketing campaign has relied on emotion-laden labels like "hidden guns" and "Saturday night special." The title "All Handguns Are Aimed at You" is a classic example of his emotional fear mongering that is specifically designed to bypass any logical filters in the reader's mind.

Sugarman has chosen to pursue a strictly emotion-based strategy to convince people to ban guns. He either ignores facts or makes them up. The success of this approach has attracted other anti-gun zealots like Bellesiles and Kellerman who have a similar disregard for the truth.

In spite of his tactics, one must admire Sugarman for his straightforward position that handguns must be totally banned. He admits that half-measures like licensing and registration are useless.

Don't buy this book to support the author. Sugarman's Violence Policy Center is lavishly funded by grants from left wing foundations and wealthy limousine liberals who know that they will still have access to guns (or armed bodyguards) when the lower classes have all been stripped of the right to self defense.

Do buy this book to add it to your collection of historical works. Place it on the shelf right beside "Mein Kampf".

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Give the Devil his due..., February 14, 2003

By 

Joseph H Pierre "Joe Pierre" (Salem, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Every Handgun Is Aimed at You: The Case for Banning Handguns (Hardcover)

The writing is good, and no doubt the propaganda he is dishing out is effective, especially to those urbanites who live in cities where guns are virtually banned, and therefore the inhabitants are ready-made defenseless victims for the predators in their midst who have no respect for the law and are therefore armed--and consequently, because of their lack of self-protection they are often victimized; and Josh Sugarmann is that rarity, a gun-banner who demonstrates in the first chapter that he has at least a minimal understanding of the mechanics of firearms.

So, we can stipulate that he is glib, probably intelligent, and that he knows full well what he is up to. He quotes two other sources of misinformation--Michael Bellesiles (who has recently been "outed" as a complete fraud with his book, Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture)and the infamous Dr. Arthur L. Kellerman, who came up with the "statistic" that a handgun in the home is 43 times more likely to kill a family member or acquaintance than an assailant. A statistic that resulted from a totally discredited "study," and a "statistic" which the nation's leading expert on the subject, Dr. Gary Kleck--a criminologist--described as absolutely ridiculous.

There is no point in arguing with these people and their so-called statistical "evidence," since their main argument is to the emotions, rather than the intellect, and is aimed at an audience of urbanites who, for the most part, have little or no knowledge or experience of their own with firearms.

But, the thing about Sugarmann, Kellerman and Bellesiles that is most disturbing to me is that these men are well-educated and intelligent and know what they are doing: they are trying to destroy our God-given natural right to defend ourselves--a right recognized and affirmed in the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States). They know what they are doing.

So, this book is well-designed, well-written, and well-presented; but it is pure garbage. Absolute propaganda. Know that going in, if you intend to buy it. If you do buy it, I suggest that you also read some of the books that tell the other side of the story, books like More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun-Control Laws by Dr. John R.Lott--a REAL scholar.

Joe Pierre, USN (Ret.)

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Statistical snake oil, August 15, 2001

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Every Handgun Is Aimed at You: The Case for Banning Handguns (Hardcover)

If you're looking for a book to 'prove' what you already insist is true against guns, then buy this book. If, OTOH, you're looking for a objective discussion on gun control then keep looking, cause you ain't gonna find it here.

Josh Sugermann clearly had the opinion that guns are bad FIRST, and then engineered proof to support his view afterwards-

-He quotes from the NEJM study that claims gun owners are more likely to shoot themselves than any attacker. This is a much discredited study (even by other NEJM researchers), and NOONE has ever been able to confirm these findings. Sugermann passes it off to us as fact anyway.

-He ignores alternative reasons for crime. Two drug dealers have a shootout over drug territory. The police will declare this as a drug crime, but Sugermann insists this is a gun crime, without debate. He's literally twisting the facts to give his case more weight.

-Likewise with his using suicide statistics. Suicide is a mental health issue, not a gun issue. Not all people committing suicide use guns, and not all gun buyers commit suicide.

-I won't even discuss his use of emotional anecdotes. Every propagandist that ever lived used such stories to "prove" how bad something is. Remember Josef Goebbels?

-After England passed THEIR handgun ban, crime skyrocketed there 40%. Despite all of Sugermanns statistics and research, it's a real world application of a ban that ultimately proves him wrong.

A flawed study at best, outright propaganda at worst. He CAN put two words together though so I gave him two stars.