Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(31)

 

 

- 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".

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.)

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.

I took the time to read this book. It was a waste of time. Mr. Sugermann insists on using Dr. Kellerman's research to prove his point. Dr. Kellerman himself has debunked his own research and stated that it is flawed yet people like Mr. Sugarman insist on using known flawed data to advance their agenda. This book does not belong in the non fiction catagory. It belongs in Fantasy and Fiction.

This book is geared towards the emotional and irrational mindset. It uses propaganda techniques to the fullest. If you insist on reading this book, do so with great trepidation and access to the FBI statistics website. The FBI crime statistics website will debunk much of the claims in this book. Your ... would be better spent on comic books rather than this poorly contrived work of fantasy.

Rife with distortions, inaccuracies and downright falsehoods, Sugarmann's book is nothing less than pure propoganda. From its outset, the book exposes nothing other than oft-repeated (and repeatedly debunked) assertions.

This book is highly recommended for those who have already committed themselves to the false hope of gun control. But for those in search of truth and guidance, I would recommend a search elsewhere.

Josh Sugarmann attempts to make the case that every human being on our planet is either:
a) incompetent,
b) homicidal,
c) suicidal or
d) all of the above.
THERE IS NO 'E'!
In the last chapter entitled, "What Can I Do?" Mr. Sugarmann advises you, the reader, to make your home a gun free zone. He says if you have a gun in your home, don't wait for the next gun buyback, call the police NOW and have them remove the evil thing! After all, says Mr. Sugarmann, you'll just shoot yourself or a family member because THERE IS NO 'E' in Mr. Sugermann's world. What Mr. Sugarmann fails to tell you is that the police will be bringing their handguns into your little gun free zone and, according to him, they'll be aiming their handguns at YOU! But, such inconsistencies don't cloud good propaganda.
It gets worse. In this chapter Mr. Sugarmann further advises you, the reader, that if you visit a friend's or a family's home, to ask if they keep any guns in their home. If they do, your are to tell them that you will not come into their home and you are to tell them why! Even if your friend or family are police officers! After all, according to Josh, "every handgun is aimed at you." This is antisocial behavior at its worst. This book is an insult to the reader's intelligence. It can appeal only to those who share Mr. Sugarmann's and the VPC's fear and contempt of their fellow citizens.

This should be listed as fiction. I'm sorry I wasted my money on this compilation of hysterical opinion and junk "science." Not to mention that the author has clearly never heard of the Constitution, and certainly not the natural right of self-defense. Icky book, shame on the author. A star was required to post this review, but it really only deserves a frowny-face. >:op

At least the people at VPC are getting a little more honest. Previously it seemed like they were saying they didn't want a ban, just rigorous licensing, registration, etc.

I can't believe that Sugerman relies on Bellisles research for his book, Bellisles has been totally discredited.

I think Sugerman has his work cut out for him with the rampant criminal gun violence in the UK and Australia since their handgun bans went into effect. Those nasty outlaws just won't turn in their guns.

Being the very pro-Second Amendment person that I am, it was impossible for me to like this book. There is a lot of false or slanted information in here, and the stastics are obviously biased. But the one main thing that turned me off of this book is his stance on the Second Amendment. He states that it applies only to states having the right to a militia. All of the other amendments in the Bill of Rights (free speech, freedom of religion, etc.) use the same language and are always interpreted to mean individual freedom, not state freedom. What makes this man think that the founding fathers would mean something different when they say that we have the right to keep and bear arms? This book gives no consideration to the arguments against gun control or to its proven lack of effectiveness.

The author has failed to focus on actual societal problems in his zeal to put the blame on inanimate objects, and their usually legitimate (that's where the insults bit comes in...) owners. I am not a criminal, and I take great offense at the thinly veiled insinuation that if I own a firearm, I am in some way contributing to the criminal element. I'm also far from alone. I suggest that the author avoid cooking research, step back, take a good long look at the big picture, and then apologize to the many millions of legitimate firearms owners who've been done a grave injustice to.