Restricting Handguns: The Liberal Skeptics Speak Out [Hardcover]

Don B. Kates (Editor)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 237 pages
• Publisher: North River Pr (February 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0884270335
• ISBN-13: 978-0884270331
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,921,323 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An eye-opener that explodes gun-contol myths!, October 2, 1998

By 

Floyd R. Harris "Clemson CG" (Oshkosh, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Restricting Handguns: The Liberal Skeptics Speak Out (Paperback)

I was first introduced to Kates' book when it came out and was shocked at the frankness of the information. The book contains a number of contibutors - various experts in their field - all of which destoys many of the notions and myths about gun control. I've used the book (and actually I bought a second copy after the first was worn out) as the bible to educate people to the realities Kates brings to light. Kates continues to write and debate his stand and has written other books continuing this theme.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a landmark book, August 30, 2010

By 

myself "Carl N." (State of Franklin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Restricting Handguns: The Liberal Skeptics Speak Out (Paperback)

I read this book shortly before encountering James D. Wright and Peter Rossi's 1983 "Under the Gun" which was the commercial publication of a study began under the Carter Administration DOJ "Weapons, Crime and Violence in America".

At least for me, these two books marked a sea change in the academic look on guns, gun control, and the beginning of the recognition that there are benefits to guns that must be weighed against the costs in formulating gun policy.

Two things stick out in my mind without me re-reading the book.

One, British firearms researcher Colin Greenwood points out that British gun crime and in particular misuse of handguns was lower before the first major national gun law, the 1920 Firearms Act, and every gun law since then has been accompanied by more gun crime, not less in Britain. When you look at recent British crime stats, the very crime rate that is most likely to be deterred by defensive guns in the home--home invasion robbery or "hot burglary"--is higher in Britain that in the USA.

Two, Kales tells of going to Mississippi as part of the black voter registration campaign in the 1960s. Kates was armed for self-defense; his companion was appalled. Kates had a well-thought-through defensive-only philosophy, but his companion was stridently anti-self-defense and anti-gun. When Kates met the same person later, he had become a radical bomb thrower, but Kates was still a man who prefered non-violence but had a self-defense ethic.

Since a lot of gun control politics is still stuck in the 1960s, this 1979 book is a valid source for understanding the issues of today.