Join Amazon Prime and ship Two-Day for free and Overnight for $3.99. Already a member? Sign in.

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
79 used & new from $0.94

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Ricochet: Confessions of a Gun Lobbyist
 
 
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get yours here.
 
  
4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

List Price: $24.95
Price: $18.21 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $6.74 (27%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Only 2 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want it delivered Tuesday, July 21? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
43 new from $1.04 35 used from $0.94 1 collectible from $20.00
Also Available in: List Price: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover (Bargain Price) 8 used & new from $6.43

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with Lethal Logic: Exploding the Myths That Paralyze American Gun Policy by Dennis A. Henigan

Ricochet: Confessions of a Gun Lobbyist + Lethal Logic: Exploding the Myths That Paralyze American Gun Policy

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Out of Range: Why the Constitution Can't End the Battle over Guns (Inalienable Rights)

Out of Range: Why the Constitution Can't End the Battle over Guns (Inalienable Rights)

by Mark V. Tushnet
4.0 out of 5 stars (3)  $13.82
The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

by Stephen P. Halbrook
4.9 out of 5 stars (36)  $19.11
Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto

Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto

by Mark R. Levin
Gun Control on Trial: Inside the Supreme Court Battle Over the Second Amendment

Gun Control on Trial: Inside the Supreme Court Battle Over the Second Amendment

by Brian Doherty
3.5 out of 5 stars (4)  $11.53
More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun-Control Laws

More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun-Control Laws

by John R. Lott Jr.
4.2 out of 5 stars (168)  $9.89
Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Ricochetis right on target. Feldman's behind-the-scenes memoir vividly describes America's firearms debate and struggle to win in extraordinary detail. I thoroughly enjoyed it."--John W. Magaw, former Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms

"Ricochet casts an eye-opening spotlight on the shadowy world of behind-the-scenes gun politics. Is it accurate? Absolutely! I was there."--John Aquilino, former Director, NRA Public Education

"Ricochet tells the truth. With each page I can hear the echo of footsteps down the Rayburn Building's marbled halls as Feldman tells the intimate story few know and even fewer survive."--Jack Brooks (D-Tex.), former Chairman, U.S. House Judiciary Committee

Product Description

Ricochet
Confessions Of A Gun Lobbyist

"Ricochet tells the truth. With each page I can hear the echo of footsteps down the Rayburn Building's marbled halls as Feldman tells the intimate story few know and even fewer survive."
—Jack Brooks (D-Tex.), former Chairman, U.S. House Judiciary Committee

"Ricochet casts an eye-opening spotlight on the shadowy world of behind-the-scenes gun politics. Is it accurate? Absolutely! I was there."
—John Aquilino, former Director, NRA Public Education

"Ricochet is right on target. Feldman's behind-the-scenes memoir vividly describes America's firearms debate and struggle to win in extraordinary detail. I thoroughly enjoyed it."
—John W. Magaw, former Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms

See all Editorial Reviews


Product Details

  • Hardcover: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Wiley (October 26, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0471679283
  • ISBN-13: 978-0471679288
  • Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #126,869 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

    #6 in  Books > Nonfiction > Current Events > Gun Control
    #53 in  Books > Home & Garden > Antiques & Collectibles > Firearms & Weapons

Inside This Book (learn more)

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?


Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below.
(7)
(4)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search
No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

 

Customer Reviews

15 Reviews
5 star:
 (7)
4 star:
 (6)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A very fine book on ins and outs of lobbying, December 18, 2007
By David T. Hardy "Dave Hardy" (Tucson, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Sorta like old home week for me...

I'd quite agree you can't judge this book by its press or blog reviews. The press naturally picked up on Richard's criticism of NRA fundraising and expenditures, and the bloggers (except me, who refused to blog without reading it) reacted to that. Both made the book seem antigun, when it's very far from that. As I would have guessed, because I last saw the author at the private ceremony to dedicate the bronze of Harlon Carter: Harlon's family would not have singled him out for invitation unless he was respected by them.

The book is exceptionally clearly written, and definitely a page turner. I think I took one break from reading its 300+ pages. If anyone wants to see what it's like to be a lobbyist, this is the book for them. Just one episode: at one point NY Gov. Mario Cuomo holds a tense meeting with the author and others, and tries to break the ice by deliberately sitting on a whoopee cushion. It didn't go over very well...
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A Timely Insider's Look at the Gun Rights Debate, October 27, 2007
By Dean Speir (Westhampton Beach, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
In 1986 I was fortunate to have had a front row seat watching Richie Feldman fight against the forces of darkness in the person of the anti-gun Sheriff of Suffolk County (NY), who was refusing to allow civilians to own the then new Glock pistols.

NRA-ILA sent Feldman who had two conversations with the Sheriff, the first explaining that his decision was based on demonstrably erroneous information. When the official did nothing, several months later Feldman told him very directly: stop the foolishness about Glocks, or we're going to take you to court and pull your pants down.

The Sheriff folded within the month!

I've followed Feldman's career ever since, the savvy (dare I say "pushy?") self-described Jewish-kid-from-the-Five-Towns. I think the "pushy" is what I like the most in his defense of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. That, and one of his credos: "You fight fire with napalm!"

"Ricochet: Confessions of a Gun Lobbyist" is an insider's view from the trenches, and if anyone is concerned that it's an "NRA puff piece," that organization (of which I am a Life Member) will undoubtedly be more antagonistic toward the book than say the anti-gun "Brady Bunch." Feldman chronicles the evolution of the venerable organization from a collection of shooting sports enthusiasts into, under the formidible leadership of Harlon Carter, a dedicated group of Second Amendment stalwarts, and then after Carter's death, the NRA's transformation into a cynical fund-raising machine with Wayne LaPierre and the PR firm of Ackerman-McQueen running things irrespective of Members' wishes.

Along the way Feldman discusses the machinations involved in gaining passage of the McClure-Volkmer bill in 1986, the behind-the-scenes wrangling on the Bernie Goetz "subway vigilante" event, and how the newest threat to firearms ownership rose with the filing of municipal lawsuits against the gun industry.

"Ricochet: Confessions of a Gun Lobbyist" is a fascinating and well-told chronicle of the past quarter of a century of the conflict between gun rights activists and firearms prohibitionists. (See http://www.thegunzone.com/software/ricochet.html for a fuller discission.)
Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars fascinating behind the scenes view of the life in the gun lobby, December 11, 2007
By Kyle Cassidy (philadelphia, pa USA) - See all my reviews
I wasn't sure what I was going to get when I picked up "Ricochet" but it turned out to be a page turner.

Richard Feldman is a skillful writer and an engaging story teller. His prose is easily approachable, passionate, and at the same time, avoids emotional extremes and bumper sticker slogans -- it's easy to see how he has been such a successful lobbiest.

The "confessions" aren't ideological regrets, but rather the kiss-and-tell story of internecine warfare at one of America's largest and most powerful lobbying groups. Feldman presents the National Rifle Association to be not exactly the 800 lb gorilla many people had always assumed -- but rather a pack of 80 lb chimpanzees that sometimes work together towards a common goal but also spend a lot of time poking one another in the eyes.

At the book's core, divergent factions in the NRA (one spearheaded by Feldman) disagree fundamentally on the best way to bring their cause forward -- the reader can decide which (if either) seems more practical. A fascinating read, whatever your position on guns. "Ricochet" seems to tell a universal tale -- one assumes that the very same types of arguments are going on in the back rooms of Greenpeace or any other lobbying group staffed by passionate and dedicated idealists.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
Ad
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Where do your NRA dues REALLY go?
Every politician and policy advocate should read Richard Feldman's fascinating history of the U.S. gun policy battles and how we got to the polarized positions that currently... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Zakariah Johnson

1.0 out of 5 stars gun rights
I only breezed this book at the bookstore and it's just another hit job on the lobbying arm of the NRA. Does the NRA have lobbyist in washington? Yes. Read more
Published 7 months ago by eCognition

1.0 out of 5 stars Ricochet
Poorly written and interesting only to those of us who have been inside this fight. Feldman (a likeable enough guy in person) makes the ridiculous case that the NRA is TOO tough,... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Online Shopper

5.0 out of 5 stars Every NRA member should read this book
Title pretty much says it all. It has been clear to me for years as an NRA member that there were many fat cats running a supposedly non-profit organization solely to provide... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Bruce Brodnax

4.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening but....
I heard an interview with Mr. Feldman on the radio and this piqued my interest in reading the book. I am the owner of 2 Glocks, possess a concealed carry permit and am not an NRA... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Dog Doc

4.0 out of 5 stars a snapshot of history
I found Ricochet: Confessions of a Gun Lobbyist a quick and interesting read. Richard Feldman provides a snapshot of a piece of history in the push and pull in the development of... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Richard Mayberry

4.0 out of 5 stars an honest review
This book was great. I am a Lifetime Benefactor member of the NRA and I found the insider characterizations to be most enlightening. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Eddie Lupara

4.0 out of 5 stars Any Member that doubts fundraising is Job #1 for NRA operations is not paying attention to their mail.
Any Member that doubts fundraising is Job #1 for NRA operations is not paying attention to their mail. Read more
Published 20 months ago by JOHN CAHILL

5.0 out of 5 stars disgruntled gun owner
I have to admit at being pretty upset after reading this book. have been wondering whatever happened to the organisation that told me never to store guns and ammunition together... Read more
Published 20 months ago by J. C. M. Bannerman

5.0 out of 5 stars I was there!
As an NRA Life Member and Republican Member of the New York State Assembly (1975-1992), I served in one of the most anti-gun legislative bodies in the country. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Peter M. Sullivan

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


   
Explore more


Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)



Look for Similar Items by Category


Amazon MP3 Delivers Free Songs

Subscribe to The Amazon MP3 Download newsletter to find out about free song downloads, new releases and hot digital music deals first.
subscribe
 

Best Books of 2008

Best of 2008
Find our top 100 editors' picks as well as customers' favorites in dozens of categories in our Best Books of 2008 Store.
 

Buy Three Books, Get a Fourth Free

4-for-3 Books
Order any four eligible books under $10 and get the lowest-price book free in our 4-for-3 Books Store. See more details.
 

Best Books

Best of the Month
See our editors' picks and more of the best new books on our Best of the Month page.
 
Ad

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Where's My Stuff?

Shipping & Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.

Continue shopping: Top Sellers
Free
Free by Chris Anderson
Paranoia
Paranoia by Joseph Finder
My Soul to Lose
My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent
Glenn Beck's Common Sense

Conditions of Use | Privacy Notice © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates