A Little Handbook on the Second Amendment: What the American aristocracy Does Not Want You to Know. (Paperback)

by Joseph L. Bass (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
A Little Handbook on the Second Amendment is an easily read summary of information found in reliable academic books dealing with the Second Amendment. It clearly demonstrates that the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights recognizes a right of individual citizens to possess and carry privately owned firearms free from infringement by state governments and the federal government.

When published in 1999 some elitist constitutional academics still denied that the Second Amendment included an individual right. In the interim they have been proven wrong and many now decline to write on the subject, not wanting to acknowledge their previous errors. A Little Handbook on the Second Amendment is now a classic text for those wishing an introduction to gun rights issues.

From the Author
Although considerable progress has been made regarding gun rights in the United States, many of our citizens and government representatives still need to be better informed on the subject. Hopefully this book will continue to be widely read by American citizens. We need to be better informed about: (A) how our government is meant to function, (B) how an armed citizenry is meant to provide checks against government encroachment of individual rights and lawless attacks against individual citizens by criminals that government cannot prevent. Stay safe. Stay free.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 105 pages
• Publisher: The Downhome Enterprise (December 3, 1999)
• ISBN-10: 0966935918
• ISBN-13: 978-0966935912
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,000,042 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An informative little volume, April 24, 2001

By	Joseph H Pierre "Joe Pierre" (Salem, OR USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Less scholarly than Stephen Halbrook's "That Every Man Be Armed," or "The Right to Keep and Bear Arms" by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)--this is nevertheless a well-reasoned and valuable little booklet. Only 96 pages, in large easily readable type, it is a valuable addition to the gun-control debate. I would like to see it widely read.

I have a couple of quibbles, or perhaps reservations about the author's personal conclusions: on page 5, as one of the six parties who contribute to the lack of substantive discussion on gun-control he contends that "big business" has no interest in promoting our model of government. That statement reeks of the paranoid class-warfare philosophy espoused by the very socialistic promoters of gun-control whom he scorns. An unfortunate stance.

I think that it is an unwarranted assumption. Later, he also blames big business for the content of school textbooks (which fail to teach our system's principles) and for the views expressed in the press, which he says they "control." I also doubt those claims, and think they are unjustified. Editorial staff controls the editorial content of newspapers, magazines and textbooks. The owners, by and large, are simply interested in readership, which enables them to sell the product or advertising and make money. Therefore, they hire professionals, whom they leave alone to do their jobs. Why many, if not most, of the professionals in those areas are exponents of gun-control is potentially a more revealing question, the answer to which may lie in the institutions from which they spring and the politics of the professors who teach them.

The bulk of the book is informative and well-researched. For one who is truly concerned about the recent attacks on the Second Amendment--the palladium of the Bill of Rights--as am I, there are a great many very good, scholarly books available, several of which he mentions in his bibliography.

I recommend this little book to you. My fear is that Americans have grown too apathetic to pay much attention to their government, or the Constitution and its Bill of Rights, and their representatives are too self-centered. A single indifferent generation, through their inaction, may lose the freedoms that our warriors have bled to protect for two and a quarter centuries. If so,the road back will be very hard and bloody.

Joseph H. Pierre, USN (Ret)
author, Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
editor, George Tooley's Beginner's Book on How to Handle Firearms Safely

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Historical references supporting gun ownership, June 17, 2003

By	1gewehr "1gewehr" (Mid TN) - See all my reviews

If you wanted to REALLY know what the Founding Fathers thought about guns, this is the place to look. References go as far back as Norse law, and are built upon through English Common Law and end up being fully codified in the Second Amendment to the US Constitution.

Dr. Bass presents a logical and easily referenced source for understanding the reasoning behind the right to bear arms in the US. It is easily read and understood. It would be the best starting point for those who seek to research gun control and it's history in the US.

5.0 out of 5 stars Handbook, June 29, 2008

By	D. Lichtenstein (Davenport, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Excellent book, very easy to read, and understand. If you want a simple, but detailed, history of the 2nd amendment, how it came about, what our Founding Fathers were thinking, etc. this is the best book I've seen on the subject. There are some others that are more detailed, but this gives you all the important information, in a quick read. The author also refers the reader to other books that do have the more detailed information, for those that want to explore deeper the specific areas of the 2nd amendment. Great read. I highly recomend it to anybody interested in the history of the 2nd amendment.