Stopping Power: Why 70 Million Americans Own Guns (Paperback)

~ (Author), Gary Kleck (Author) "Advocates of the right to keep and bear arms in the United States usually base their arguments on the Second Amendment: "A well-regulated Militia being..." (more)
Key Phrases: defensive gun use, police protection service, fatal gun accidents, Los Angeles, United States, Southern California (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Did you know that every 13 seconds one of America's 70 million gun owners uses a firearm in defense against a criminal? That American women use handguns 416 times a day in defense against rapists, which is a dozen times more often than rapists use a gun? That a gun kept in the home for protection is 216 times as likely to be used in defense against a criminal than it is to cause the death of an innocent victim in that household?

These are just a few of the surprises this book has in store for anyone whose belief in gun control is based on TV news or popular magazines.

Award-winning novelist, screenwriter, and journalist, J. Neil Schulman, challenges the misinformation that pundits ranging from network anchors to ill-informed doctors are promoting about guns.

Especially for the reader who doesn't own a gun and has never even considered buying one, Stopping Power should be an eye-opener.

Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: Pulpless.com (July 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584450576
• ISBN-13: 978-1584450573
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,342,078 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very well-written essays on armed self-defense., October 15, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Stopping Power: Why 70 Million Americans Own Guns (Hardcover)

An award-winning science fiction writer, Schulman has penned a well-written, forcefully argued explanation of why gun ownership by good people enhances public safety. The book is a collection of essays that Schulman has written over the last several years. Some of the essays were first printed in the Los Angeles Times, while others have shown up on computer bulletin boards and similar places. Many of the essays deal with the meaning of the Second Amendment, and with why ordinary folks should be allowed to carry a gun for protection. Schulman persuasively shows that such laws--rather than turning a state into "the wild west"--actually enhance the safety of everyone--including people who don't choose to carry a gun. Schulman's writing style is clear, and fun to read. The straight-forward writing and the short chapters make Stopping Power is a good first book for people who want to learn more about the gun issue. Stopping Power is also an excellent choice for your friends who are anti-gun, but who have enough intellectual curiousity to want to check out the argument in favor of gun ownership. By the time they're finished with Stopping Power, they may well have decided to switch sides in the gun control struggle. Review by Dave Kopel, Independence Institute, http://i2i.org.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stopping Power--a political concept, May 28, 2002

By	R. Herrst (Las Vegas, Nevada) - See all my reviews

This book has been quoted in many places including Congressional hearings, federal appellate-court briefs, the Internet, and other publications including national magazines and Washington think-tank white-papers. It's wonderful to have at your fingertips so much information covering so many aspects of firearms ownership, self defense, and gun-control laws.

You get a real insight into the prejudiced and corrupt workings of the media and government in their unceasing attempt to diminish your natural right of self-defense. Very few books have provided a step-by-step analysis of the manipulation necessary to convince the public to support the proven counterproductive gun-restriction agenda.

Unlike many academic treatises on this subject, Stopping Power has many original insights, frequent moments of real humor, and avoids focusing on some narrow aspect of the topic, such as merely the crime statistics or legal arguments. One of the best things about the book is that the author doesn't rely on debating straw men but instead goes into the real world--ACLU pamphlets, TV Public Service Announcements, and even on-line chat rooms--to bring out the actual concerns and thought processes of those who are afraid to allow gun ownership. Then the author uses the best available technical expertise, criminology, and legal scholarship to answer these concerns--concisely, wittily, and decisively.

The Center for the Study of Crime recommends this as one of the best books in the field and it is without doubt the most entertaining.

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It will absolutely disarm the "gun-grabbers!", December 22, 1997

By	[e-mail] (Wichita, Kansas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stopping Power: Why 70 Million Americans Own Guns (Hardcover)

I have studied writings and listened to many arguments on the Second Amendment, its true meaning and intent by our constitutional framers. This book is the best collection of "fact-based" pro-gun arguements that will convince the most staunch gun-control advocate of the dangers in that folly. It is a must read for those seeking the truth about our Second Amendment and the true reason thereof. Mr. Schulman's style of writing, his sincerity and belief in freedom lends itself to a truly great read. If you want to inform your anti-gun friends of the true dangers of "gun control", THIS BOOK IS A MUST!