Carter, professor of sociology at Columbia University and author of several books, including The Gun Control Movement (Twayne, 1997), has pulled together a fine group of 82 contributors for this title on the legal and social aspects of guns in America. The set represents an attempt to bring together research on all sides of an often murky and divisive issue. Designed for "researchers, teachers, students, public officials, law-enforcement personnel, journalists, and members of the general public," its purpose is to help the reader "become educated enough on any particular aspect of the gun issue to make an informed decision."
Entries cover a variety of information and present a wide spectrum of opinions. Biographical entries treat legal scholars on the Second Amendment, political leaders, and prominent social activists from all sides. Court cases that featured Second Amendment interpretations are described and feature summations of the pertinent issues. Historical articles, such as Boomtowns, cowtowns, and gun violence and Vigilantism, give a social context to the interaction between American culture and guns. Other articles focus on various gun makes, bullet types, and recent events, such as the Waco, Texas, raid and Columbine High School tragedy, that have driven discussion of gun policy.
Appendixes cover federal laws that have had an impact on the Second Amendment, state gun law, and organizations participating in pro-gun-control and pro-gun-rights activities. Brief entry-specific bibliographies and an extensive selected bibliography will facilitate further research for advanced students or interested citizens. A welcome resource on a topic that will continue to be debated for many years to come, this set is recommended for academic and public libraries.
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Product Description
This unbiased two-volume set takes on the explosive issue of gun violence in the United States - from the American Revolution to school shootings to assault weapons and waiting periods. Does Americans' colonial beginnings of rugged individuals seeking political independence and their Wild West mindset still influence today's Second Amendment proponents? With a murder-by-gun rate almost ten times higher than Europe's, why doesn't the US have strict national gun-control laws like those in most economically developed countries? Does the lack of strict gun control contribute to gun violence in particular, like the recent rash of school shootings, and to violence in general? Does the public really want gun control? Scholars in the field take on these questions and many more in 400 data-rich entries covering events, laws, people, the media, organizations, socioeconomics, sport, weapons and manufacturers, politics, murder and suicide, race and ethnicity and the Second Amendment.
