How America got its guns : a history of the gun violence crisis / William Briggs.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Briggs, William, 1949- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gun control--United States--History.

Gun control.

Firearms ownership--United States--History.

Firearms ownership.

Violent crimes--United States--History.

Violent crimes.

Firearms--Law and legislation--United States.

Firearms.

United States. Constitution--2nd Amendment.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (340 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Albuquerque, [New Mexico] : University of New Mexico Press, 2017.

Summary:

"In the United States more than thirty thousand deaths each year can be attributed to firearms. This book on the history of guns in America examines the Second Amendment and the laws and court cases it has spawned. The author's thorough and objective account shows the complexities of the issue, which are so often reduced to bumper-sticker slogans, and suggests ways in which gun violence in this country can be reduced. Briggs profiles not only protagonists in the national gun debate but also ordinary people, showing the ways guns have become part of the lives of many Americans. Among them are gays and lesbians, women, competitive trapshooters, people in the gun-rights and gun-control trenches, the NRA's first female president, and the most successful gunsmith in American history. Balanced and painstakingly unbiased, Briggs's account provides the background needed to follow gun politics in America and to understand the gun culture in which we are likely to live for the foreseeable future."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Front Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Contents

Acknowledgments

1: Guns in America

2: The Advantage of Being Armed

3: Number Games

4: Twenty-Seven Words

5: Guns in American Lives

6: Interpreting the Second Amendment

7: Magic Never Made a Gun

8: The Other Amendment

9: Playing by the Rules

10: Colfax and Cruikshank

11: Enforcement!

12: A Century Passes

13: Carry, Stand, and Defend

14: The Court Speaks

15: Guns and the Mind

16: The Court Speaks Again

17: A Year Passes

18: Reducing Gun Violence

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Back Cover.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780826358141

0826358144

OCLC:

962304406