Book Review

Guns and Violence

The Gun Control Debate: You Decide

N Engl J Med 1994; 330:375February 3, 1994

Article

The Gun Control Debate: You Decide
(Contemporary Issues.) Edited by Lee Nisbet. 341 pp. New York, Prometheus Books, 1990. $17.95. ISBN: 0-87975-618-7

As the title implies, this book frames the issue of gun control as a verbal duel between advocates with opposing views. The editor has organized 24 diverse selections, mostly written in the 1980s, into 4 loosely connected sections: “A Culture in Conflict” (4 papers selected to illustrate the influence of values on policy preferences), “Controlling Crime and Violence” (10 papers on the relation between the availability of guns and patterns of violence), “Guns for Self-Defense: Protection or Menace?” (8 papers on the risks involved in the use of guns for self-protection), and “Interpreting the Second Amendment: Culture Conflict Revealed” (2 papers on the interpretation of the Second Amendment).

The organization of the book as a debate enhances its rhetorical flair but diminishes its value to a scientific audience. The rules of proper and fair debate require that both sides be represented, regardless of the quality of the material, and that advocates speak for themselves. The moderator should not get too involved. Consequently, the papers in the book are of uneven quality, and the editor does not become involved in clarifying important issues or evaluating the quality of the arguments. The book includes many solid presentations of the issues, such as “The Great American Gun War” by B. Bruce-Briggs, “Protection or Peril? An Analysis of Firearm-Related Deaths in the Home” by Arthur Kellermann and Donald Reay, “Crime Control Through the Private Use of Armed Force” by Gary Kleck, and “The Effect of Gun Availability on Violent Crime Patterns” by Philip Cook. Apparently in an attempt to balance the debate or to represent both sides, the editor also includes several weak, blatantly partisan, or dogmatic selections.

The quickening pace of research on guns and violence makes the book somewhat out of date. Since its publication in 1990, important works on both sides of the issue have been published. In spite of these defects, the book pulls together a variety of material from diverse sources, and many readers will find the book valuable precisely because it presents the gun-control debate in relatively full partisan form. It identifies points of controversy and conveys the shrill tone that is typical of participants in the gun-control debate.

Colin Loftin, Ph.D.
University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-8235