Guns, Freedom, and Terrorism

Rating:
Summary: A must read
Review: A must read for those that care about the topic of gun control. For those that would say that the right to keep and arms is not an individual right, I would say that they have not done the research for themselves. This book is a good place for them to start.

"As civil rulers, not having their duty to the people duly before them, may attempt to tyrannize, and as the military forces which must be occasionally raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow-citizens, the people are confirmed by the next article in their right to keep and bear their private arms."
--- Tench Coxe, "Remarks on the First Part of the Amendments to the Federal Constitution", The Federal Gazette, June 18, 1789

"Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States. A military force, at the command of Congress, can execute no laws, but such as the people perceive to be just and constitutional; for they will possess the power, and jealousy will instantly inspire the inclination, to resist the execution of a law which appears to them unjust and oppressive."
---Noah Webster, An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution (Philadelphia 1787).
www.guncite.com

Rating:
Summary: A Call to Arms....
Review: I have a strong bias in favor of Second Amendment rights and I interpret the amendment literally. Therefore, I thought it was high time I read one of these books to find out what was happening in current trends of gun control initiatives vs. gun owners and Second Amendment rights. Wayne LaPierre is executive vice president of the NRA. Who better to advocate 2nd Amendment rights?

I think just about every book published these days carries the word 'terrorism' in the hope of finding a wider audience. I half expect to look on the shelves one day to find "Little Red Ryder and the Animal of Terror". This book doesn't have very much to do with terrorism, except for a chapter advocating the arming of airline pilots, and another about the opportunistic surge of gun control regulators in the wake of the 9-11 bombings.

Yet, LaPierre's book is informed, persuasive and well-organized. It provides a history of gun ownership in the United States and discusses commonly held myths, particularly those captivating the mass media. LaPierre argues that the mainstream media doesn't bother to educate itself about guns and gun issues and is motivated more by hysteria rather than reason in its approach to 2nd Amendment issues. Media accounts of gun crime rarely describe how criminals obtain guns used in crime, unless it promotes the goals of anti-gun crusaders.. In the media mind, there is the feckless notion that guns "go off " by themselves, usually in the presence of children. Gun control advocates routinely distort statistics to buttress their anti-gun arguments, routinely counting the activities of violent youth gangs as evidence that 'children' (though perpetrators are counted as children up to the age of 20) are victims of gun culture.. The widespread myths about guns promotes the view that , if there were no guns in the world, there would be no violent crime.
LaPierre submits that enforcement of existing gun laws would do more to mitigate violent crime than more paper and more gun regulation. Furthermore, criminals are endlessly creative in their methods-- if they want to harm honest citizens, they will find a way. The Columbine killers, for example, had set bombs at strategic places in the school and intended for those bombs to kill fellow students. Certainly, the 9-11 highjackers did not have guns. On the other hand, the 9-11 airline pilots, who were entrusted with the task of bring passengers safely to their destinations, did not have guns either. LaPierre points out that voluntarily armed pilots would at least have had some chance against highjackers armed with box cutters. Airlines and the FAA say it is too expensive to provide air marshals on every single flight.
Much of this book focuses on gun control groups like Handgun Control and the Brady Gun Control campaign, how they function, what their objective are, and how they enlist legislators, environmentalists, even the medical community into pressing their agenda. Gun registration is a constantly reoccurring theme in many of these chapters, and there are chapters devoted to the incremental implementation of levels of gun registration and confiscation in Europe and Australia. As everyone knows, violent criminals in Britain and elsewhere haven't ever got the message that they were supposed to register their weapons. Meanwhile, law abiding citizens are stripped of their guns, their rights and their protections.
Finally, there is the matter of junk science and junk research perpetrated on the gullible antigun crowd, embodied most clearly by the discredited book: Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture, by Michael Bellesiles, an Emory University history professor. This book at first infatuated the gun control extremists. It was later discovered that Bellesiles misquoted sources, and obtained statistics in a way not consistent with appropriate methodology, errors he later was forced to admit publicly.
This book is well worth reading for people who may be neutral toward the topic and for advocates of responsible gun ownership. Law-abiding citizens should have the right to defend themselves. The police cannot be everywhere, after all. LaPierre points out that the police may do a generally good job in protecting the public, but do not in fact have the legal responsibility of protecting each individual. Litigated court cases absolved defendant police officers who were accused of not responding fast enough to prevent crimes of violence. Law-abiding citizens, in other words, have no means of protection should they be confronted with potentially violent criminals in their homes while they are alone and far away from the nearest police officer. But once you're robbed, bludgeoned, or even murdered in your home, the police will certainly arrive to file the appropriate crime report.

-- Moeursalen

Rating:
Summary: A shameful excuse for literature!
Review: I have never before read such shameful propaganda. This book does nothing for Americans but give us more reasons to be scared! If you want to participate in the destruction of a peace-loving society, then follow the advice in this book. I have only a couple questions.

This book explains nothing of the following two areas:

1) The 2nd ammendment does NOT grant individual persons the right of bearing arms. Taken in context the ammendment grants each STATE the right to form "a well regulated militia" and only within that militia is there a right to bear arms.

2) This book has a lot to say about gun rights and easing gun control, however what about potential terrorits? Doesn't eased gun control law make it MUCH easier for all the potential terrorists out there to legally purchase and USE these weapons to kill freedom loving Americans?

Wayne LaPierre does a fantastic job of muffling the truth and spreading ignorant biased propaganda. However, if you are looking for something more than a one sided argument without any facts to back it up, then search elsewhere!

Rating:
Summary: Rampant paranoia it ain't
Review: Mr. Lapierre is nearly as powerful a writer as he is a speaker. This country is beginning to sway so far from its foundation that it may soon tip! We have to remember why we are here, how we got here and what has gotten us this far.

There are those who would choose to take away our way of life, all of the good that has been built on the backs of our forefathers. Some of those are foriegn, some of those are American born, registered voters who want to strip this country of its right to protection. All of these people scare me!

Rating:
Summary: For those who like freedom
Review: The book clearly discusses the meaning of "the people" and other phrases as used CONSISTENTLY throughout the constitution. If you are truly curious and actually have an opened mind and have not already set your thoughts in concrete, this book will be useful and enlightening - it may not change your stance, but it does give anyone capable of thinking food for thought.

Rating:
Summary: A good book, but with small flaws
Review: This is a well written book, it explains what exactly is going on in politics about guns and terrorism and freedom. It especially focuses on how Sept. 11 has change our way of thinking. The author is very pro Second Amendment and for keeping all right including the right to bear arms.

It explains how the media has twisted stories to make guns look deadly and bad. However, the author also tends to twist and leave out certain statistics to prove his point.

It's a good book. Of course it is a persuasive book. But anyone should read it; it will open up your mind, no matter what side you're on about guns.

Rating:
Summary: A good book, but with small flaws
Review: This is a well written book, it explains what exactly is going on in politics about guns and terrorism and freedom. It especially focuses on how Sept. 11 has change our way of thinking. The author is very pro Second Amendment and for keeping all right including the right to bear arms.

It explains how the media has twisted stories to make guns look deadly and bad. However, the author also tends to twist and leave out certain statistics to prove his point.

It's a good book. Of course it is a persuasive book. But anyone should read it; it will open up your mind, no matter what side you're on about guns.

Rating:
Summary: Finally, the truth is told about guns.
Review: Wayne LaPierre gives convincing arguments against the falacies of the gun control doctrine, and backs it up with highly credible references. I recommend this book for anybody sitting on the fence over the gun control issue. Climb down, read the book, and discover your rights as a United States citizen.

Rating:
Summary: A single up-to-date compilation of facts and logic
Review: Wayne LaPierre is eminently qualified to logically and clearly present the irrefutable facts exposing the total ineffectiveness and grave danger of gun control. There may be other recent books as good as this one, but I haven't seen them yet. GUNS, FREEDOM AND TERRORISM is a single source of the most recent truth and data about the effects of gun control and incidents surrounding it. Most of the relevant data is boiled down here and presented in an easily-understood manner.

It is important that a book on gun control be regularly updated with the latest data. This book does that, discussing terrorism, the war in Iraq, the latest results of right-to-carry laws, Michael Bellesiles, arming pilots, the dismal failure of gun confiscation in Australia and the United Kingdon, and the problems of ballistic "fingerprinting."

Although the title might lead on to believe that this book is mostly about terrorism, terrorism is the main topic for only two or three chapters. A logical person might wonder how those who fear an armed citizenry could twist the terrorist attacks of 9/11 to promote anything but the further need of Americans to be able to defend themselves and their country. But they do, in their usual illogical manner. LaPierre discusses how the Brady bunch, et. al., believe that well-funded international terrorists are arming themselves at local gun shows, and points out the absurdity of their claims.

I have few and minor criticisms of this book. At first, reading the book from cover to cover, I often thought, "He's repeating that from a previous chapter." I then realized that the intent was probably to make each chapter stand alone. One can use this book as reference, looking up a particular topic, and just read the chapter on that topic. (Although I'd recommend reading the whole thing.) So this initially-perceived fault becomes an advantage. On some topics, I believe that Mr. LaPierre fails to define some terms that are known to someone who is familiar with the topic of gun control, but probably not to someone who is using this book to research the topic for the first time. One example is the "gun show loophole." I know what it is, but felt that he didn't define it well for the less knowledgable reader. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that these terms created by the freedom opponents are purposely designed to obfuscate what the term is describing. A person capable of critical thought would not consider the "gun show loophole" a loophole at all.

I also felt that the chapter on the Second Amendment quoted more of the founding fathers. Their intent was made very clear in the records from their time.

One can read books like Lott's MORE GUNS, LESS CRIME with all of the statistical gory details. This engineering Ph.D. with a math minor gets bogged down in reading it. Or you can read GUNS, FREEDOM AND TERRORISM and have all the results from Lott, Kleck, DOJ, etc. boiled down in one place.

I strongly believe that EVERY American should be familiar with the Second Amendment, its purpose, and what the intent of the founding fathers was. If all people realized the consequences of losing this freedom, they would all fight tooth and nail against the forces that wish to steal their freedoms. This is an excellent, coherent, easily-read book that would provide this basis.