Lethal Passage : The Story of a Gun

Rating:
Summary: One sided view point
Review: Larson does show that straw purchasers of handguns contribute to crime. He spends little or no time on the contributing factors for such gun purchases. He does not address guns obtained by theft, or illegal sales or the lending of firearms within extended families, gangs or circles of acquaintances.

If your mind is already made up, you'll like this book.

Rating:
Summary: Everything you could ever wish to learn from a book!
Review: Lethal Passage covered, in my opinion, everything anyone could wish to learn about gun control, gun laws and loopholes, gun facts, the NRA, the ATF, as well as the gun industry.

I bought the book to review it for [...]. When I bought it I expected it to be a story, more of a novel. Upon reading however, I found a story intertwined with facts, cases, and studies. Erik Larson spreads the gruesome story of a boy and his school shooting out over fourteen chapters, about six of which are the actual story. As one chapter starts in on the story and climbs to a dramatic point, Erik Larson then has the next chapter take the reader to facts about how the boy got the gun, why it is so easy to gain access to guns, how the NRA, by way of government influence, has put loopholes in every gun law there is. Erik will then return to the story, and then back to the facts. While this writing style may sound a bit iffy or annoying, I guarantee it is the very opposite. By leaving the reader hanging at the end of the story chapters, he takes you full of emotions, and presents you with facts that are both angering and scary.

If you are interested in learning about guns, gun control, or the gun industry, I suggest this book above all others. It has the broadest span of coverage, in the most well written way. I give Erik Larson two thumbs up on his ability to present the facts so well, without ever taking sides. He is not biased against guns or for guns, simply tries to give people the truth.

Rating:
Summary: Well-written, but biased
Review: This is a reasonably well written, but undeniably biased tale. The statistics are slanted and untrustworthy, and the rhetoric is tough to wade through for anyone on the pro-rights side of this issue.