I just finished Gary Kleck's "Targeting Guns: Firearms and Their Control" and found it an excellent source of dispassionate facts and study information. Kleck was completely unemotional (which makes the book less interesting, but more persuasive). I must warn you- he's no NRA booster, and does not reject all gun laws. He favors concealed carry licensing like Florida, and the instant check, applied to retail and private purchase. The book is almost 400 pages, and covers, factually, almost all issues, except the Second Amendment and the armed citizen philosophy.
Kleck does a good job in destroying anti-gun studies, concluding there is almost no evidence gun control reduces crime (with a few exceptions, which is why he does endorse some laws.) He gives the general flaws with many of the studies, and specific examples. He covers machine guns, "assault weapons", armor piercing bullets, cheap guns, and handguns.
His treatment of self-defense is excellent. I had heard the anti-gun statistic of 80,000 defensive uses per year, but did not know that was the lowest number available, and that every other survey (of which there was at least 15) showed a minimum of 700,000 uses. He said claims of 700,000-2,000,000 uses were accurate.
He also discusses gun-carrying, personalities of gun owners, suicide, accidents, public opinion, "health studies" and the impact of gun control laws. He also gives his recommendations for laws (which probably will annoy some of us).
The book is long, and dry in places, but good if you want facts, not emotion or boosterism. The book definitely favors our side far more than that of the antis. I can recommend it, as it should aid us in the debate.
Kleck does a good job in destroying anti-gun studies, concluding there is almost no evidence gun control reduces crime (with a few exceptions, which is why he does endorse some laws.) He gives the general flaws with many of the studies, and specific examples. He covers machine guns, "assault weapons", armor piercing bullets, cheap guns, and handguns.
His treatment of self-defense is excellent. I had heard the anti-gun statistic of 80,000 defensive uses per year, but did not know that was the lowest number available, and that every other survey (of which there was at least 15) showed a minimum of 700,000 uses. He said claims of 700,000-2,000,000 uses were accurate.
He also discusses gun-carrying, personalities of gun owners, suicide, accidents, public opinion, "health studies" and the impact of gun control laws. He also gives his recommendations for laws (which probably will annoy some of us).
The book is long, and dry in places, but good if you want facts, not emotion or boosterism. The book definitely favors our side far more than that of the antis. I can recommend it, as it should aid us in the debate.