Gun control remains one of the hottest topics on America's social agenda. Increased violence, gang wars in metropolitan areas, and the prevalence of guns in the United States frequently bring this debate to new crescendos of public concern. How can Americans find answers that maintain safety while protecting individual liberty? The Samurai, the Mountie, and the Cowboy offers a compelling look at how other democracies have attempted to solve their own gun problems, and what America can learn from these countries.
A basic assumption of the American gun-control movement - one which has received far less scrutiny than it deserves - is that America is the only modern nation without strict gun control and therefore the only country to suffer unchecked violence. Advocates of restricting or banning firearms contend that the implementation of foreign-style gun controls would make America safer and more civilized. Are they right? David B. Kopel thoroughly analyzes how firearm laws actually work in democracies whose approaches to gun control are frequently recommended to the American public. Kopel explores the policies of Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, and Switzerland, placing them in their historical, criminological, and cultural contexts, and offering observations on the advantages and disadvantages of incorporating them into US law. After examining America's "gun culture", Kopel proposes a responsible firearms policy that makes sense for the United States.
David B. Kopel, an environmental lawyer in Denver, Colorado, was an assistant district attorney in New York City. He also serves as associate policy analyst with the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., and as a technical consultant to the International Wound Ballistics Association.
470 pages
ISBN 0-87975-756-6
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