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In the interest of full disclosure, I didn't make it all the way through this book. I really like the author's other books but this one was not what I expected. I was more interested in hearing the story of this kid and the school shooting but that turned out to just be mentioned for maybe one graf per chapter if that. The rest is just facts and dates about gun production and gun laws. It might have been interesting still, but it was just so incredibly biased and one-sided. I felt insulted as a
Larson provides an unbiased view of current U.S. firearms regulations and the ATF. He brings up numerous problems and loopholes, which allow the proliferation of firearms to reach the streets. Larson addresses numerous issues throughout the book. Instead of just bringing these issues to light, he actually provides what he feels would be solutions. He investigates all angles of the gun problem in America by following the stories of a school shooting, gun manufactures, gun dealers, and the NRA gun...
Larson, as usual is very readable and holds your interest. Still, his draw to me is the depth of knowledge he has and research he does. This book doesn't have that. He's basically taken one side of an issue and presented it without any consideration of the other side. The preachiness wears thin.
I have decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2020 US Presidential Election. Many of these will focus on actors intricately involved in the process, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process. This is Book #2 in my 2020 US Election Preparation
Like the previous reviewer stated this is still relevant, unfortunately. People who want to argue the second amendment are missing the point, besides being clueless.
As coming from a diehard pro-second amendment hunting family (the stereotypical one that "clings to guns and religion") I am reading this to better understand the perspective of the pro gun control position. For better memory retention, I'm summarizing the chapters as I read:Chapter one: Introduction. In brief, the author tells the condensed version of the crime, against a backdrop of the social forces of our American gun culture and the disenfranchisement of urban black youth. Next he points ou...
scary, educational and engrossing
Five Stars here, for Erik Larson: Minus values for the American public, the American legal system and if there were justice, a death penalty for our legislatures. Larson begins with the school shooting and killing in 1989. Then he traces the manufacture of the gun, the sale of the gun, the laws regulating gun sales. Larson keeps a level head, joins the NRA, goes to gun shows, takes firearm training. In the end he offers a recipe for laws and regulations which he thinks would save countless lives...
A lot of the reviews for this Larson were disparaging. This isn’t my favorite Larson book but I really enjoyed it. Additionally, I highly recommend this read to anyone interested in learning more about gun violence in America. I feel it important that instead of relaying hearsay in discussions about guns that we focus on self education and kindness.
An in depth investigation into guns and the gun issues in the USA, written in the context of a shooting by a young boy at a school in the early 1990's. The sad part is that the issues were pretty much exactly the same back then as they are today, only there are a lot more guns today. Scary!
I have to admit when I picked this book up, I had no idea the copyright was 1994. That was the middle of my years in law enforcement. So much of it was so familiar and rang true for that period of time. Sadly, if Erik Larson would do an updated version of this book, how much more needless death and carnage that has happened since, could be reported. This book chronicles the journey of a gun, traces that gun, and how it got into the hands of a 16 year old boy who shot up his school in Virginia Be...