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Gun control: Issues and answers
BOOK REVIEWS Gun Control: Lester.
issues and Answers
by David
Charles C. Thomas (2600 South First Street, Springfield, Illinois 62717), 1984, 131 pp., softcover-$14.75 Among the numerous policy questions addressed in the last decade, few have generated as much controversy and debate as the issue of gun regulation/gun control. This issue also has been debated within the academic community. There are numerous empirical studies that present evidence for and against gun control. Some have found that strict gun control statutes have been effective in reducing violent crimes, whereas others have found no relationship between gun regulation and reduction in violent crimes. The title of Lester’s book seems to indicate that it is a new study on the subject that might present additional information on the effectiveness and utility of gun regulation as a policy option. Unfortunately, this is not the case. It is a book that reviews some of the existing literature on the use of guns in a variety of situations but adds little to our knowledge of the subject of gun regulation in general or its feasibility as a policy option to address problems such as violent crime in particular. One serious flaw of the book is its lack of direction and focus; it does not concentrate on any central research questions or problems. Instead, Lester attempts to cover the broad spectrum of firearms use and relate how gun regulation supposedly would or would not affect each area. The book is divided into five sections with a total of thirteen chapters.
The first section, “The Role of Guns in Death,” has chapters on the role of guns in violent crime, accidental deaths, and suicide, and on whether the presence of firearms incites violence. Each of these chapters is merely a review of some studies on each of the topics; consequently. two of the chapters are only two pages in length, and the chapters draw conclusions, often in one paragraph, about the roles of firearms in each of these areas. The chapter on the role of guns in suicide appears to contain original data from previous work on suicides by Lester and a coauthor. This section is informative and useful if one is concerned about firearm suicide. However, drawing causal relationships and devising generalizations based solely on a review of the literature seems inappropriate. Section Two, “The Ownership of Guns,” consists of two interesting chapters. The first, “Who Owns Guns,” essentially reviews the literature that identifies the number of guns, regional location, and types of guns, and the personality traits and so forth of gunowners. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms 1970 study, Project identification, is also reviewed. Lester and a coauthor had previously utilized these data and correlated the type of handgun traced with the cities in the study. The characteristics of the handguns confiscated in each of the cities were then correlated with several indices of violent crime. These results are interesting. The other chapter, “Who Should Carry a Gun?,” reviews the process the city of Philadelphia utilized to determine whether individuals applying for court investigators were suitable to carry a gun. (This chapter was written by Lester and a
571
572
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coauthor.) Section Three, “The Police Involvement with Guns,” reviews the literature on police use of deadly force and firearms use in the murder of police officers. The fourth section, “The Effects of Gun Control Laws,” reviews the literature on whether strict handgun control laws have had an impact on homicide and suicide rates. The bulk of the research reviewed was conducted by the author and a coauthor, and their findings are illustrated in one chapter in this section, “The Influence of Handgun Control Laws on Personal Violence.” With this one exception, the question of the effectiveness of the laws is not addressed and therefore is unanswered. The final section, “Issues and Answers,” as the author states, “ . . .will survey some of the proposals that have been made for restricting the role of guns as agents of death and the arguments for and against these proposals.” The section does just that. We are treated to a review of the various policy suggestions from registration to competency tests to banning private sales to mandatory sentencing for gun crimes. There is no systematic evaluation of these proposals, the pros and cons of implementing these particular policy options, or of their anticipated effectiveness. There is some review of the articles that have evaluated several mandatory sentencing statutes, but Lester fails to mention the debate over the question of at what point in time one evaluates an intervention. The time dimension is critical because we need to know whether the changes in crime rates, gun related robberies, and so forth are real, or simply a function of the publicity surrounding the introduction of the law or other similar factors. Additionally, in this chapter, the author lists the five major reasons, supposedly, for opposing controls of guns. However, these reasons were drawn from a 1969 article, and it is possible that some or all of the reasons are no longer valid or that there are other reasons for opposition to gun regulation not included in the five. Lester’s book, therefore, misses the mark in several ways. First, for those scholars
KE\‘IE\\‘S
familiar with the literature and debate on the issue of gun regulation/gun control, there is nothing to be gained from this particular endeavor. In fact, as a literature review the book is incomplete. Several major studies and evaluations have been omitted. Second, Lester attempts to cover too much ground and, as a result, does not cover any area well, except possibly for the area of firearms suicide. which apparently is the author’s primary research interest. And finally, Lester attempts to draw causal inferences from little or no systematic analysis or original empirical information. Consequently, we have nothing but supposition and assumption about the effectiveness of gun control laws and their impacts on the various areas covered in the book.
Paula D. McClain School of Public Affairs Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona 85297
Introduction to Juvenile Delinquency: Youth and the Law by James T. Carey and Patrick D. McAnany. Prentice-Hall, Inc. (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 07632), 1984, 405 pp., $26.95 True to their stated intentions, the authors make a valiant attempt to outline the differences between law and the social sciences when applied to juvenile justice, to examine not only’case law related to juvenile offenders but to expand to include organizational forces shaping the way in which juvenile law is applied in various components of the juvenile justice system, especially the juvenile court. They attempt to do all this while still ensuring full coverage to delinquency causation, corrections, and prevention. That they fall short certainly does not appear to result from lack of effort. Indeed, one would expect subsequent editions to provide much more sub-
issues and Answers
by David
Charles C. Thomas (2600 South First Street, Springfield, Illinois 62717), 1984, 131 pp., softcover-$14.75 Among the numerous policy questions addressed in the last decade, few have generated as much controversy and debate as the issue of gun regulation/gun control. This issue also has been debated within the academic community. There are numerous empirical studies that present evidence for and against gun control. Some have found that strict gun control statutes have been effective in reducing violent crimes, whereas others have found no relationship between gun regulation and reduction in violent crimes. The title of Lester’s book seems to indicate that it is a new study on the subject that might present additional information on the effectiveness and utility of gun regulation as a policy option. Unfortunately, this is not the case. It is a book that reviews some of the existing literature on the use of guns in a variety of situations but adds little to our knowledge of the subject of gun regulation in general or its feasibility as a policy option to address problems such as violent crime in particular. One serious flaw of the book is its lack of direction and focus; it does not concentrate on any central research questions or problems. Instead, Lester attempts to cover the broad spectrum of firearms use and relate how gun regulation supposedly would or would not affect each area. The book is divided into five sections with a total of thirteen chapters.
The first section, “The Role of Guns in Death,” has chapters on the role of guns in violent crime, accidental deaths, and suicide, and on whether the presence of firearms incites violence. Each of these chapters is merely a review of some studies on each of the topics; consequently. two of the chapters are only two pages in length, and the chapters draw conclusions, often in one paragraph, about the roles of firearms in each of these areas. The chapter on the role of guns in suicide appears to contain original data from previous work on suicides by Lester and a coauthor. This section is informative and useful if one is concerned about firearm suicide. However, drawing causal relationships and devising generalizations based solely on a review of the literature seems inappropriate. Section Two, “The Ownership of Guns,” consists of two interesting chapters. The first, “Who Owns Guns,” essentially reviews the literature that identifies the number of guns, regional location, and types of guns, and the personality traits and so forth of gunowners. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms 1970 study, Project identification, is also reviewed. Lester and a coauthor had previously utilized these data and correlated the type of handgun traced with the cities in the study. The characteristics of the handguns confiscated in each of the cities were then correlated with several indices of violent crime. These results are interesting. The other chapter, “Who Should Carry a Gun?,” reviews the process the city of Philadelphia utilized to determine whether individuals applying for court investigators were suitable to carry a gun. (This chapter was written by Lester and a
571
572
BOOK
coauthor.) Section Three, “The Police Involvement with Guns,” reviews the literature on police use of deadly force and firearms use in the murder of police officers. The fourth section, “The Effects of Gun Control Laws,” reviews the literature on whether strict handgun control laws have had an impact on homicide and suicide rates. The bulk of the research reviewed was conducted by the author and a coauthor, and their findings are illustrated in one chapter in this section, “The Influence of Handgun Control Laws on Personal Violence.” With this one exception, the question of the effectiveness of the laws is not addressed and therefore is unanswered. The final section, “Issues and Answers,” as the author states, “ . . .will survey some of the proposals that have been made for restricting the role of guns as agents of death and the arguments for and against these proposals.” The section does just that. We are treated to a review of the various policy suggestions from registration to competency tests to banning private sales to mandatory sentencing for gun crimes. There is no systematic evaluation of these proposals, the pros and cons of implementing these particular policy options, or of their anticipated effectiveness. There is some review of the articles that have evaluated several mandatory sentencing statutes, but Lester fails to mention the debate over the question of at what point in time one evaluates an intervention. The time dimension is critical because we need to know whether the changes in crime rates, gun related robberies, and so forth are real, or simply a function of the publicity surrounding the introduction of the law or other similar factors. Additionally, in this chapter, the author lists the five major reasons, supposedly, for opposing controls of guns. However, these reasons were drawn from a 1969 article, and it is possible that some or all of the reasons are no longer valid or that there are other reasons for opposition to gun regulation not included in the five. Lester’s book, therefore, misses the mark in several ways. First, for those scholars
KE\‘IE\\‘S
familiar with the literature and debate on the issue of gun regulation/gun control, there is nothing to be gained from this particular endeavor. In fact, as a literature review the book is incomplete. Several major studies and evaluations have been omitted. Second, Lester attempts to cover too much ground and, as a result, does not cover any area well, except possibly for the area of firearms suicide. which apparently is the author’s primary research interest. And finally, Lester attempts to draw causal inferences from little or no systematic analysis or original empirical information. Consequently, we have nothing but supposition and assumption about the effectiveness of gun control laws and their impacts on the various areas covered in the book.
Paula D. McClain School of Public Affairs Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona 85297
Introduction to Juvenile Delinquency: Youth and the Law by James T. Carey and Patrick D. McAnany. Prentice-Hall, Inc. (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 07632), 1984, 405 pp., $26.95 True to their stated intentions, the authors make a valiant attempt to outline the differences between law and the social sciences when applied to juvenile justice, to examine not only’case law related to juvenile offenders but to expand to include organizational forces shaping the way in which juvenile law is applied in various components of the juvenile justice system, especially the juvenile court. They attempt to do all this while still ensuring full coverage to delinquency causation, corrections, and prevention. That they fall short certainly does not appear to result from lack of effort. Indeed, one would expect subsequent editions to provide much more sub-