The increasing amount of violence in the United States in recent years has led to measures to control gun purchases and limit their availability. Against the arguments of gun-control lobbyists, who want to further decrease the number of weapons, or even ban guns altogether, are the voices of those who contend that gun bans are unrealistic solutions to crime, and serve only to deny a valid form of self-defense to law-abiding citizens.

Going beyond the emotional appeals and stilted rhetoric on gun control, Guns: Who Should Have Them? tackles the problems in a straightforward, intelligent manner. Each chapter in this powerful volume, written by leading experts in law, criminology, medicine, psychiatry, and feminist studies, addresses a major issue in the gun-control debate.

The conclusions of this carefully detailed and superbly argued study are difficult to deny: "gun control" is a red herring that has been deflecting attention from the true causes of crime, namely, the breakdown of the family; failed social welfare programs; and increasing hopelessness among male youths, especially in our troubled inner cities.