Recommended Reading
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Why Government Doesn't Work
by Harry Browne
Hardcover - 245 pages (December 1, 1995)
Liam Works; ISBN: 0965603601
This book offers breath-taking insight into the ills of our society and their solution. The theme is not only that Government doesn’t work, but that Government itself is the problem! America's Founding Fathers originally established a government composed of an association of free republics called ‘‘states’’. The sole purpose of the Federal Government was to provide the ‘‘glue’’ to hold these free republics together and to settle disputes among them. Here are some excerpts from Chapter 8:
The essence of America was an abundance of something rarely found in other countries: freedom from government.Shortly after the founding of the United States of America, the total tax burden on individuals for local, state, and federal government combined was about 3%, and if you didn’t like the laws in one state you could move to another state. Today the total tax burden including all the hidden government taxes, fees and the cost of implementing government regulations is about 57%. The states are subservient to the Federal Government and it rules over the entire nation with an iron fist. Bills introduced with the best of intentions to ‘‘make the world a better place’’ always backfire because they are administered from afar, and are perverted by greedy politicians eager to satisfy their financial supporters. Anyone who dares defy the tyrannical maze of laws that paralyze this nation is sent to prison. Until we wake up and realize that We the people are not the problem and decisively move to strip the excerise of unrestrained authoritarian power from our political masters in Washington, this country will continue its slide towards enslavement until it is eventually too late to change things peaceably.... America’s Founding Fathers established something unprecedented - the first government strictly limited by a written constitution to a short list of activities. The federal government was authorized to do only what was specified in the Constitution. Anything else was to be done by state and local governments, by the people themselves acting outside the government, or not at all.
The Constitution didn’t limit what citizens could do. Its only purpose was to spell out - enumerate - what was permissible for the federal government to do. And anything not authorized was forbidden to the federal government.
... In other words, the United States government could only do what was specified in the Constitution. All the rest of life’s activities - charity, education, regulation of business, crime control, and so on - were to be handled by state governments or by the people on their own.
Thus began a momentous experiment to tame the monster that had enslaved so many people all over the world over all the centuries. And it was very clear to the fathers of the Constitution that government is a monster. As George Washington said: ‘‘Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force. Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.’’
The founders felt that some government was necessary, since no one knew a better way to provide for the common defense and to insure domestic tranquillity. But they knew how dangerous it was to give such an agency the power to tax, to forbid, and to compel obedience.
The Constitution was the most successful attempt ever made to keep the dangerous servant from becoming the fearful master. And it made possible the freest, most prosperous country in all history.
People everywhere envied Americans for the liberty they enjoyed. And they flocked to this country from the four corners of the earth.
America rightly became known as the Land of the Free.
Please read this book. Your future and the future of our nation depends on it.
Great Government Goofs : Over 350 Loopy Laws, Hilarious Screw-Ups and Acts-Idents of Congress
by Leland H. Gregory, III
Paperback - 224 pages (November 1997)
Dell Books (Paperbacks); ISBN: 0440507863 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.71 x 7.46 x 6.16
This book should have been called Great Government Obscenities!. Although there are humorous anecdotes in this book, my reaction to most of it wasn't laughter. Most of the incidents in this book are surreal, as if it were written as a fictional caricature of our political system by a comedy writer for a television sitcom. Unfortunately, it is not fiction, and for that reason it isn't funny — but it is well worth reading. It's a very inexpensive book (under $8 the last time I checked) so I suggest you buy an extra copy to give to friends who agree with the government when it claims to know how to spend your money better than you do. Even for someone as cynical as myself, it's hard to believe that our elected officials are such idiots, criminals, and liars as the facts in this little book prove them to be. Here are a few samples from the book (I've summarized some of them):
According to Vice President Al Gore's book Common Sense Government (1995), the Defense Department spends more on procedures for travel reimbursement ($2.2 billion) than on travel ($2 billion)Texas State Representative Jim Kaster introduced a bill into the state legislature that would require anyone who plans on committing a crime to give their would-be victim at least twenty-four hours notice. This notice could be given orally (over the phone or in person), or in writing and must also inform the intended victim that it's okay to use deadly force as a defense—but only in certain crimes.
Congress allocated $19 million to examine the amount of methane gas emitted from cow flatulence.
Laredo, Texas, oilman Tony Sanchez, Jr., a former Texas Parks and Wildlife commissioner, claimed his right to operate oil wells on state park land by stating, ‘‘There would be no greater joy than to see a beautiful park that our children and adults can go to a learn about the oil and gas industry.’’
‘‘I think the free-enterprise system is absolutely too important to be left to the voluntary action of the marketplace.’’
— A quote from U.S. Representative Richard Kelly (D-Florida), who was later convicted for taking bribes in the 1970's Abscan scandalThe U.S. Government has 32 billion cubic feet of helium stored under twenty square miles of Texas Panhandle. Why? In case of blimp warfare. The National Helium Reserves was established by Congress in 1929 when blimps were thought to be the next phase in modern warfare. ...In 1993 the budget for this project was set at $22 million, but the debt from buying and storing the helium now exceeds $1 billion, with annual interest payments of around $130 million. The Government forces NASA and the DOE to buy their helium from these government reserves, but can't sell the stored helium to private industry because the government insists on charging more for it than commercial suppliers charge for helium.
The Illinois Department of Conservation spent $180,000 to study the contents of owl vomit.
A lot of Americans can't understand why some welfare recipients don't get off the public dole and get a job. The answer is simple—jobs don't pay as well. The Cato Institute recently calculated the total value of all welfare type benefits—from Medicaid, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, and Food Stamps, for recipients in all fifty states. It then took those tax-free incomes and compared them to the amount of money an equally paid worker would have left after taxes. Here are the results:
Welfare recipients in Alaska, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island are given the equivalent of a twelve-dollar-per-hour job. Seventeen states provide welfare benefits worth at least ten dollars per hour (almost twice the federal minimum wage). Forty-seven out of fifty states pay welfare benefits greater than the starting salary of a janitor. Twenty-nine states give out more than the average starting salary for a secretary, and nine, believe it or not, hand out taxpayer money that exceeds the typical first-year starting salary of a teacher. In Hawaii, in order to match the purchasing power of welfare benefits, a working mother with two children would have to earn $36,400. We're thinking of changing Uncle Sam's name to Daddy Warbucks.In March 1994 the Massachusetts Division of Medical Assistance announced it had spent nearly $50,000 on fertility drugs for 260 people. There's nothing really so bad about that until you learn that 80 of the recipients were welfare mothers, two of whom already had eight children each.
$1 million to discover why people don't walk or ride bikes more often ‘‘as a means of transportation,’’ sponsored by Representative Martin Olav Sabo (D-Minnesota).
Of course we need to care for the men and women of the police force who walk the thin blue line. Too bad we couldn't have drawn a line through the amendment tacked on to a pension bill by Republican Assemblyman Roger P. McAuliffe of Chicago. The addition allows former police officers working as state representatives to continue collecting police pensions while, at the same time, earning pensions from the Assembly. Just for the record, the only person in the state who would benefit is—former police officer turned Republican assemblyman Roger P. McAuliffe. The Chicago Sun-Times dubbed the bill ‘‘The Roger R McAuliffe Pension Beneficiary Amendment’’; it was signed into law by Governor Edgar in July 1995. Roll over, Thomas Jefferson.
‘‘Those who survived the San Francisco earthquake said,‘Thank God, I'm still alive.’ But, of course, those who died, their lives will never be the same again’’
— A quote from Representative Barbara Boxer (D-California)The Pentagon spends $119 million a year for newspapers and periodicals.
$57,000 spent by the Executive Branch for gold-embossed playing cards to be used aboard Air Force Two.
The trap was set. The Wildlife Division of Ohio had been hot on the heels of a notorious dealer. Fourteen agents and two under cover agents had spent three harrowing weeks on the job. Surveillance was around the clock. Photographs were taken from the safety of surrounding bushes. Brave agents even made purchases to make sure they had the right man. Over $25,000 in wages was spent on one suspected criminal. Who was this danger to the citizens of Ohio? He was an eight-year-old boy who had been selling worms from a makeshift stand in front of his parents' house. Surveillance proved that, other than the occasional buy from under cover operatives, the boy sold worms to only four passing fishermen. The case was dismissed and the boy and the worms were let off the hook.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs included in their 1992 inventory list: $297 million for three chain saws ($99 million each), one television set at $96 million, and two typewriters—one at $77 million and a cheaper model at $42 million.
The United States Supreme Court once ruled the federal income tax unconstitutional—until the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on February 3, 1913.
$161,913 spent by the National Institutes of Health to study ‘‘Israeli Reactions to SCUD Attacks During the Gulf War.’’ (Result: It bothered them.)
Congress approved $1 million to be spent in Trenton, New Jersey, to preserve a sewer as a historic monument. The brick-lined sewer is twenty-five feet underground and has been visited by only two people in the past twenty-three years.
‘‘Weather's like rape—long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it.’’
—This sensitive comment was made by Clayton Williams, Republican gubernatorial candidate of Texas. How would you like this guy making the laws in your state?$84,000 approved by Congress for a project to discover why people fall in love.
Twenty-one congressmen, their spouses, staff, and guests—more than a hundred people—went to the Paris Air Show courtesy of the taxpayer: Cost? Over $200,000
The Small Business Administration (SBA) is designed to help mon-and-pop businesses get on their feet by supplying loans, legal help, and information. In December 1994 the SBA's federal office in Birmingham, Alabama, announced that the newest entrepreneur to receive help was ‘‘Sammy's,’’ a topless go-go bar located next to Westlawn Elementary School in Mobile. ‘‘[We] could not discriminate against them [just] because they are a go-go club,’’ said the SBA director. The SBA can now get its honorary tassel.
David Bath, former Colorado state representative, was convicted on charges arising out of a 1991 orgy. A videotape was made of the ‘‘political party’’ which involved a seventeen-year-old boy. Bath, who was instrumental in pushing through legislation severly penalizing the exploitation of minors, was convicted under his own law.
Many resolutions pass through the Texas State House, and Representative Tom Moore, Jr., was concerned at how little attention legislators paid to the bills on which they voted. So, in 1971, as a joke, he introduced a bill honoring Albert DeSalvo for his pioneering work in population control. De Salvo, the notorious Boston Strangler, confessed to killing thirteen women in the Boston area. Moore's bill commended the Boston Strangler for serving ‘‘his country, his state, and his community.... This compassionate gentleman's dedication and devotion to his work has enabled the weak and lonely throughout the nation to achieve and maintain a new degree of concern for their future .... He has been officially recognized by the state of Massachusetts for his noted activities and unconventional techniques involving population control and applied psychology.’’ The resolution passed unanimously.
The Pentagon admitted spending nearly $11 million employing psychics to provide military information.
Pull out any paper money that was printed while George Bush was in office (1988-1992) and you’ll see the name Catalina Vasquez Villalpando. She served as treasurer of the United States and will now serve as the latest Treasure in the Big House for trying to ‘‘buck’’ the system. Villalpando was found guilty and sentenced to four months in prison for obstructing justice and conspiring to hide outside income. Maybe she was just collecting her own autograph.
The El Paso, Texas, City Council approved $112,000 to retain a private security firm—to guard the city's police station.
$11.5 million appropriated by the House to modernize a power plant at the Philadelphia naval yard—which is scheduled to be closed.
The U.S. military operates 234 golf courses.
The Greedy Hand: How Taxes Drive Americans Crazy and What to Do About It
by Amity Shlaes
Hardcover - 255 pages (March 1999)
Random House; ISBN: 0375501320 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.96 x 8.61 x 5.89
This is a wonderful book by a lady who detests taxes almost as much as I do. Her primary point is that the government uses taxes not as a revenue raising measure to support the government itself, but instead uses taxation as a means of social engineering. She points out the hidden taxes that we all pay, usually without our knowledge. For example, the government tells us that our share of the social security payroll tax is 7.65%. What they don't mention is that our employers have to pay an additional 7.65% of our salary into social security from their own budgets. If our employers didn't have to pay that extra 7.65%, we would be getting 7.65% more in our paychecks — so the actual rate we're paying in both direct and indirect social security taxes is 15.3%. On top of that, those same wages that are taxed at the 15.3% social security (FICA) tax rate are taxed again by the IRS as income taxes, even though 15.3% of it wasn't income at all because it went to pay social security. This ‘‘double taxation’’ is one of the things that led to America's rebellion against King George of England. There are also all sorts of other hidden taxes, like the "universal service charge" you see on your telephone bills, and the gasoline tax that isn't shown on your receipt when you buy gasoline (according to the American Petroleum Institute, the average American motorist pays about 43 cents per gallon in federal, state and local gasoline taxes), and many more hidden taxes too numerous to mention here. Ms. Shlaes asserts that if you count up all the hidden taxes, you'll find that the actual rate we pay is at least 40%. In fact, I suspect that the tax rate we pay right now is much greater than the tax rates that led to our War of Independence against Great-Britain. I would be most appreciative if there are any historian's out there who can confirm or refute this.
Here are a few of the hidden taxes that the middle class and even the poor must pay:
Social Security Taxes, Federal and State Income Taxes, Federal and State interest taxes, Real Estate Property Taxes, Medicare Taxes, Federal and State Gasoline Taxes, California Sales Tax, Auto Taxes, Registration and Fees, Federal Unemployment Taxes, Federal and State Dividend Taxes, Property Improvement Taxes, Capital Gains Taxes, Taxes on Alimony, Inheritance Taxes, Disability Insurance Taxes, Self-employment taxes, Taxes on Tips, Gift taxes, Alternative Minimum Taxes, Federal Excise Taxes, IRA taxes, Recapture Taxes, Firearms Taxes, Fuel Taxes, Tobacco Taxes, Alcohol Taxes, Federal Subsrciber Line Charges, Portability Surchages, Automatic Savings Charges, Taxes on the sale of your home, Taxes on pensions, Taxes on Unemployment Compensation, Taxes on Social Security Benefits, Customs Taxes, City Utilities Users Tax, State Regulatory Utility Taxes, CA P. U. C. Taxes, Cable Utility Taxes, Cable Renewal Taxes, Cable Franchise Fee Taxes, Federal Communications Commission Taxes, P. E. G. Access Taxes, California High Cost Fund Surcharge, California Teleconnect Fund Surcharge, Universal Lifeline Telephone Surcharge, State Telephone Regulatory Fees, Relay Service and Communications Taxes, Equal Access Recovery Taxes, Federal Telephone Taxes, 911 Taxes, Local Telephone Taxes, Federal Universal Service fees, CA Business Minimum Taxes, Linkage Fees, Small Business Registration Fees, Sales Tax Registration Fees, Universal Connectivity Taxes
The Greedy Hand takes us from birth to death illustrating how government taxation affects every aspect of our lives, including not only our birth and death itself but our work, our marriage, our retirement, the choices we make about where we work and live, how many children we have, where to send them to school, and even the clothes we wear on our backs! The thing that is most abhorrent to me however, is that the government takes our money and then redistributes it to ensure our subservience. Since as Ms. Shlaes points out, federal taxes make up one-fifth of the economy, the government has a powerful weapon with which to induce states, corporations, and even individuals to obey.
The title of the book is taken from this quote by Thomas Paine:
If, from the more wretched parts of the old world, we look at those which are in an advanced stage of improvement, we still find the greedy hand of government thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry, and grasping the spoil of the multitude. Invention is continually exercised, to furnish new pretenses for revenues and taxation. It watches prosperity as its prey and permits none to escape without tribute.— Thomas Paine,
Rights of Man, Introduction to Part the Second
Money Mischief : Episodes in Monetary History
by Milton Friedman
Paperback - 286 pages Reprint edition (March 1994)
Harvest Books; ISBN: 015661930X ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.79 x 8.00 x 5.34
Milton Friedman is one of my heroes, so I won't attempt an unbiased review, instead let me just point you to my Dear Diary tale about Money. Professor Friedman is a Nobel Prize laureate in economics who believes in minimal government intervention into private affairs. He is also a member of the Cato Institute. During an interview on the television program Wall Street Week, he told the host of the show that the Federal Reserve Board should be abolished. When asked what, if anything, it should be replaced by he answered ‘‘With a computer that creates a two percent inflation rate distributed uniformly throughout the year.’’ To understand why he thinks the inflation rate should be 2% rather than zero, you'll just have to read his book. By the way, I'm not sure that's the exact quote, but it's close.
The Best Defense: True Stories of Intended Victims Who Defended Themselves With a Firearm
by Robert A. Waters
Paperback - 225 pages (October 1998)
Cumberland House; ISBN: 1888952970 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.59 x 8.92 x 5.95
This is a collection of a few of the 2.5 million cases each year that the media never publicize in which with the aid of a firearm, citizens defend themselves and others from violence and crime. Why doesn't the media publicize these stories? Because these crimes were prevented - consequently, there is usually no blood shed. The credo of the media is ‘‘If it bleeds, it leads!’’ (as in being the lead story). Mr. Waters has researched the details of these true stories and presents them with a gripping sense of reality and urgency that fictional stories seldom approach. These are the kinds of events that we all pretend will never happen to us, but statistics say otherwise. I highly recommend this book. You won't want to put it down. Here is a short example:
From the December 12, 1995, Mountain Press, Prather, California: A woman ran into a local church for protection from an attacker. The pastor hid her in a back room, then came out and tried to reason with the assailant. The man didn’t want to listen, however, and opened fire. Shot in the hand, the pastor ran to his office and slammed the door shut. The gunman broke through the door, at which time the pastor shot him between the eyes, killing him instantly.You'll never see a pastor with a concealed handgun in his office on TV, much less see him shoot anyone with it. That's one of the many stereotypes the media forces upon us, presumably for fear of offending someone. Real life is different. As this book points out, the Bible says:
| When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. | If the chief is found breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt in his bloodshed. | |||
| — Luke 11:21 (NKJV) | — Exodus 22:2 (NKJV) |
Dial 911 and Die
by Richard W. Stevens — Attorney at Law
Paperback - 278 pages © 1999
Mazel Freedom Press, Inc. ISBN: 0-9642304-4-5 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.62 x 7 x 4.25
(Note: Not available from Amazon.com. Can be purchased directly from Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership)
This book is just the opposite of the previous one. Instead of giving examples of how citizens defend themselves and others from violence and crime with a firearm, this book details cases in which citizens relied upon the police to protect them from crime. It's also the opposite of the previous book in another respect — these stories do not have a happy ending. They are horrible, gut-wrenching stories of crime victims who tragically depended upon police to help. The truth is, police have no duty whatsoever to protect individuals from crime. The police perform a governmental "discretionary function" and because of that cannot be sued for negligence, incompetence, or even willfully neglecting to respond to plea's for help, which occurs more often than you might think. Even in the best of circumstances, the police almost never arrive in time to prevent a crime. They typically investigate only after a crime has taken place. Dial 911 and Die details what the police duties and responsibilites (or lack of them) are for nearly every American state and territory. After reading this book, no rational person who faces a risk of criminal attack on himself or his loved ones would ever voluntarily allow himself to be disarmed. For more information on the book, please visit the JPFO website.
More Guns, Less Crime : Understanding Crime and Gun-Control Laws (Studies in Law and Economics)
by John R. Lott, Jr.
Hardcover - 225 pages (May 1998)
Univ of Chicago Pr (Trd); ISBN: 0226493636 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.89 x 9.29 x 6.35
This is a great book devoted to analysis of very comprehensive data that confirms one fundamental fact that almost all politicians totally ignore: Whenever more law abiding honest citizens are allowed to carry concealed guns in public, crime goes down. This has occurred in every state that has eased restrictions against the carrying of concealed handguns. Legal scholar John Lott provides lots of easy to read graphs, and for a book dealing in statistical analysis, is very entertaining to read. Here is an excerpt from an Amazon.com review by Ted Frank that you'll see if you go to their web page.
Multiple regression analyses are rarely the subject of heated public debate or 225-page books for laypeople. But John R. Lott, Jr.'s study in the January 1997 Journal of Legal Studies showing that concealed-carry weapons permits reduced the crime rate set off a firestorm. The updated study, together with illustrative anecdotes and a short description of the political and academic response to the study, as well as responses to the responses, makes up Lott's informative More Guns, Less Crime.In retrospect, it perhaps should not have been surprising that increasing the number of civilians with guns would reduce crime rates. The possibility of armed victims reduces the expected benefits and increases the expected costs of criminal activity. And, at the margin at least, people respond to changes in costs, even for crime, as Nobel-Prize winning economist Gary Becker showed long ago. Allusions to the preferences of criminals for unarmed victims have seeped into popular culture; Ringo, a British thug in Pulp Fiction, noted off-handedly why he avoided certain targets: "Bars, liquor stores, gas stations, you get your head blown off stickin' up one of them."
But Lott's actual quantification of this, in the largest and most comprehensive study of the effects of the anti-self-defense movement to date, a study well-detailed in the book, provoked a number of attacks, ranging from the amateurish to the subtly misleading, desperate to discredit him. Lott takes the time to refute each argument; it's almost touching the way he footnotes each time he telephones an attacker who eventually hangs up on him without substantiating any of their claims.
Stopping Power : Why 70 Million Americans Own Guns
by J. Neil Schulman, Gary Kleck (Afterword)
Paperback - 318 pages (December 1994)
PULPLESS.Com, Inc.; ISBN: 1584450576 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.82 x 9.04 x 6.05
If you only read one book on guns, this is the one I would recommend. It's more comprehensive and entertaining than any other I've read that concerns guns and crime. Also, in this case I defer to the webmaster of Pulpless.com in reviewing this book. I can't think of any way to improve upon his review. Incidentally, J. Neil Schulman has a web page at: http://www.pulpless.com/jneil/
Note: Normally I buy a hardcover rather than a paperback whenever I can because the print is usually larger, it stays open better, and it's just generally easier to read; but in this case I recommend the paperback version because the hardcover hasn't been reissued since the text was revised.
The publisher, Pulpless.Com webmaster (webmaster@pulpless.com) writes June 4, 1999:
Please note: the original 1994 hardcover of Stopping Power Does not include the new section "More Stopping Power" or the Afterword by Gary Kleck, PhD. The new "More Stopping Power" chapters which are available only in the paperback are:
In this collection of forceful, dramatic, and often funny polemics (including four Los Angeles Times articles), award- winning novelist, screenwriter, and journalist, J. Neil Schulman, challenges the distortions and misinformation that pundits ranging from network anchors to ill-informed doctors are promoting about guns.
Schulman marshals a wide range of moral, historical, and criminological arguments making the case not only that privately held firearms are the political empowerment of sovereign citizens in a democracy, but that high crime is the direct result of civilians abdicating their personal responsibility in defending themselves, their families, and their neighbors against criminals, instead hiring gunslingers called police to risk their lives defending them.
He interviews the premier criminologist of firearms issues; compares the positive and negative effects of firearms in contemporary society; and discusses related issues such as violence on television, media distortion, criminal justice and capital punishment, and violence among teenagers.
Especially for the reader who doesn't own a gun and has never even considered buying one, Stopping Power should be an eye-opener.
Unintended Consequences
by John Ross, Timothy Mullin
Hardcover - 863 pages (January 1996)
Accurate Pr; ISBN: 1888118040 ; Dimensions (in inches): 2.36 x 9.34 x 6.35
This is an exciting fictional action/adventure story about the life of Henry Bowman, from his first exposure to firearms at a young age to his adult experiences with guns and peoples attitudes towards them, particularly the government's attitude. The cover by the way, although it's not clear from the small reproduction here, portrays the Lady-of-Justice being assaulted by a jack-booted thug, presumably from the Bureau of ATF. You can't see it in the picture, but she's wearing a blindfold and her scales of justice have been knocked to the ground.
When I first picked up this book I couldn't put it down. I read until midnight, even though I had to go to work the next day, and couldn't wait to get home that evening so I could continue. Author John Ross poignantly describes Henry's childhood experiences from his first .22 rifle at age eight, and his first heavy rifle (a vintage WWII 8mm German Mauser) a couple of years later, to his first Solothurn 20mm anti-tank cannon at the tender age of fourteen. The story gets really exciting after Henry gets a Federal Firearms License and becomes a gun dealer. The Fed's start passing more and more gun restrictions (much as they're trying to do right now as a matter of fact), but in the story Henry and others who value liberty and freedom fight back! And I don't mean that euphemistically. I don't want to give away any details and spoil it for others, so that's all I'll say. In fact I wish I hadn't read it already so I could read it again for the first time.
If you're fed up with power hungry ignorant politicians and an apathetic citizenry that's willing to let the government lie to them and lead them around on a leash, this book is for you! I must admit I was a little envious of the fictional Henry Bowman, because I didn't get my first mail order German Mauser until I was twelve or fourteen, and I never did get a Solothurn Cannon, although I do remember seeing them advertised in some of the magazines at the time. Although this book is fiction, it contains a lot of factual material and is worth reading just for that alone. The nice thing is that the material is woven into the story line so that some of the more obscure and outright weird gun regulations take on a significance that might otherwise go unnoticed or ignored. There is far too much material in this book for me to try to describe here. The book is huge. It has 863 pages and weights 3½ pounds, but when you get to the last page you'll wish for more.
The only group that doesn't seem to care for the book is the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF). With their customary disregard for the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, they have been carrying out a covert campaign to prevent the sales of Mr. Ross’ book. Please see the letter from Mr. Ross’ attorney to the director of BATF.
Armed & Female
by Paxton Quigley
Paperback - 283 pages (© 1989)
St Martins Paperbacks; ISBN: 0312951507 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.80 x 6.78 x 4.17
This is a wonderful book that contains not only many good reasons why women, or anyone for that matter, should own a gun and know how to use it. It also contains lots of very useful information about how to choose and maintain a weapon.
Ms. Quigley was once an anti-rights activist — a member of the National Committee for Handgun Control — who helped pass the Handgun Control Act of 1968. But over the twenty years that passed, violent crime in America continued to escalate ... and Paxton Quigley changed her mind about gun ownership.
I think it's best to quote a couple of passages from the book and let you decide for yourself if you should read it. Here is a quote from the preface of the book:
Something inside of me said, We're losing. Or was it just going to take more time? The wheels of reform move cog over cog, after all, I told myself. But crime continued to escalate the next year, and the next, and the next. And during the twenty years that followed, crime reached proportions considered epidemic. At first, there were stories in the newspapers and on television of violent crime, but they were about people we didn't know. Soon, however, we began to hear of friends and acquaintances who were robbed, raped, or mugged. In some cases, we ourselves were the victims. We bolted doors, installed alarm systems, and expanded our police departments. Yet we grew more frightened, until some of us wouldn't even go out alone at night. Had we finally become a nation of victims?From Chapter 1:
It was only last year that I came to realize that our "gun control" laws did not work and the police could not realistically help in life-threatening situations.
It was like a light being switched on.
If you are over the age of twelve and female, be prepared to be criminally assaulted some time in your life. If you are about thirty years old now, there's a fifty-fifty chance of your being raped, robbed, or attacked.
The odds are reduced as you get older, and are different in various parts of our country. Chances of being raped at any age in New York are one in eight; Los Angeles, one in seven; Atlanta, one in five; Detroit, one in four. Across our nations, one out of every four families will be victims of serious crimes like burglary, rape, robbery, or murder. Our cities are citadels of crime. And there is no such thing anymore as safe rural America.
The statistics are more than frightening. Only four criminals go to prison for every hundred reported crimes. And the FBI estimates that 60 percent of all crimes are not even reported.
For every hundred prisoners with life sentences, twenty-five are freed before their third year; forty-two are out by their seventh year; and people acquitted of murder by reason of insanity spend an average of only five hundred days in mental hospitals before being released .
The nation's prison population increases at a breathtaking pace each year. There are now more than 550,000 behind bars [Note: this was in 1989 when the book was published]. Nearly six out of ten have been there before, and more than half have been there four or more times.
If you are concerned, fearful about your safety, you are not alone. A Gallup poll finds that six out of ten women in this country are afraid to walk at night in their own neighborhoods.
America is experiencing an epidemic of crime and criminal violence with no immediate or long-range cure in sight. Many people continue to ignore the far-reaching threat and deny their vulnerability, betting that violence will not reach them. For some, it is not truth but hope that matters most.
If crime happens, however, know beforehand that in almost every instance no one will be there to protect you but yourself. Police will not be there unless officers are accidentally nearby, and witnesses can be counted on not to interfere.
Ms. Quigley also presents some true stories of crime victims she interviewed as part of the research for her book. The most tragic are the stories of women who weren't able, or willing, to defend themselves from rape and robberies. In some cases, their victimization adversely effected the rest of their entire lives. There are also a few stories of women who did resist their attackers. One in particular concerned an elderly couple whose home was broken into by two armed robbers. After not finding anything of value, the robbers began to brutally beat the woman's husband to a pulp. Even though neither the husband nor wife had ever fired a gun in anger, the 65 year old lady managed to get to the couples 45 semi-automatic handgun and blow one of the robbers away — the other escaped but was later apprehended. One common theme in all the stories is that it is always better for a woman's physical and mental well being to resist, preferably with a firearm, than to submit.
The latter half of the book is mostly advice about how to choose, maintain, and use a handgun. Those chapters contain some very good information. Although intended primarily for beginners, almost everyone will find valuable information here.
In short, this is an excellent book for everyone. It's entertaining and informative even if you grew up with guns, and if you are new to handguns, I can't think of a better first book to read.
Targeting Guns : Firearms and Their Control
by Gary Kleck
Paperback - 450 pages (December 1997)
Aldine De Gruyter; ISBN: 0202305694 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.01 x 9.01 x 5.91
This is more of a reference book than anything else. It contains all the statistics on guns and crime you'll probably ever want to read. For that reason, it's interesting but not particularly entertaining. Nevertheless it's a good book to have on your bookshelf to settle disputes about guns, gun safety, and crime. For example, did you know that the risk of a fatal accident among small children is over one hundred times higher for swimming pools than for guns? Kleck doesn't appear to be pro-gun though. In fact he sometimes attacks pro-rights arguments as strongly as he does some of the anti-self-defense fallacies. One strong point about this book is Kleck's rigorous and honest approach to statistical analysis. He also points out flaws (some of them intentional) in many of the previous studies on guns. For example, he points out a ‘‘study’’ by Stephen Teret and Garen Wintemute that claimed ‘‘almost 1,000 children die each year from unintentional gunshot wounds’’. What Teret and Wintemute did not tell their readers is that their definition of ‘‘children’’ was anyone up to 24 years old and included street gang members who kill each other!
