Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America

by Kleck,Gary

• ISBN13: 9780202307626
• ISBN10: 020230762X
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2005-03-31
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

There is little doubt that gun violence and control are issues of vital importance, and they continue to inspire national debate. It is doubtful, however, whether most gun debates are worth listening to. Not surprisingly, such debates generally leave their participants exactly where they began, with their biases intact, and onlookers perplexed. Written deliberately to counter an atmosphere of hysteria and extremism, Point Blank, now in paperback, offers logical argument supported by empirical information. It confronts fundamental questions head-on.

Author Biography

Gary Kleck is professor of criminology and criminal justice at Florida State University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Preface	xiii
PART I. ISSUES OF GUN CONTROL AND GUN OWNERSHIP
1. Ideology, Politics, and Propaganda	3	(14)
Ideological Ironies and Crosscurrents	3	(4)
The Appearance of Reason-Fallacies in Gun Control Reasoning	7	(1)
Fallacies in Anticontrol Argumentation	7	(6)
Fallacies in Procontrol Argumentation	13	(2)
Common Problems of Persuasion	15	(2)
2. Ownership and Uses of Guns	17	(48)
Size of the Civilian Gun Stock	17	(4)
Who Owns Guns?	21	(4)
Why People Own Guns	25	(16)
Uses of Guns	41	(4)
How Are Guns Acquired?	45	(2)
Conclusions	47	(18)
3. Searching for "Bad" Guns: The Focus on Special Gun Types	65	(36)
Introduction	65	(2)
Machine Guns	67	(3)
Assault Rifles and Assault Weapons	70	(12)
Plastic Guns	82	(1)
"Cop-Killer" Bullets	82	(1)
"Saturday Night Specials"-Small, Cheap Handguns	83	(8)
Handguns	91	(3)
Conclusions	94	(7)
PART II. EFFECTS OF GUNS ON VIOLENCE
4. Guns and Self-Defense	101	(52)
The Nature of Defensive Gun Use	103	(1)
The Frequency of Defensive Gun Use: Survey Data	104	(4)
Problems with the Surveys	108	(3)
Shooting in Self-Defense	111	(6)
Carrying Guns for Protection	117	(2)
Psychological Effects of Keeping Guns for Protection	119	(1)
Effectiveness and Risks of Armed Resistance to Criminals	120	(6)
Rape and Resistance	126	(1)
The Police Chief's Fallacy	126	(1)
An Exercise in Ingenious Speciousness	127	(1)
Crimes Involving Defensive Gun Use	128	(2)
Deterrence	130	(8)
Guns and the Displacement of Burglars from Occupied Homes	138	(3)
Conclusions	141	(2)
Implications for Crime Control Policy	143	(10)
5. Guns and Violent Crime	153	(70)
Guns and Power	154	(1)
Issues of Assault Outcomes	155	(1)
Attack	156	(6)
Injury	162	(1)
Death	163	(7)
Guns in Robbery and Rape	170	(3)
Individual-Level Analysis	173	(2)
Problems in Analyzing Violent Incidents	175	(1)
Methods of the Present Analysis	176	(9)
Aggregate-Level Analysis of Gun Ownership and Violence Rates	185	(3)
International Comparisons	188	(3)
A City-Level Study of Gun Levels and Violent Crime Rates	191	(10)
An English Test of the Link Between Guns and Crime Rates	201	(1)
Conclusions	202	(21)
6. Guns and Suicide	223	(46)
Why Do Suicides Use Guns?	223	(4)
The Control Hypothesis	227	(3)
The Modeling Hypothesis	230	(1)
Who is Most Likely to Use Guns in Suicide?	231	(2)
Region and Suicide Method Preference	233	(2)
Ownership and Acquisition of Suicide Guns	235	(1)
Types of Guns Used in Suicides	236	(2)
What Suicides Might be Prevented by Reduced Gun Availability?	238	(8)
Prior Studies of Method Availability and Suicide Rates	246	(2)
The Impact of Gun Ownership Levels on Suicide Rates	248	(3)
The Impact of Gun Control Laws on Suicide	251	(4)
City-Level Analysis of the Impact of Guns on Suicide Rates	255	(14)
7. Firearms Accidents	269	(54)
The Frequency of Gun Accidents	270	(4)
Trends in Gun Accidents	274	(2)
Children and Gun Accidents	276	(4)
Gun Types Involved	280	(2)
The Victims and Shooters in Gun Accidents	282	(4)
Alcohol Involvement	286	(1)
Circumstances and Activities Associated with Gun Accidents	287	(4)
Defective Firearms	291	(2)
The Nature of Accidents and Those Who Cause Them	293	(1)
Personality Traits of the Accident-Involved	294	(2)
Reducing Gun Accidents	296	(7)
City-Level Analysis of Fatal Gun Accident Rates	303	(1)
Summary and Conclusions	304	(19)
PART III. REGULATING GUNS
8. Types of Gun Regulation	323	(36)
Gun-Related Activity Regulated	323	(4)
Gun Types Controlled	327	(1)
Who Is Controlled?	328	(3)
Level of Restrictiveness	331	(1)
Level of Government	332	(1)
Some Detailed Comments on Specific Control Measures	333	(9)
Mandatory Penalties for Unlawful Carrying	342	(2)
Prohibition and Other Broadly Targeted Measures	344	(3)
Enforcement of Current Gun Laws	347	(6)
Administration of Licensing Laws-Two Contrasting Cases	353	(6)
9. Public Opinion and the Bases of Support for Gun Control	359	(26)
Some Caveats About Interpreting Public Opinion Polls	359	(7)
Trends in Public Opinion on Gun Control, 1959-1990	366	(2)
What Kinds of Gun Control Do Americans Favor?	368	(2)
The Nonutilitarian Nature of Much Gun Control Support	370	(2)
Who Supports Gun Control?	372	(13)
10. The Impact of Gun Control on Violence Rates	385	(44)
Methods of Prior Research	386	(4)
Results of Prior Research	390	(3)
Cross-National Comparisons	393	(1)
A City-Level Study of Gun Control Impact	394	(14)
The Toughest Gun Law in America: A Case Study	408	(3)
Gun Decontrol: A Case Study	411	(3)
Untried Gun Control Strategies	414	(15)
PART IV. POLICY LESSONS
11. Conclusions	429	(18)
The Shape of Effective Gun Controls	431	(1)
A Workable Gun Control Strategy	432	(15)
Notes	447	(4)
Appendix 1. Production-Based Estimates of the Gun Stock (Chapter 2)	451	(4)
Appendix 2. Survey-Based Estimates of the Gun Stock (Chapter 2)	455	(6)
Appendix 3. Substitution of Long Guns for Handguns	461	(6)
Appendix 4. Alternate Estimates of the Number of Defensive Uses of Guns (Chapter 4)	467	(2)
Appendix 5. Legal Classification and Counting of Defensive Homicides (Chapter 4)	469	(4)
Appendix 6. Technical Problems in Using National Crime Survey Incident Files Data (Chapter 5)	473	(4)
References	477	(29)
Index	506