Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (Northwestern)
Book Review, 75 (1984): 314
Posted for Educational use only. The printed edition remains canonical. For citational use please visit the local law library or obtain a back issue.

UNDER THE GUN: WEAPONS, CRIME AND VIOLENCE IN AMERICA. By
James D. Wright, Peter H. Rossi, and Kathleen Daly, v. New York: Al-dine Publishing Company, 1983. Pp. 342. $24.95.

Under the Gun1 is one of the most recent and significant contributions to the voluminous literature on gun violence and gun control. The authors' purpose was to take stock of the available fund of knowledge, and the book is essentially a review and analysis of relevant studies published up to early 1982. The initial impetus for this effort was provided by a 1978 grant from the National Institute of justice. The grantors should not be disappointed; this is an excellent work.

The authors note that many of the studies made in this area seem intended to persuade rather than inform, and they are equally critical of the claims put forth by both sides in the gun control controversy. Especially noteworthy are their criticisms of Newton and Zimring's oft-cited Firearms and Violence in American Life.2 Many of Newton and Zimring's conclusions do not hold up under the authors' close scrutiny.

There are few surprises in the chapters on the number of guns in civilian hands, public opinion on gun control, state and federal firearms laws, and the amount of violent crime. The most valuable and interesting sections are those that challenge many of the "common sense" assumptions about guns and violence. For instance, the authors conclude [Page 315] that there is no persuasive evidence that: (1) there would be fewer homicides if firearms were less generally available, (2) gun ownership is per se an important cause of violence, (3) higher rates of homicide in the southern United States and certain other nations are due to higher rates of gun ownership, (4) private ownership of firearms is an important deterrent to crime, and (5) all other things being equal (for example, assailant Intent), gun assaults are more lethal than attacks with other weapons. Further, these writers dismiss the popular "fear and loathing" hypothesis that attributes most of the increase in firearms sales to fear of crime, minorities, and civil disorder. They see the basis for most of this in tease in more benign trends, such as greater participation in hunting, target shooting, and collecting.

Given the current controversy over stricter handgun controls, more Extensive analysis limited solely to handguns would have been welcome. Nonetheless, this book still contains the most current, comprehensive, and insightful treatment of handgun ownership, use, and crime available. Two of the more interesting findings are that handguns are as likely to be owned for sport and recreation as for self-protection, and that it is not at all clear that "Saturday Night Specials" are overt presented among crime guns as compared to guns not used in crime.

In general, the bulk of the work indicates that most of the assumptions of both those who favor and those who oppose new firearms controls are supported by little or no consistent, reliable evidence, and that our gun control policies are being made in an information vacuum.

In the final chapter, the authors abandon their agnostic tone and share some of their conclusions regarding gun control policy. They found that the more they explored the implications of the case for gun control, "the less plausible it became," and that there is more than a little truth to the oft-criticized aphorism that "when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns." These social scientists see little hope for solving the problem of heat-of-passion homicide through firearms control laws, and suggest that we need to consider the broader and more fundamental problem of interpersonal hatred. They suggest that banning handguns could make things worse, rather than better. This is because of the possibility that assailants would substitute the more deadly, and almost as concealable, sawed-off shotgun. Overall, the authors conclude that the prospect of ameliorating criminal violence through stricter civilian gun controls is dim.

Under the Gun is an evenhanded, clearly and intelligently written work on a very controversial subject. Even the footnotes are interesting and sometimes thought-provoking. This book should become a standard reference work. It is readable enough for the general public yet sophisticated enough for the criminologist. For better or worse, it seems [Page 316] to provide more support for those who oppose, rather than those who favor stricter civilian gun laws.3 It is, nonetheless, an extremely important contribution to our understanding of a very complex subject.

RAYMOND G. KESSLER
CRIMINAL JUSTICE CONSULTANT
EL PASO, TEXAS

1. This book is a slightly modified version of J. WRIGHT, P. ROSSI & K. DALY, WEAPONS, CRIME AND VIOLENCE IN AMERICA (1981) (National Institute of Justice publication).

2. Newton and Zimring's work constituted a staff report to the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence.