First published 2020
Gun violence claims lives daily across America, with mass shootings occurring at a rate of one per day. Allan J. Lichtman confronts this crisis by proposing what many consider unthinkable: repealing the Second Amendment entirely. He traces firearms regulation from colonial America through today, revealing how a once obscure constitutional provision became a political weapon. Lichtman exposes the NRA's historical distortions and examines the gun lobby's successful strategies alongside the failures of gun control advocates. His research spans court rulings, lobbying tactics, and current violence statistics to build his case. The author presents a specific plan that would eliminate the Second Amendment while allowing current gun owners to keep their weapons. This approach, he argues, would clear the path for effective firearms regulation without confiscation. Lichtman offers readers both a detailed critique of existing gun policy and a concrete alternative vision for American gun laws.
Genres: political-science, non-fiction, 21st-century, current-affairs, activism, american-history
Vibes: thought-provoking
Tropes: social-change
336 pages · Kindle Edition · St. Martin’s Press
Content warnings: violence