NCJ Number
118514
Editor(s)
O Trager
Date Published
1988
Length
42 pages
Annotation
This introductory overview and compendium of newspaper articles, columns, cartoons, and editorials published between 1984 and 1987 examine legislation and debates over gun control and the issue of vigilantism.
Abstract
Each publicized shooting incident results in renewed debate about gun control. The three current views are that people rather than guns kill, that handguns exist only to kill and should be tightly restricted, and that certain violent encounters are more likely to have lethal consequences if guns are readily available. Advocates of gun control argue that the first view is correct but misleading. The second view is widely considered to be wrong or at least unfeasible. The third view is beginning to be taken more seriously by policymakers, despite the strong lobbying power of the National Rifle Association. This view recognizes the right to own guns but not the right to use them criminally by shooting trespassers or other actions. Vigilantism has received increasing attention as a result of the Bernhard Goetz case and the racial attack in Howard Beach, New York.