Table of Contents
Author's Note xi
Part 1 The Truth about Guns
"It's Time for America to Have a Conversation about Guns." 2
"We Should Start Drafting a Bill to Ensure Newtown Never Happens Again." 2
"Guns Are Lethal." 3
"No One Wants to Take Your Guns Away." 4
"Well, Can't We at Least Clarify the Second Amendment?" 12
'That May Be, but Even Thomas Jefferson Wanted the Second Amendment to Expire." 13
'The United States Has the Highest Gun Murder Rate in the Developed World." 16
"Okay, but the Overall U.S. Murder Rate Is Much Higher than Other Wealthy Countries'". 18
"But Other Countries Have Strict Gun Control and Very Few Murders." 18
"The United States Is Unique in Suffering from Gun Massacres." 28
'Then Why Are Gun Massacres Now Happening More than Ever Here in the United States?" 31
"No Mass Killings Have Ever Been Stopped by Someone Else with a Gun." 36
"Regardless, if We Really Want to Stop Gun Massacres We Need to Bring Back the Assault Weapons Ban." 40
"You Are So Out of Touch. Even the Most Conservative Member of the Supreme Court Thinks We Should Ban Assault Weapons." 43
"No Civilian Needs a Military-Style Weapon." 46
"Yeah, but If You Modify One, It Becomes Fully Automatic." 49
"I Still Don't Understand Why Anyone Would Need a Semi-Automatic in Their Home." 50
"I've Heard that You Plan on Defeating the Entire United States Military with Your Assault Rifle." 53
"I'm Glad You Brought the Second Amendment Up Again. You Have to Admit that It's Pretty Outdated." 57
"Even if That's True, Everyone Agreed that the Second Amendment Was Only About Militias." 62
"Most Guns Kept in the Home Are Used for Something Other than Self-Defense." 67
"Keeping a Gun at Home Is Pointless Anyway." 70
"Okay, but that Doesn't Apply to Women. They're Still More Likely to Be Killed When There's a Gun in the Home." 72
"Forty Percent of All Guns Are Sold Without Background Checks." 75
"Gun Shows Are Where Criminals Get All Their Weapons." 79
"Even a Majority of National Rifle Association Members Support Universal Background Checks." 80
"The NRA Is the Poster Child for Bad Research." 83
"The 2004 Report Said We Need More Data and Research on Guns-and They're Right, We Need to Know More." 85
"More Guns Means More Crime. Any Data to the Contrary Is a lie or NRA Propaganda." 87
"The Reason Nothing Changes Is that the NRA Buys Off Politicians." 93
"The NRA Is So Crazy that They Actually Want to Arm Our Kids!" 97
"Columbine Proves that Putting Armed Guards in Schools Just Doesn't Work." 98
"College Students Are Too Irresponsible to Carry Guns." 100
"The Police Support More Gun Control Laws-You Should, Too." 103
"We Should Restrict Magazines to a Maximum of Ten Rounds." 104
"Don't Believe the Gun Nuts: Hitler Didn't Take Anyone's Firearms Away." 108
Part 2 Winning Hearts and Minds
Denying the Science 129
Stimulus/Response 134
The Truth about (No) Consequences 136
Trained to Kill 141
Scapegoating and Excuses 147
The Way Forward 153
Notes 163