December 6th: From the Montreal Massacre to Gun Control

By Heidi Rathjen

On December 6, 1989, Marc L?pine walked into the ?cole Polytechnique at the Universit? de Montral, ordered the men out, and then started shooting at the remaining women with a semi-automatic rifle. He... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0771061250
• ISBN13: 9780771061257
• Release Date: November 1999
• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.7" x 0.7" x 5.7"

Customer Reviews

The Canadian Attack

December 6 starts with an account of The Montreal Massacre, the murder of female engineering students in Canada. It contains little about the lives of the victims, but for anyone interested in the realities of passing new legislation, it is an excellent and highly readable account. It is also a collection of the best answers to assault weapon advocates and gives a succinct and clear response (both qualitative and quantitative) to gun lobby arguments like "Guns don't kill people. People kill people." This book will not please any gun enthusiast, but for lobbyists, it is a great guide to how to overcome far superior numbers and budgets in passing legislation. Americans may particularly benefit from having an international point of view. It is a quick read and full of political lessons. The book does not make the connection with Middle Eastern terrorism as this Islamic gunman is yelling the same prayer as Mohammed Atta going into the World Trade Center. What is this prayer that must be shouted at the end? The book does not explain the appeal of a mass murder and suicide to a religious zealot who does not consider himself to be a madman. While the legislation can be justified, it does not address the root causes of criminal justice reform as it relates to a specific case of child abuse. The victim must be treated to stop the cycle of future abuse. The book underscores how victimized bystanders feel and act when they are helpless to change history.