Outgunned: Up Against the Nra

By Peter Harry Brown

Book Overview

Ours is a nation in the grip of a strange kind of mania. Why after President Reagan was shot was there virtually no handgun legislation? Why after the Columbine massacre in Littleton, Colorado, was nothing done to regulate the tools that children most frequently use to kill one another? Why was there no legislative response after a six-year-old in Flint, Michigan, shot a classmate with a .32 caliber "pocket rocket"? Tragedy follows tragedy, with twelve children shot dead every day in America, but guns remain less regulated than automobiles. Why? As authors Peter Harry Brown and Daniel G. Abel in this powerful book demonstrate, it is because of the terrible power of the gun coalition.
Outgunned begins with the story of Wendell Gauthier, the "master of disaster" attorney, who brought down the tobacco industry to the tune of billions and then turned his attention to guns. He struck fear into the hearts of the gun manufacturers as he set out to make gunmakers bear some liability for the killings caused by the often poorly made, inaccurate handguns they marketed to criminals. Coauthor Daniel G. Abel worked for Gauthier, along with other attorneys, as the gun-control campaign gathered momentum. This legal initiative seemed to be about to make history and change the face of violence in America, but sadly, Wendell Gauthier died of cancer before meaningful gun control could be established. More than thirty class-action suits against gun manufacturers now languish in courtroom paralysis while as many Saturday night specials as ever are being made. What happened? Brown and Abel demonstrate how the pro-gun forces once again curbed the will of a nation.
This book shows the enomous power of the NRA -- how it killed pending legislation in Congress, hijacked the Campaign Act to fund the George W. Bush presidential election victory, and eviscerated the American Shooting Sports Council. That association and the gun manufacturers actually wanted to compromise and agree to new handgun laws, implicitly accepting some liability, but the NRA leadership, with Charlton Heston as their president, crushed them. In Outgunned, Brown and Abel uncover how NRA lobbyists were instrumental in stopping Smith & Wesson in its tracks. They show how the tendrils of the NRA reach into the Christian Alliance and Republican Party, and how men like John McCain have fought back and been undermined. Outgunned reveals how the NRA began dealing with President George W. Bush when he was still governor of Texas -- prodding him into signing a shocking prohibition against the kind of suits Gauthier brought against the gun manufacturers.
Outgunned is the story of a legal crusade with up-close accounts of the people who fought every step of the way. For those who believe in the importance of stopping unnecessary bloodshed, this book is essential, powerful, and urgent.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1451688962
• ISBN13: 9781451688962
• Release Date: February 2012
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.8" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Fascinating and scary.

An insider's view of the movement to force gun reform in the courts, bypassing the impotent state legislatures and Congress which have shown themselves to be puppets of the NRA. After the Columbine massacre, the mood of the US people turned sharply in favor of gun regulation and victory seemed in reach. The NRA went into overdrive and recovered within weeks, getting Congress to eviscerate a juvenile justice bill which was introduced in response to Columbine. The power, arrogance and extremism of this organization are very frightening. They routinely take the most knee-jerk intransigent approach to every attempt to bring some semblance of sanity to this country's gun situation, reacting to even the most modest and reasonable proposal with hysterical rants about jackbooted feds kicking down the front door. When Ed Schulz, the CEO of Smith & Wesson, tried to reach a compromise with the federal government and the litigation group, the NRA orchestrated a massive smear campaign of hate mail and character assassination which made him fear for his life.Today, the senseless carnage continues and gun reform is more elusive than ever. Old-school gunmakers are firmly under the NRA thumb while bottom-feeding sweatshops continue to churn out vast numbers of cheap, shoddy Saturday night specials and blatantly market them to criminals. (The TEK-9 used by Klebold and Harris at Columbine was touted as having "excellent resistance to fingerprints".) Gun dealers continue to turn a blind eye while juveniles and felons purchase massive quantities of weapons that give them greater firepower than SWAT teams.This is a well-written and balanced book which, while obviously sympathetic to the gun reform side, does not simply present things in black and white. Ed Schulz comes across as a pragmatic businessman with a genuine desire to do the right thing, while some of the federal negotiators seem officious and naive, and the litigating lawyers are presented with warts and all, ambulance chasers who expect to do well but also feel they are doing good. Charlton Heston's record in supporting civil rights during the 60's is noted, but ultimately his own words condemn him as a racist and misogynist. Reading this book will give you a good understanding of gun politics over the last few years, but if you care about gun reform, it will probably leave you despairing of ever seeing meaningful change.[...]