[This appeared in Gun World in the summer of 1989]. If you own a gun, you can defend yourself against a criminal attack. But how can you defend yourself against people who want to take away your right to even own a gun? Defenders of the right to bear arms have facts and logic on their side, but the gun grabbers have the media on their side. Most people get their information only from the media; hence, most people are badly misinformed about the facts of the gun issue. One of the responsibilities of being a gun owner is rationally explaining the facts about gun ownership to your friends and acquaintances. Below is a list of some of the best books written about the right to bear arms, and instructions for how to order them. With this material, you can arm yourself with knowledge. *That Every Man Be Armed: The Evolution of a Constitutional Right, by Stephen P. Halbrook: This is by far the best historical book of the legal development of the Second Amendment in the United States. The research is thorough, and the reasoning insightful. The only flaw is Halbrook's sometimes habit of taking evidence out of its original context. Still, this book is a must-have for anyone who thinks about the Second Amendment. Liberty Tree Press, 1-800-345-2888; $12.95. *The Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Report of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution: In 1982, the U.S. Senate decided to take a look at the original intent of the authors of the Second Amendment. The Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution unanimously concluded that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms. You can pick small book up for $5 at a Government Printing Office bookstore. If they don't have it, they can special order it. Or you can write to Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. 20402-9325. The document number is: ISBN 052-070-05686-0. *Firearms and Violence: Issues of Public Policy, edited by Donald B. Kates: For the last two decades, Don Kates has been the star intellectual of the pro-gun movement. Kates' prodigious writing has been published in popular magazines like Harpers or scholarly journals like the Michigan Law Review that had never before printed anything pro-gun. Virtually every academic who has defended the right to bear arms has consulted with Kates. Kates has opened up more minds on the subject of gun control than anyone in the history of the United States. Firearms and Violence is a collection of 17 articles by America's best pro-gun academics all brought together by Kates. Subjects range from technical analysis of crime statistics, history of the right to bear arms in America and England, scrutiny of all those anti-gun Gallup polls. If you only want one book, this is the one book to get. Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, 177 Post St., San Francisco, CA 94108. $15.95 paperback; hardback 34.95. Add $1.75 postage & handling. 1-415-989-0833. *Gun Rights Fact Book, by Alan Gottlieb: An excellent little paperback by the head of the Second Amendment Foundation. Easy to read, and organized by topic (i.e. "Media Bias", "Plastic Guns"). An excellent source for key facts with which to convince your opponents. Only problem: not enough citations. So if you rattle off a fact, and your opponent says "Oh yeah, where'd you get that from," you lose. Still, this is easy to read, and considerably less academic in tone than most of the other works reviewed here. $3.95 from the Merril Press, Box 1682, Bellevue, WA 98009. *Trust the People: The Case Against Gun Control, by David B. Kopel: I wrote this, so it's not fair for me to review it. Here's a review from gun activist Neal Knox's computer bulletin board: "A relatively short (32 typewritten pages) well documented (plus 20 pages of references) overview of the basic issues. One of the best things you can use to convince an individual with a potentially open mind. It's fact filled, well written, forcefully argued, and makes sure to hit all the right liberal hot buttons (civil rights, racial and sexual discrimination, etc). For the price, you have no excuse for not getting it." $2 from the CATO Institute, 224 Second St. SE, Washington DC 20003. Request "Policy Analysis #109, Trust the People." *The Truth About Self-Protection, by Massad Ayoob: The best book on the subject. No gun control theory here, just a very realistic look at self-defense from every angle. Everything is in here: burglar alarms, dogs, automobile alarms, gun-fighting and much much more. Police Bookshelf P.O. Box 122, Concord, NH 03301. 1-800- 624-9049. $6.95, plus $2.00 postage. *Under the Gun: Weapons Crime & Violence, by James Wright, Peter Rossi, and Kathleen Daly: The authors are some of the very best sociologists in the United States. They favored gun control, and set out to collect all the evidence for it in one place. This book is the result. After taking a hard look at the data, the authors changed their minds, and announced that there is no proof that gun control does any good. $16.95 from Aldine de Gruyter, 200 Saw Mill River Rd., Hawthorne, NY 10532. 1-914-747-0110. Paladin Press: Loads of interesting gun books from this free- spirited publisher with a very efficient mail-order department. Best bets are Duncan Long's technical gun manuals, and a reprint of Bert Levy's WWII manual for civilians about guerilla warfare. Other Paladin books cover the gamut of self-reliance: how to hide things, how to pick a lock, how to survive in the wilderness, how to make your burglar alarm burglar-proof. Some stupid titles too, including a ridiculous guide to international gun smuggling. Still, an interesting catalogue that could only be published in a country that genuinely believes in the freedom of speech. Telephone: 1-800 642-8300. Gun Ban Update Sen. Dennis DeConcini's Senate Bill S.747 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee by an 8-7 vote in July. DeConcini's bill bans the manufacture of certain semi-automatics, and requires anyone who owns such a gun to obtain federal registration forms. President Bush, meanwhile, favors a ban on magazines over 15 rounds. Anyone currently owning a "large" magazine would have to register it, and pay a tax of $25 per magazine. Possession of an unregistered magazine would be felony. Once you register your 20 round magazine for a Ruger M-14, the government will be able to figure out that you probably own a Ruger M-14. Thus, the Bush bill amounts to surreptitious gun registration. Expect a close, tough fight on the floor of Congress this fall. Keep on writing your Representatives and Senators, and the White House; the flood of mail from gun owners is the only thing that has kept Congress from passing gun ban bills even worse than DeConcini's. Grassroots work by gun owners has helped defeat dangerous anti-gun bills in every state except California. Oregon and West Virginia have even made progress towards reasonable regulation of gun carrying. More good news: Rank and file cops are speaking out against big-city police chiefs who claim that "law enforcement" favors gun control. If you're personally involved in law enforcement, you'll want to join a new organization called: "Law Enforcement for the Preservation of the Second Amendment," P.O. Box 999, Waterford, NJ 08089. It's the national grassroots police organization that fights against destruction of the Second Amendment, and for tougher action against criminals. There are no dues, although contributions are gratefully accepted. --30-- Word count: 1220