Gunfight

Constitutional law scholar Winkler (law, Univ. of California, Los Angeles) presents an extensive overview of the history of state and federal attempts to regulate firearms. The author shows how political pressures and popular will can be exerted upon both liberal and conservative politicians to periodically tighten and loosen restrictions on the possession and sale of guns. A central theme of the book is the ripple effect on gun-control laws resulting from pendulum swings in social policy brought about by economic uncertainty and periodic bursts of political and social violence. The author shows how gun-control laws are frequently knee-jerk reactions to sudden shifts in public policy rather than carefully planned political and legal responses to social change and the evolution of constitutional thought.