Living with Guns

August 27, 2012
With America's epidemic of gun violence showing no sign of ebbing, it likely that Whitney's book-length op-ed on gun control will remain relevant for years. A career New York Times reporter and editor, now retired, Whitney has previously written on such diverse subjects as pipe organs (in 2004's All The Stops) and claims no special expertise in constitutional law or firearms. Instead, he writes as a concerned citizen. His primer on gun law history sometimes gets bogged down in minutiae, but also produces fascinating tidbits like the decidedly nonprogressive bent of some early gun control legislation, namely toward African Americans. Less scholarly but still valuable are his memories of when firearms did not divide right and left, and when the NRA was mostly associated with safety training. The book's subtitle does its argument a disservice by implying that Whitney's concern is with defending the Second Amendment, when instead he is against liberals' common resort to the "well-regulated militia" language to claim a constitutional lack of protection for individual gun use. Opposed to arbitrary restrictions, reckless loopholes, NRA fear-mongering, and liberal intolerance of gun culture's law-abiding side, Whitney's presentation of firearm ownership as a protected area of U.S. common, if not Constitutional, law, strikes a conciliatory note that sadly stands little chance of being heeded. Agent: The Strothman Agency.

November 1, 2012
Former New York Times reporter and editor Whitney (All The Stops: The Glorious Pipe Organ and Its American Masters, 2003, etc.) mounts an evenhanded review of the gun issue in the United States. There's a gun for every American, writes the author, "about 100 million of them handguns," and the National Rifle Association has emerged as one of the most powerful lobbies in the country, with outsized political clout. To hear the NRA tell it, gun rights are constantly under assault thanks to a liberal administration, even if President Barack Obama has rarely addressed the topic. Whitney examines the reasons for preserving private ownership of firearms, one being the well-worn constitutional bit about the "well-regulated militia"--though, thanks to an ardently pro-gun Supreme Court, you "don't have to be part of any militia to exercise it"--and he endorses the broad notion that guns have a role in maintaining liberty, though that role has since been supplanted by still broader notions of self-defense. The author argues that because it is now unconstitutional to ban classes of weapons used in self-defense (including, apparently, machine guns and assault rifles), authorities and citizens would do better to press not for gun control as such, but instead to require training in the use and maintenance of weapons and to keep guns out of the hands of those who should not be holding them. "Instead of fighting chimerical battles," writes Whitney, "American gun-rights and gun-control enthusiasts should be talking to each other about what can be done...to reduce gun violence, particularly by addressing the criminal and psychopathological behavior patterns that cause it." A fresh and balanced argument, though unlikely to convince most NRA members that liberals aren't the enemy.

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October 15, 2012

America has a long history of gun ownership, from the arrival of the first settlers to current heated discussions over the Second Amendment. Here veteran journalist Whitney (former assistant managing editor in charge of standards & ethics, New York Times; All the Stops) argues that neither side's positions are completely correct. The Left seems to want to tighten gun-control laws including for law-abiding citizens, which he argues becomes burdensome and in some locations highly arbitrary. The Right has the powerful NRA lobby, which objects to the slightest mention of new laws with dire warnings of government disarming citizens. The book is filled with much detail, which can occasionally bog down the reader. Often, the work reads like a long op ed piece. Nonetheless, it provides a moderate viewpoint that is often missing in this discussion. VERDICT This book will be attractive to readers who fall in the middle of this issue and may give pause to others. It is not a scholarly work, but provides some solutions worthy of consideration.--Beth M. Johns, Saginaw Valley State Univ. Lib., University Ctr., MI

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2012
Is there any way past the impasse on gun control that pits supporters of the Second Amendment against those concerned about escalating gun violence in the U.S.? Whitney, a reporter, self-described conservative liberal, and member of the National Rifle Association, aims to find common ground between the polarities that steer elections and fund lobbying campaigns. He examines the Second Amendment, why interpretations of it are so divergent, and why the right to bear arms is enshrined in the Bill of Rights. He explores Supreme Court decisions, state laws throughout the nation (except Illinois and the District of Columbia) that permit individuals to own guns, controversial stand-your-ground laws, and violent shootings, which add fuel to both sides of the gun control debate. Whitney gives equal time to gun enthusiasts, from collectors to hunters, who are among the 60 million Americans who own more than 300 million guns, a third of them handguns. This is a very thoughtful, well-researched, and well-reasoned argument in favor of the right to bear arms within reasonable limitations and an appeal to responsible gun ownership.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)