Whose Right Is It? the Second Amendment and the Fight Over Guns

May 1, 2020

Gr 6-10-Yale Law School graduate and former U.S. Court of Appeals judicial law clerk Bajramovic begins this guide to the Second Amendment with current data about gun violence and the many students who have lost their lives since the massacre at Columbine in 1999. The majority of the book describes the history of the U.S. from the American Revolution through the present day, and how the interpretation of the Second Amendment has changed in context of major events such as the Civil War and Reconstruction. Bajramovic describes how gun control laws have been used to preserve white supremacy, including the Gun Control Act of 1968. Some historians feel the passage of this act was a response to the Black Panthers openly carrying guns to protect themselves from the police. Insets explain legal terms and political parties. The text details the difference between local, state, and federal rulings, but it does not always succeed because the rulings can be genuinely confusing. The book's title refers to whether the Second Amendment is meant to protect the rights of individuals to bear arms or the militia's right to fight an unjust government. With the gains made by the NRA, including influencing key politicians whose campaigns they financially support, the recent Supreme Court's rulings currently protect individuals' right to bear arms. Back matter includes a bibliography and four websites. VERDICT This book will be of most use to student activists in favor of gun control.-Patricia Aakre, P.S. 89, New York

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May 1, 2020
Grades 6-9 Among the most controversial public issues of the day, one is surely gun control and the interpretation of the Second Amendment, the subjects of the author's meticulous and comprehensive history beginning in seventeenth-century England and continuing to the present. The story is fascinating and, in its evenhanded treatment of the subject, valuable for research and classroom use. Replete with charts, graphs, illustrations, and sidebar features (the early history of the gun, the origins of the gun industry, the Wild West, etc.), the book's accessible, occasionally colloquial style will encourage a general readership as well. Because of its controversial subject, the book is invested with page-turning drama, too, as in its account of the landmark Supreme Court case of District of Columbia v. Heller, which upheld individuals' rights to bear arms. Likewise, the ongoing, often bitter battle between the National Rifle Association and gun control advocates also comes under necessary scrutiny. Extremely well documented, the book concludes with an epilogue that brings the book up-to-date, making it both important and timely.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2020
Attorney Bajramovic presents a history of gun rights. The history begins just before England's Glorious Revolution (1688), which led to that country's developing a Bill of Rights that would, about a century later, strongly influence the United States' own. Unfortunately, the Second Amendment, which established a right to keep and bear arms, is surprisingly ambiguous, leading to long years of uncertainty and strife. Bajramovic informs readers that gun-ownership restrictions in past centuries were common and often racially motivated. Although mostly presented in a clear, straightforward manner, the narrative, replete with numerous graphs, is unlikely to appeal to National Rifle Association members and occasionally demonstrates unnecessary bias, such as with this unpleasant description of NRA hard-liner Harlon Carter, quoted from one of her sources: "Sweat would break out on his already glassy dome, and his face would turn as red as freshly butchered game." Long supplemental featurettes interrupt the main story frequently, and there are many rather bothersome references to information that will be presented later. Some 800 endnotes keyed to page number within the text help to buttress the factual content. For those who persevere to the end, only two suggestions are offered for ways to help in the gun control movement: write to your politicians and vote when you reach 18. Such a detailed history, although interesting, may have a limited audience. (charts, bibliography, discussion questions) (Nonfiction. 12-18)

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