Samurai Mountie and Cowboy

Given the breathtaking sweep of the material and the prodigious scholarship the author displays in his detailed discusson of civil liberties, police powers, law and national character with respect to guns in Japan, Great Britain, Canada, Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, Jamaica and the United States, it's surprising and disappointing when, in conclusion, he lamely argues that the best things Americans can do about guns here are eliminate controls and require classes in marksmanship and safety for all gun owners. Kopel, a Denver lawyer, associate policy analyst with the Cato Institute and a technical consultant to the International Wound Ballistics Association, brilliantly delineates the ways in which each nation's unique history has determined how it deals with guns. He defends vigilantism as all-American and necessary, praises the Guardian Angels, claims that many southern civil rights workers of the 1960s were armed and argues that guns are ubiquitous in the inner cities because people need them. He won't convince everyone, but he offers a lot to ponder. (July)