Gunfight

The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America

By: Adam Winkler

Narrated by: John McLain

Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

A provocative history that reveals how guns - not abortion, race, or religion - are at the heart of America's cultural divide. Gunfight promises to be a seminal work in its examination of America's four-centuries-long political battle over gun control and the right to bear arms. In the tradition of Gideon's Trumpet, Adam Winkler uses the landmark 2008 case District of Columbia v. Heller, which invalidated a law banning handguns in the nation's capital, as a springboard for a groundbreaking historical narrative.

From the Founding Fathers and the Second Amendment to the origins of the Klan, ironically as a gun control organization, the debate over guns has always generated controversy. Whether examining the Black Panthers' role in provoking the modern gun rights movement or Ronald Reagan's efforts to curtail gun ownership, Winkler brilliantly weaves together the dramatic stories of gun rights advocates and gun control lobbyists, providing often unexpected insights into the venomous debate that now cleaves our nation.

©2011 Adam Winkler (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Good obj. & neutral view of gun rights/control.

This book relates history of gun rights as well as gun control. How society views and events and have shaped law, and social norms is illustrated in a neutral perspective to relay facts as they are backed by research and documentation.

Good not Great

Good historical perspective of the 2nd Amendment, but went too far away from the core case, or cases that have molded the courts views on the 2A.

Narrator is terrible

Content is great. But this guy‘s voice is unbearable. It sounds like an artificially created voice. It is awful.

left+right=center

This book gives agruments from the left and right to produce a balanced conclusion. A chapter may have you feeling upset because it's only highlighting argument from one side, but the author then proceeds too highlight the counter argument in the following chapter. The author also goes into great detail about the history of gun control and the history of guns in America. A very good book and definitely worth the listen!

good history

good history i think he misrepresented John lot i read his booka before and they are very detailed not jist surveys. other than that a good look at heller v dc

Fascinating and informative about the gun topic in America.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has any remote interest in the gun debate. At a minimum, you will learn so much about the twists and turns on this subject with respect to the law in recent decades.

Annoying narrator, interesting history

The narrator was a bit annoying. His voice was overly serious and the way he pronounces 'white' ("h-white") was distracting.

The book is framed around the DC vs Heller decision and is best read as a history of why that decision turned out the way it did. The steps of that case through the courts structures the book. I expected something more synoptic and was a bit disappointed by this focus.

My biggest gripe with the book is the author's strident assertions about what is and is not possible in the gun debate. He says, for instance, that America will always have guns and so no project of mass confiscation of guns is possible. This point is puerile, however, since much of the debate is about what kind of guns are appropriate. His point is actively unhelpful in thinking this question through.

Very informative, but hard to follow at times.

Lots of back and forth time changes, and so detailed that it was hard to keep track of what was going on. Still very good listen.

Potential NRA member prerequisite reading

Like a many of the un-substantiating reviews here, absolutes (extremes) have no place in intelligent dialogue. The right answer will likely reside somewhere in the, mature middle. Just because you don’t agree with the analysis doesn’t invalidate the analysis. Take the time to understand the history and frame the problem. Then you will be ready to enact tangible solutions. That full spectrum solution can be found through Tactical Civics™ .

Well balanced historical take on guns

I enjoyed this book- it did a good job at staying pretty well balanced. At times it felt like it leaned to the right, and at times it felt like it leaned to the left. Overall gave a very good history on how we got to where we are and everything in between. A good read if you are trying to understand American gun culture.