Books about Second Amendment Rights
compiled by Donald Ray Burger
Attorney at Law
There are many books on your Second Amendment rights. My first goal is to simple list the books of which I think you should be aware. I will add reviews as time and energy permits. Enjoy your reading!

The Ballad of Carl Drega, by Vin Suprynowicz. Copyright 2002. A Mountain Media Book. Paperback. 689 pages.
This book collects the essays of newspaperman Vin Suprynowicz. A great many of the essays touch on the Second Amendment. All the essays touch on liberty. Mr. Suprynowicz is one of the most insightful and thorough newsmen out there. This book will make your blood boil.

Boston's Gun Bible (revised), by Boston T. Party. Copyright 2002. Paperback.
This is an essential book for anyone who wants to understand how the right to self defense is essential to the preservation of liberty. It has tons of specific information about rifles, shotguns, handguns and gear. It contains Boston's personal evaluations of various weapons. You will be hard-pressed to find a more enjoyable book on all aspects of choosing, using and caring for guns. But more than that, this book makes the case that the presence of liberty is not automatic, and that an armed population is essential to the retention of the liberty our forefathers fought so hard to gain. There will always be debate on whether the preservation of liberty owes more to the pen or the sword. To consider the arguments in favor of the sword (and to learn everything you need to know about its modern equivalent, the gun) read this book.

Guns: Who Should Have Them? edited by David B. Kopel. Copyright 1995. Prometheus Books. Hardback. 475 pages.

Lever Action, by L.l Neil Smith. Copyright 2001. A Mountain Media Book. Paperback. 462 pages.
This book is a series of essays on liberty. It touches on many subjects. Nearly 100 pages of it are explicitly on the Second Amendment. However, the whole book shows how the Second Amendment infuses all our liberties. Highly recommended.

The Mitzvah, by Aaron Zelman and L. Neil Smith. Copyright 1999. Paperback. 245 pages.
Winter in Chicago. Two men share a cab. One a 75 year old Jew. One a 55 year old Catholic Priest. Albert Mendelsohn, diamond merchant sees a mushroom-shaped birthmark on the wrist of John Greenwood, Monsignor of the Church of St. Gabriel Possenti of Isola. Both men notice that their Irish cabbie packs a revolver in a shoulder rig between his heavy turtleneck sweater and his leather jacket. Albert is warmed by the thought that decent men go about armed, as well as thugs. Father Greenwood is angered and depressed over what a Catholic cabbie carrying a revolver says about the state of society. This novel is the story of that Catholic Priest as he confronts both the meaning of guns and the meaning of the birthmark on his wrist and the relationship of each to his life.
Father Greenwood is confronted by the very real possibility that his birthmark proves he was born a Jew, and adopted by his European, Catholic parents as an infant. The novel follows Father Greenwood as he deals with both guns and the circumstances of his birth. I know it sounds like an odd combination, but this novel is satisfying on many levels, not the least of which is how one man comes to appreciate history, as it applies to Jews, Catholics, and guns. Give it a read. It should make you think. And what finer compliment can be paid to a book.

More Things You Can Do to Defend Your Gun Rights, by Alan M. Gottlieb and David B. Kopel. Copyright 1995. Merril Press. Paperback. 155 pages.
This book is the sequel to Things You Can DO to Defend Your Gun Rights. The author continue their winning ways of suggesting tips for the grassroots gun owner to help preserve our Second Amendment rights. Quick reading, and full of practical ideas.

Nation of Cowards: Essays on the Ethics of Gun Control, by Jeff Snyder. Copyright 2001. Paperback. 174 pages.

Origins and Development of the Second Amendment, by David Hardy. Copyright 1986. Blacksmith Corporation. Hardback. 95 pages.

The Origins of the Second Amendment: A Documentary History of the Bill of Rights, 1787-1792, edited by David E. Young. Copyright 1995. Golden Oak Books. Paperback. 838 pages.

The Samurai, the Mountie and the Cowboy: Should America Adopt the Gun Controls of Other Democracies, by David Kopel. Copyright 1992. Prometheus Books. Hardback. 470 pages.

The Second Amendment: Preserving the Inalienable Right of Individual Self-Protection, by David Barton. Copyright 2000. Wallbuilder Press. Paperback. 84 pages.

The Seven Myths of Gun Control: Reclaiming the Truth about Guns, Crime, and the Second Amendment, by Richard Poe. Copyright 2001. Hardback. 290 pages.

Stopping Power: Why 70 Million Americans Own Guns, by J. Neil Schulman. Copyright 1994, 1999. Paperback. 318 pages.

Supreme Court Gun Cases: Two Centuries of Gun Rights Revealed, by David B. Kopel, Stephen P. Halbrook, PhD and Alan Korwin. Copyright 2004. Bloomfield Press. Paperback. 667 pages.

Things You Can Do to Defend Your Gun Rights, by Alan M. Gottlieb and David B. Kopel. Copyright 1993. Merril Press. Paperback. 177 pages.
This book is a quick read. It is full of ideas, many of them basic, on things you can do as an ordinary person to help preserve your gun rights. It is certainly worth a read, as is the sequel, More Things You Can Do to Defend Your Gun Rights, review above.

Unintended Consequences, John Ross. Copyright 1996. Hardback. 861 pages.
This is one of my favorite books. It is not for the faint of heart. It is the story of Henry Bowman, member of the gun culture. Anyone with an interest in guns will enjoy this book. Anyone with an interest in liberty should read this book. Its focus is somewhat concentrated, but it is a great read. I love it when an author successfully weaves philosophy and a good story together. Through the story of the life of Henry Bowman, the author clarifies the role of weapons (and individuals willing to use them) in the securing of liberty. It is also an indictment of the government's misguided war on guns. If this book doesn't make you think, you're probably already dead.

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