Evaluating Gun Policy

出版者:Brookings Inst Pr

作者:Ludwig, Jens (EDT)/ Cook, Philip J. (EDT)

页数:469

出版时间:2003-2

价格:$ 32.71

装帧:Pap

isbn号码:9780815753117

具体描述

Compared with other developed nations, the United States is unique in its high rates of both gun ownership and murder. Although widespread gun ownership does not have much effect on the overall crime rate, gun use does make criminal violence more lethal and has a unique capacity to terrorize the public. Gun crime accounts for most of the costs of gun violence in the United States, which are on the order of #100 billion per year. But that is not the whole story. Guns also provide recreational benefits and sometimes are used virtuously in fending off or forestalling criminal attacks. Given that guns may be used for both good and ill, the goal of gun policy in the United States has been to reduce the flow of guns to the highest-risk groups while preserving access for most people. There is no lack of opinions on policies to regulate gun commerce, possession, and use, and most policy proposals spark intense controversy. Whether the current system achieves the proper balance between preserving access and preventing misuse remains the subject of considerable debate. Evaluating Gun Policy provides guidance for a pragmatic approach to gun policy using good empirical research to help resolve conflicting assertions about the effects of guns, gun control, and law enforcement. The chapters in this volume do not conform neatly to the claims of any one political position. The book is divided into five parts. In the first section, contributors analyze the connections between rates of gun ownership and two outcomes of particular interest to society --suicide and burglary. Regulating ownership is the focus of the second section, where contributors investigate the consequences a large-scale combined gun ban and buy-back program in Australia, as well as the impact of state laws that prohibit gun ownership to those with histories of domestic violence. The third section focuses on efforts to restrict gun carrying and includes a critical examination of efforts in Pittsburgh to patrol illegal gun traffic and a re-examination of the effects of permissive state gun-carrying laws. This section also features the first rigorous --and critical --analysis of Richmond's Project Exile, which serves as one model for the national Project Safe Neighborhoods program. The fourth section focuses on efforts to facilitate research on gun violence, including a database on state gun laws and the ongoing development of a nationwide violent-death reporting system. The book concludes with an examination of the policy process. Differences in opinion about gun policy flourish partly because of the lack of sound evidence in this area. The contributors to this volume demonstrate that skilled and dispassionate analysis of the evidence is attainable, even in an area as contentious as firearm policy. For pragmatists who wish to reduce the social burden of gun violence, there is no acceptable alternative.

用户评价

我通常对那种试图“一揽子解决”所有社会问题的书籍抱持怀疑态度，但这本书的贡献恰恰在于它的“有限性”——它清醒地界定了自己分析的范围，并在这个范围内做到了极致的深度挖掘。作者在数据处理和证据链的构建上表现出了惊人的严谨性，他对一手资料的运用达到了教科书的级别。每一次关键论点的提出，背后都有多重交叉验证的史料支撑，这使得任何试图进行反驳的人都必须付出巨大的努力。这种对实证基础的执着，是确保其结论具有长期生命力的关键。此外，书中对不同时期统计口径变化的敏感性处理，也显示出作者深厚的历史功底，这在很多只注重“时髦模型”的当代研究中是缺失的。这本书的价值，不在于它提出了什么惊天动地的“新理论”，而在于它以无可指摘的扎实工作，为既有理论的修正和深化提供了坚实的基石。

这本书的叙事节奏把握得极为精准，读起来完全不像一本学术专著，倒更像是一部引人入胜的时代侧影录。作者在描述那些关键的转折点时，那种情绪的克制与爆发点的精准拿捏，极具感染力。我特别欣赏作者在处理争议性议题时的那种近乎残忍的坦诚——他从不回避任何一方的逻辑缺陷或道德困境，而是将这些矛盾以一种近乎戏剧化的方式呈现在读者面前。例如，在讨论社区自治的边界问题时，作者并没有给出“标准答案”，而是通过一系列精心构建的案例，迫使读者自己去权衡，去面对那些没有完美解决方案的灰色地带。这种强烈的代入感，使得阅读过程变成了一种持续的智力对话，而不是单向的信息灌输。它成功地让那些抽象的政治哲学问题，变得鲜活可感，充满了人间的烟火气和无可奈何的张力。

这本书的语言风格有一种独特的、近乎诗意的冷静。它没有使用过多华丽的辞藻，但每一个句子都像是经过精心雕琢的，充满了内在的韵律感和精确性。作者对于复杂概念的阐释，常常采用一种类比和隐喻的方式，这极大地降低了理解门槛，同时又不牺牲其学术的严肃性。我发现自己常常需要放慢阅读速度，不是因为内容晦涩，而是因为那些表述本身的美感和力量令人不忍快读。它成功地将原本可能枯燥的制度分析，转化成了一场关于人类决策艺术的沉思之旅。它不只是告诉我们“发生了什么”，更重要的是，它温柔而坚定地引导我们思考“我们是如何看待所发生的一切的”。读完之后，留下的不仅仅是知识的积累，更是一种对复杂世界保持谦逊和批判性眼光的全新视角。

我得说，这本书在概念上的梳理和理论的整合能力，达到了一个令人惊叹的高度。它巧妙地在宏观的社会结构理论与个体行动选择之间架起了一座坚实的桥梁。很多社会科学著作要么过于宏大叙事而失去了对个体经验的捕捉，要么过于关注个案而显得零散无力，但这本书却实现了优雅的平衡。作者对于“制度惰性”这一概念的阐释尤其精彩，他不仅仅将其视为一种阻碍变革的消极力量，更深入挖掘了它在维护特定社会秩序中的潜在积极作用，这提供了一个非常精妙的分析工具。阅读过程中，我不得不时常停下来，反思自己过去阅读的那些关于“理性选择”或“结构决定论”的文本，这本书提供了一个极佳的视角，让我们看到，现实往往是两种力量持续拉扯、相互制约的结果。对于任何希望在复杂系统中寻找有效干预点的研究者来说，这本书提供的方法论框架，其价值甚至可能超过它本身探讨的具体议题。

这本书简直是为我这种对历史演变和地方政治生态充满好奇的人量身定做的。它没有急于抛出宏大的理论框架，而是扎扎实实地从微观层面入手，深入剖析了特定时期内，不同文化背景下的社区是如何一步步形成其独特的社会规范和治理模式的。作者的笔触细腻得令人称奇，他没有简单地将“地方”视为一个静态的地理概念，而是将其描绘成一个不断动态演进的社会有机体。尤其令我印象深刻的是关于资源分配冲突的那几章，那些关于水权、土地使用权的争夺，以及它们如何微妙地重塑了当地的权力结构，那种近乎人类学田野调查的深度，让人不得不重新审视我们习以为常的“效率”与“公平”的定义。整本书读下来，感觉就像是跟随一位技艺精湛的导游，穿梭于那些被主流叙事遗漏的角落，每一个转弯都揭示出过去如何以我们意想不到的方式，持续影响着当下的决策制定过程。这种对历史肌理的尊重与挖掘，使得全书的论述具有一种沉甸甸的、无可辩驳的说服力。