The author reviews the history of private ownership of weapons in Great Britain from the age of Henry II and his Statute of Assize of Arms to the present day, when incidents of terrorism, armed robbery, and burglary are increasing dramatically even as ever stricter gun controls are imposed. The author concludes that there is little evidence that Britain's relatively low violent crime rates are causally linked to gun control, since the years of lowest gun crime were during an era when there were no gun controls. Gun crimes, on the other hand, have increased even though ever stricter gun controls have been enacted. After almost a century of strict gun controls, the supply of black market handguns remains more than sufficient to meet the demand of criminals. The author argues that internalized social controls, rather than gun controls, have had the greatest impact on the low crime rate, because changes in social controls more closely parallel the changes in the crime rate. The author anticipates that the experiment that began early this century with simple pistol regulations may evolve to produce the near extinction of private gun ownership by the end of the century. This will necessarily occur in a context of fewer civil liberties and greater government authority. Such an erosion of civil liberties would be unacceptable in the United States. Rather than providing a model of gun control to be emulated by the United States, the British model instead should warn proponents of moderate gun control that their efforts may open the flood gates to stringent control and prohibition. Chapter notes, a 145-item bibliography, and a subject index