Leaders of a movement to organize private militias, which spread to half the States beginning in 1994, see efforts at gun control legislation as part of a conspiracy to deprive citizens of their constitutional right to keep and bear arms, and ultimately to destroy all constitutional rights by extending governmental controls to every aspect of life. Gun control advocates believe that gun ownership by private citizens leads to rising crime rates and violence. This examination of the debate over gun control reviews the traditions that settlers of the original 13 colonies brought with them from Europe. Subsequent chapters trace the development of constitutional and municipal laws relating to the private possession of guns and the dramatic changes in public attitudes and social conditions over the past 50 years. The author calls for an educational and legislative campaign to eliminate violence in American society, to heal racial and religious tensions, and to broaden opportunities for American children, particularly those at high risk for delinquency and poverty. Chapter references