The book is presented in the following sections: (1) Illegitimate Practices in Summarizing Research on Guns and Violence; (2) The Ownership and Acquisition of Guns; (3) Searching for "Bad" Guns: The Focus on Special Gun Types; (4) Guns and Self-Defense; (5) Carrying Guns for Self-Protection; (6) Guns and Violent Crime; (7) Guns and Suicide; (8) Firearms Accidents; (9) Public Opinion and the Bases of Support for Gun Control; (10) The Impact of Gun Control on Violence Rates; and (11) Conclusions, including "The Shape of Effective Gun Controls," "A Workable Gun Control Strategy," "The National Instant Records Check," "Regulating Private Transfers of Guns," "Adequacy of Criminal Records, Who Should Be Disqualified?" "Regulating Gun Carrying," and "Improved Enforcement of Carry Laws." Abbreviations, tables, notes, figure, references, indexes