Lethal Passage
Lethal Passage

Author: Erik Larson

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2011-07-27

Total Pages: 299

ISBN-13: 0307803317

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This devastating book illuminates America's gun culture -- its manufacturers, dealers, buffs, and propagandists -- but also offers concrete solutions to our national epidemic of death by firearm. It begins with an account of a crime that is by now almost commonplace: on December 16, 1988, sixteen-year-old Nicholas Elliot walked into his Virginia high school with a Cobray M-11/9 and several hundred rounds of ammunition tucked in his backpack. By day's end, he had killed one teacher and severely wounded another. In Lethal Passage Erik Larson shows us how a disturbed teenager was able to buy a weapon advertised as "the gun that made the eighties roar." The result is a book that can -- and should -- save lives, and that has already become an essential text in the gun-control debate. With a new afterword. "Touches on all aspects of the gun issue in this country. Gives great voice to that feeling...that something real must be done." --San Diego Union-Tribune "One of the most readable anti-gun treatises in years." --Washington Post Book World

Moonshiners & Revenuers: From Bootleggers to Arsonists - Atf's Battle Against Criminals in North Carolina
Moonshiners & Revenuers: From Bootleggers to Arsonists - Atf's Battle Against Criminals in North Carolina

Author: Johnny C. Binkley

Publisher: Acclaim Press

Published: 2020-11-20

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 9781948901666

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From its early days as a British Colony in the 1700s through much of the 20th century (and even today), the hills, hollers, and swamps of North Carolina have been a hotbed of illegal liquor activity. Indeed, making untaxed liquor has been a way of life handed down from generation to generation. To combat this problem, the US government created a special task force whose sole mission was to enforce federal liquor laws, catch the moonshiners, and seize and destroy their liquor stills and moonshine whiskey. Moonshiners and Revenuers is the true story of ATF Agent Johnny Binkley and his 25-years with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, from 1969-1994. During his career, the ATF transitioned from being the "redheaded stepchild of the IRS" working moonshine whiskey, to becoming the multi-jurisdictional independent bureau it is today. Follow Agent Binkley's career as the ATF transitioned its role from moonshine enforcement, to catching cigarette smugglers, and then to crimes involving explosives and narcotics. More than just a history with facts and dates, Binkley also describes the people (good guys and bad guys), events, situations, and places he encountered along the way. Read Moonshiners and Revenuers to learn the true story of an era that has come and gone with the changing times...or has it?

Armageddon in Waco
Armageddon in Waco

Author: Stuart A. Wright

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 1995-09-20

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 0226908453

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On February 28, 1993, the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) launched the largest assault in its history against a small religious community in central Texas. One hundred agents armed with automatic and semi automatic weapons invaded the compound, purportedly to execute a single search and arrest warrant. The raid went badly; four agents were killed, and by the end of the day the settlement was surrounded by armored tanks and combat helicopters. After a fifty-one day standoff, the United States Justice Department approved a plan to use CS gas against those barricaded inside. Whether by accident or plan, tanks carrying the CS gas caused the compound to explode in fire, killing all seventy-four men, women, and children inside. Could the tragedy have been prevented? Was it necesary for the BATF agents to do what they did? What could have been done differently? Armageddon in Waco offers the most detailed, wide-ranging analysis of events surrounding Waco. Leading scholars in sociology, history, law, and religion explore all facets of the confrontation in an attempt to understand one of the most confusing government actions in American history. The book begins with the history of the Branch Davidians and the story of its leader, David Koresh. Chapters show how the Davidians came to trouble authorities, why the group was labeled a "cult," and how authorities used unsubstantiated allegations of child abuse to strengthen their case against the sect. The media's role is examined next in essays that considering the effect on coverage of lack of time and resources, the orchestration of public relations by government officials, the restricted access to the site or to countervailing evidence, and the ideologies of the journalists themselves. Several contributors then explore the relation of violence to religion, comparing Waco to Jonestown. Finally, the role played by "experts" and "consultants" in defining such conflicts is explored by two contributors who had active roles as scholarly experts during and after the siege The legal and consitutional implications of the government's actions are also analyzed in balanced, clearly written detail.

Shots in the Dark
Shots in the Dark

Author: William J. Vizzard

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 9780847695607

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Starting with Columbine, school shootings have brought the issue of gun control to the forefront of the American consciousness. Why it won't rise to the top of the political agenda is an important part of the story that Will Vizzard tells. Drawing on Congressional hearings, interviews, thirty years of research, and personal experience as a special agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the author takes a step back from both advocates and opponents of gun control to survey the U.S. gun landscape. What he finds there is a scene dominated by policy and public opinion extremism as well as a powerful combination of history and symbolism that impede the resolution of this conflict. Neither a call for gun prohibition nor a diatribe against gun control, this book is intended for those with a particular interest in firearms as well as serious students of public policy and criminal justice. In addition to covering a century of gun control policy, the author addresses such current issues as assault weapons, right-to-carry and concealed-carry laws, school shootings, and recent elections. Unlike its several counterparts, SHOTS IN THE DARK sheds light on a balanced and pragmatic approach to gun control legislation.