October 4, 2002

Gun Control, in Theory and in Practice

By DAVID GLENN

Five of six people in prison for gun crimes say they obtained their weapons through theft or the black market. So do the Brady Law's mandatory waiting periods for gun purchases truly prevent crime? That's one of many questions raised by James B. Jacobs, a law professor at New York University, in Can Gun Control Work? (Oxford University Press). Mr. Jacobs supports regulation, but he charges that American gun-control advocates often ignore basic questions of logic and practicality.

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