Summary
Contents
“This book should be made a part of any college level library that features holdings in social sciences. … Americans View Crime and Justice presents a national public opinion survey and its results on the issues. These edited results of a survey conducted in 1995 examine such issues as gun control, capital punishment, and juvenile crime, offering public opinion along with the analyses of a panel of criminologists.” –The Midwest Book Review Readable and carefully edited, Americans View Crime and Justice reports and analyzes results from the recent National Crime and Justice Survey (NCJS), the richest and most wide-ranging investigation of public opinion on crime and justice issues in more than a decade. Conducted in June 1995, the survey features responses from 1,000 adults in the United States on now-volatile issues such as fear of crime, gun control, capital punishment, juvenile crime, and additional related topics of national concern. A distinguished panel of criminologists analyzes the collected data in this volume to present a comprehensive report on the development and current status of public opinion on these timely issues. Divided into three sectionscontext and framework; findings; and opinion, policy, and science—this authoritative volume also analyzes the implications of the survey data. Providing interesting insights and timely quantification of Americans' view of crime and justice, this volume offers a unique view of public opinion particularly important to the work of researchers, law enforcement personnel, policy makers, public officials, and students of criminology and criminal justice, law, and political science.
Guns and Gun Control
Guns and Gun Control
Guns are such an integral part of our society that proposals to limit access to firearms provoke contentious reactions. Gun control is controversial, in part, because guns have multiple purposes. They can be used for hunting, sport, protecting life and property, and committing crimes. This versatility complicates efforts at reducing firearms- related deaths and injuries, because action in one arena carries liabilities in another. For example, laws that attempt to curb the illegal use of guns by criminals, such as the Brady Bill, run afoul of the interests of hunters. The challenge, then, for criminal justice policymakers is to develop strategies that minimize the harm caused by illegal use of firearms while not unduly restricting legitimate use by ...
