Projects the evolution of firearms regulation into the twenty-first century; deals with the history and politics of gun control; describes the current structure of state and federal regulations intended to prevent certain groups of people from obtaining firearms; assesses the relative importance of alternative sources of guns used in crime and suggests some interesting conclusions about the appropriate role for each level of government in the effort to regulate firearms commerce.

Handguns in the twenty-first century : alternative policy futures /Franklin E. Zimring -- The wisdom of gun prohibition / John Kaplan -- Public opinion and gun control : a comparison of results from two recent national surveys / James D. Wright -- The attitude-action connection and the issue of gun control / Howard Schuman and Stanley Presser -- The politics of ineffectiveness : federal firearms legislation, 1919-38 / Carol Skalnik Leff and Mark H. Leff -- The effect of gun availability on violent crime patterns / Philip J. Cook -- State programs for screening handgun buyers / Philip J. Cook and James Blose -- Keeping handguns from criminal offenders / Mark H. Moore -- Organizational and other constraints on controlling the use of deadly force by police / James Lindgren -- The Bartley-Fox gun law's short-term impact on crime in Boston / Glenn L. Pierce and William J. Bowers -- The District of Columbia's "Firearms control regulations act of 1975" : the toughest handgun control law in the U.S.-or is it? / Edward D. Jones, III -- "One with a gun gets you two" : mandatory sentencing and firearms violence in Detroit / Colin Loftin and David McDowall.