Scope

This Research Guide provides information on the second amendment right to bear arms versus the efforts of gun control advocates to strengthen laws on the ownership and licensing of firearms.

Overview

Guns in American Society: an encyclopedia of history, politics, culture, and the law
College Library Reference Collection: HV7436 G8783 2002
An encyclopedia that covers all aspects of the issue: gun violence, gun control, government legislation, court decisions, gun organization, gun owners, gun subcultures, and attitudes toward guns. Many entries place the topics in historical and cross-cultural perspective.

Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment
College Library Reference Collection: HV 6017 E524 2002
Refer to "Firearms" in index in volume 4, page 1823.

Encyclopedia of Gun Control and Gun Rights
College Library Reference Collection: KF 3941 A68 U88 2000
Entries on court cases, various firearms, industry organizations, government agencies and policies, groups supporting gun rights, groups opposing gun rights, historical individuals and events, and legislation.

Encyclopedia of Violence: Origins, Attitudes, Consequences
College Library Reference Collection: HM 291 D4857 1993
Article on Gun Control, pp 111-120. Article discusses both pro- and anti-gun control positions.

Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics
College Library Reference Collection: BJ 63 A66 1998
Article on Gun Control, pp. 491-524.

Encyclopedia of Social Issues
College Library Reference Collection: HN 57 E59 1997
Article on "Gun and Ammunition Control," pp 757-760.

National Survey of State Laws
College Library Reference Collection: KF 386 N38
Overview of gun laws in all 50 states. Provides state code section and indicates any illegal firearms, waiting periods, or restrictions on who may or may not own firearms.

Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center 1990 - to date (updated daily)
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center (OVRC) includes the acclaimed social issues series published by Greenhaven Press, as well as core reference content from other Gale and Macmillan Reference USA sources and provides viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to websites, and full-text magazine and newspaper articles.

Finding Journal and News Articles

Below are links to databases that cover this subject area. The truncation symbol for all of them is an asterisk (*) unless otherwise noted.

Sample searches for databases:

gun control
firearms
firearm laws
firearms and school violence
gun* and violence
firearms laws and regulations
firearms possession

Recommended Databases:

Academic Search 1984 - to date (updated daily)
This library database indexes approximately 3,100 popular magazines and academic journals and provides the full-text articles from approximately 1,000 journals. Basic instructions for Academic Search

CQ Researcher November 1991 - to date (updated weekly)
Contains weekly reports from Congressional Quarterly that cover the most current and controversial issues. Basic instructions for CQ Researcher

Education Full Text 1983 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes more than 400 scholarly and trade periodicals and selected monographs in education, educational psychology, college life, teacher education and evaluation. Basic instructions for Education Full Text

Ethnic NewsWatch 1960 - to date (updated monthly)
A full-text collection of more than 200 newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press. Basic instructions for Ethnic Newswatch

GenderWatch 1980 - to date (updated quarterly)
A women's and gender issues database with full-text coverage of most journals. Basic instructions for GenderWatch

Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe Dates Vary (updated daily)
Contains the full-text articles from U.S. and international newspapers (including the New York Times, June 1980 - to date), as well as some news and business magazines and trade journals. The truncation symbol is an exclamation point (!). Basic instructions for Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe

ProQuest Research Library 1988 - to date (updated daily)
Indexes over 2,000 general-interest and academic journals. Nearly 1,000 periodicals are full-text. Dates vary, but many full-text journals go back to 1988. Basic instructions for ProQuest Research Library

PsycINFO 1872 - to date (updated weekly)
Indexes 1,300 scholarly journals along with books and book chapters in psychology, educational psychology, and behavioral sciences. Basic instructions for PsycINFO

Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS) 1972 - to date (updated quarterly)
Indexes journal articles, books, government documents, statistical compilations, committee reports, directories, serials, reports of public, intergovernmental and private organizations, and most other forms of printed literature from all over the world. The full-text of the articles is not available in the database. Basic instructions for PAIS

Readers' Guide Full Text and Retrospective 1890 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes 240 popular magazines in a wide range of subject areas. Full-text coverage of 131 titles begins with 1994. Basic instructions for Readers' Guide Full Text

Social Sciences Full Text 1983 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes more than 415 scholarly journals in economics, politics, public administration, public health, sociology, criminology, environmental and urban studies, psychology and anthropology. Basic instructions for Social Sciences Full Text

Finding Books

MadCat
Books on gun control can be found in MadCat, the UW-Madison library catalog.

Sample keyword searches:

gun control
firearms ownership
(youth or children) and firearms
firearms and school violence

Internet Sites

Concealed Weapons
http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lrb/pubs/ttp/ttp-09-2003.html
Information and links from the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau.

ACLU on Gun Control
http://www.aclu.org/PolicePractices/PolicePractices.cfm?ID=9621&c=25
The American Civil Liberties Union statement of its position on gun control.

Jurist: The Legal Education Network--Gun Control
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/gunlaw.htm
A legal resource that provides news releases and information about gun-related cases recently decided by or currently before the court.

US Government Information/ Resources--About.com
http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/guncontrol
Links to various articles and resources on gun control.

Trust the People: The Case Against Gun Control
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa109.html
An article written by David B. Kopel on behalf of the Cato Institute laying out the argument against gun control.

U.S. Constitution
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment02/
This site outlines the opposing theories concerning the meaning of the Second Amendment.

Law Library of Congress: US Constitution: Text, Commentaries, Historical Texts, and Judicial Decisions
http://www.loc.gov/law/guide/usconst.html
A resource maintained by the Library of Congress to provide information about the Constitution over time.

Federal Firearms Laws - Overview
http://www.atf.gov/firearms/legal/index.htm
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) enforces federal laws regulating firearms. This ATF web site includes a Legal Overview of firearms laws, including the Brady Law, Regulations and notices of proposed rules.

Wisconsin Legislation
http://www.legis.state.wi.us/
Use "Folio Search" to find information on pending legislation and on state laws. To find information on the proposed constitutional amendment to guarantee the right to keep and bear arms, enter the search words: bear arms.

Statistics

Statistical Abstract of the United States
College Library Reference Collection: HA 202 U5
Check the index under "firearms" to find the table number.

Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/ind/GUNS.ind.html
An index of links to data tables that mention guns or firearms in this compilation of crime statistics. Statistics are compiled by the Utilization of Criminal Justice Statistics Project, a collaboration between the Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center and the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

U.S. Dept. of Justice. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Firearms and Crime Statistics
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/guns.htm
Gives summary findings, links to Bureau of Justice publications and links to relevant internet sites.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP)
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/osp/data.htm
The U.S. CDCP National Center for Injury Prevention and Control keeps statistics on firearm deaths, injuries and the overall economic costs of firearms violence.

Videos

Bowling for Columbine
College Library Main Collection: HV 7436 B59 2003

Gun Control: Right to Bear Arms in the 20th Century
College Library Main Collection: HV 7435 G87 1997

Gun Society: An Exploration of a Love Affair
College Library Main Collection: HV 7436 G872 1994

Organizations

Pro-Gun

National Rifle Association of America (NRA)
http://www.nra.org
11250 Waples Mill Rd.
Fairfax, VA 22030
In addition to information on its membership, programs and policies, this NRA internet site provides a wealth of statistics and literature supporting a pro-gun rights agenda.

Second Amendment Foundation
http://www.saf.org
James Madison Bldg.
12500 NE 10th Pl.
Bellevue, WA 98005
The Second Amendment Foundation supports the right to privately own and possess firearms. Its educational and legal action programs are designed to inform the public about the gun control debate.

Citizen Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
http://www.ccrkba.org
Liberty Park
12500 NE 10th Pl.
Bellevue, WA 98005
A sister site of the Second Amendment Foundation.

Gun Owners of America (GOA)
http://www.gunowners.org
8001 Forbes Pl. Suite 102
Springfield, VA 22151
This non-profit lobbying organization was formed in 1975 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners.

Wisconsin Pro-Gun Movement
P.O. Box 513
Eagle, WI 53119-0513
Organization chaired by James (Jim) Fendry.

Anti-Gun

Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence
http://www.bradycampaign.org
1225 Eye St., N.W., Suite 1100
Washington, D.C. 20005
This organization is chaired by Sarah Brady. Their Legal Action Project is committed to reforming the gun industry and how guns are marketed and sold in the United States.

Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
http://www.gunfree.org
1000 16th St. NW Ste 603
Washington, DC 20036
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV), was originally formed in 1975 as the National Coalition to Ban Handguns (NCBH) "for the purposes of banning the importation, manufacture, sale, transfer, ownership and possession of handguns." In 1989, after expanding its efforts to include restrictions on all firearms, the group adopted its new name, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.

Violence Policy Center (VPC)
http://www.vpc.org/index.htm
2000 P St. NW, Ste. 200
Washington, DC 20036
The VPC is an educational foundation working to reduce firearms violence in America. Its internet pages offer statistics and policy statements on firearm violence and deaths, domestic violence and firearms legislation.