Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T06:23:03.159Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 16 - On Guns and Tyranny

from Part III - Deferred Dreams: Reflections on Politics and Society

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2020

Michael Shermer
Michael Shermer
Affiliation:
Chapman University, California
Get access

Summary

Since I wrote “The Sandy Hook Effect” in 2012, gun violence has continued to fill the evening news, most notably the massacre in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017. In response to that horrific event I penned an opinion editorial for The New York Times, solicited and edited by the estimable editor Bari Weiss, addressing the argument by pro-gun advocates that guns are a deterrent against tyranny. What follows is an expanded version of that op-ed that includes the problem of copycat mass murders, in which perpetrators seek fame through their murderous acts, and a simple solution to it.

Keywords

Second Amendmentself-help justicecriminal justicegun control
Type
Chapter
Information
Giving the Devil his Due
Reflections of a Scientific Humanist
 , pp. 177 - 180
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • On Guns and Tyranny
  • Michael Shermer, Chapman University, California
  • Book: Giving the Devil his Due
  • Online publication: 28 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108779395.017
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • On Guns and Tyranny
  • Michael Shermer, Chapman University, California
  • Book: Giving the Devil his Due
  • Online publication: 28 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108779395.017
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • On Guns and Tyranny
  • Michael Shermer, Chapman University, California
  • Book: Giving the Devil his Due
  • Online publication: 28 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108779395.017
Available formats
×