Book review: Whose Right Is It?: The Second Amendment and the Fight over Guns, by Hana Bajramovic

Bajramovic, Hana. Whose Right Is It?: The Second Amendment and the Fight over Guns. Holt, 2020. 244 p. $19.99. ISBN 978-1-250-22425-5. Ages 12+. P5Q9

The Second Amendment, covering the permission of people to “carry arms” has a history going back to England’s Glorious Revolution in 1688 which caused the development of the nation’s Bill of Rights. The nonfiction book’s author follows the evolution of gun rights—and gun control—from that time through the influence on the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights amendment to “keep and bear Arms.” Since that time, the U.S. has a record of gun-ownership restriction because the amendment connects gun ownership to a “well regulated militia” until the Supreme Court reversed that position in 2008. Because of the amendment’s ambiguity, groups have used it for greed, power, and/or systemic racism; i.e., the laws restricting gun ownership after the Black Panthers were seen carrying them in public places. Other histories in the book are of gun manufacturing and the National Rifle Association, which morphed from an educational group into a political one. The book also includes a discussion guide, bibliography, and index.

Verdict: Clear, accessible language explains concepts with black and white charts, photographs, and painting reproductions. Although the content might be accused of bias by people searching for unfettered purchase, possession, and carrying of any guns, the narrative is factual with over 800 endnotes providing sources.

Informational books, 2020-2021, review by Nel Ward.