I was recently given a copy of “Emily Gets Her Gun, But Obama Wants To Take Yours“, by Emily Miller.  This book deals with the issues surrounding legal gun ownership in Washington D.C., as well as gun control issues around the nation.  It is a good reference for the well-informed, an excellent primer for those who know a little, but want to know more, and possibly a great resource to give to someone who is curious about the state of gun rights in the country.

Miss Miller is a journalist who lives in Washington, D.C., who decided that she needed a gun for self-defense after a home invasion.  About half of her book details the legal hoops she had to go through in order to legally purchase and own a firearm.  Just that part alone made my head spin and my blood boil.  The months of effort and hundreds of dollars it cost her to get legal authorization to own a pistol, much less carry it outside her home for self-defense, bordered on the ridiculous.

To contrast her ordeal with my first purchase of a firearm, my experience included a 2 hour conversation with Irish Woman, an hour looking at guns in a store, then 15 minutes to fill out a 4473 and give the nice man behind the counter my debit card.  Heck, the process to get a concealed carry license in Kentucky wasn’t half of what she had to go through to just purchase a handgun.

Interposed with chapters about her ordeal are chapters that deal with the statistics, politics, and outrages of guns and gun control.  This is the first book I’ve read that deals with the 2013 gun control push, both at the federal and state levels.  Miss Miller does an excellent job showing that the federal push was mostly theater, and that the real fight has been at the state level.  This leavening of her own narrative with facts and figures rounds out the book and makes it an excellent resource for those who are interested in gun rights.

Her recounting of the stories of several people who have been swept up in D.C.’s gun dragnets gives us cautionary tales of what to expect if gun control laws are expanded nationwide.  In one instance, a citizen is arrested for having illegal guns because he made the mistake of making an illegal U-turn after he got lost driving through Washington, all while legally transporting his guns through the District.  In another instance, a man was thrown into jail for the absurd crime of having a few loose cartridges in his backpack.  These and other stories remind us of why we cannot afford to give up any ground.

The overall tone of the book is forthright and straight forward, but at times Miss Miller’s politics skew the writing  somewhat.  Yes, the liberal and Democrat parts of our political process tend to lean toward gun control, but there are anti-gun Republicans as well as pro-gun Democrats.  I would have liked to have heard more about both of these types of politicians.

If you’re heavily involved in gun rights, this is a good resource for pulling together a lot of statistics.  For those who are just getting started and want to know more and learn just how bad it can be for gun owners, it will be an excellent source of information.

Standard Disclaimer – The publisher of the book provided me with a copy for reading and review.  I am offering to return it now that I am done with it, and I received nothing else for this review.