Deadly Force: Firearms and American Law Enforcement History - From Wild West to Modern Streets | Military & Law Enforcement Book | Perfect for Historians, Gun Enthusiasts & Crime Researchers

Product Description

In his new book, Chris McNab, author of Tools of Violence and The Special Forces Survival Guide, empties a six-shooter's worth of eye-opening stories about the use of deadly force in American law enforcement. Drawing on the work of Michael A. Bellesiles, whose groundbreaking study, Arming America, demonstrated that gun ownership in American was not widespread until after the Civil War, McNab chronicles how enforcers of the law first began to arm themselves with guns in the 1870s. In the Wild West, a tradition grew up where criminals like Wild Bill Hicock blithely swapped their black hats for white whenever the opportunity presented itself. And in the cities, armed policemen made equal use of their hardwood nightclubs and new-fangled revolvers to keep the unlawful in check. McNab relates tales of law enforcement's famous clashes with gangers in the early part of the 20th Century and its dealings with psychopaths and drug dealers in the latter. An afterward examines the current and future state of deadly force in light of the shooting of Sean Bell in 2008. In his characteristically lively prose, McNab provides readers with a balanced history of the gun in American jurisprudence.