The Founding Fathers believed that the only way to secure liberty to the individual was to ensure that every man possessed the right to carry with him the force necessary to secure that liberty. Individuals and states refused to enter into the grand compact that we now know as the United States until the right to bear arms was embedded in the Constitution. The rights that our forefathers saw as essential are being eroded by special and elite interests today. The following list of books relate to gun rights, their history, the present assault upon them, and how to defend against the assault.

The Best Defense: True Stories of Intended Victims Who Defended Themselves with a Firearm (hb,320pp), by Robert A. Waters. This compilation of compelling stories is derived from interviews with intended victims of violent crimes who fended off their assailants with a firearm. Law enforcement officials were also interviewed making this case study imminently readable, authoritative and highly important. It takes constitutional and rational theory and shows how it works for the good of the individual. If statistical analysis of gun laws and their effect on society and crime are not enough to convince you that the right to bear arms is the most important right you have, then these anecdotes will surely do the trick. Read our in-depth review of this book. Learn more about Robert Waters.

The Right to Hunt, by James B. Whisker. Hunting, once the most admired and necessary of sports is now villified in the liberal press. The right to bear arms is under assault in the courts and in the nation's various legislative bodies. Meanwhile, hunting as a passtime, as a way of life survives. In this book Mr. Whisker looks at the history of hunting and discusses its natural and legal ramifications. He makes a clear and convincing case that hunting is not only a right, it reflects our place in nature. Mr. Whisker is a professor of Political Science at the University of West Virginia.

Things You Can Do to Defend Your Gun Rights (pb), by Alan Gottlieb and David B. Kopel.

The Rights of Gun Owners, by Alan Gottlieb (pb, 252pp)

and the Gun Rights Fact Book (pb, 252pp), by Alan Gottlieb.

Dial 911 and Die, by Richard W. Stevens. In case study after case study, the evidence shows that the government cannot protect the individual from crime, but only respond after the crime has been committed. Mr. Stevens, a Washington, D.C. lawyer tells us that, indeed, government agencies (police, paramedics, etc.) have no legal responsibility to even respond to a 911 call. Worse, state and federal statutes become more and more restrictive upon the individual's ability to defend himself. Conservatives have long felt that we have the right and obligation to defend life and property by any means available, including firearms. This book reveals why this fundamental right is not only practical, it is vital to the maintenance of good order and liberty.