Few constitutional disputes maintain as powerful a grip on the public mind as the battle over the Second Amendment. The National Rifle Association and gun-control groups struggle unceasingly over a piece of the political landscape that no candidate for the presidency — and few for Congress — can afford to ignore. But who's right? Will it ever be possible to settle the argument?

In Out of Range, one of the nation's leading legal scholars takes a calm, disinterested look at this bitter debate. Mark V. Tushnet brings to this book a deep expertise in the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and the role of the law in American life. He breaks down the different positions on the Second Amendment, showing that it is a mistake to stereotype them. Tushnet's exploration is honest and nuanced; he finds the constitutional arguments finely balanced, which is one reason the debate has raged for so long. Along the way, he examines various experiments in public policy, from both sides, and finds little clear evidence for the practical effectiveness of any approach to gun safety and prosecution. Of course, he notes, most advocates of the right to arms agree that it should be subject to reasonable regulation. Ultimately, Tushnet argues, our view of the Second Amendment reflects our sense of ourselves as a people. The answer to the debate will not be found in any holy writ, but in our values and our vision of the nation.

This compact, incisive examination offers an honest and thoughtful guide to both sides of the argument, pointing the way to solutions that could calm, if not settle, this bitter dispute.

"Brisk, even-handed, and illuminating discussion...Tushnet has provided a balanced, intelligent, and exceedingly useful guide to the Second Amendment."--The New Republic

"Carefully analyzing text, history, precedent, and ramifications for public policy, Tushnet demonstrates how to wrestle with a difficult question of constitutional interpretation. His lively book will interest everyone who wants to learn how scholars and courts cut through competing claims to decide what the Constitution means."--Carl T. Bogus, Professor of Law, Roger Williams University

"Timely and astute, Out of Range makes us think through the divisive legal arguments about the Second Amendment and face our cultural war over guns."--Joan Burbick, author of Gun Show Nation: Gun Culture and American Democracy

One of the nation's leading legal scholars takes a calm, unbiased look at the bitter debate over the Second Amendment that exists between the National Rifle Association and gun-control groups.

Mark V. Tushnet is William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. A former fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the Rockefeller Humanities Program, he has authored eighteen books, including the most widely used casebook on constitutional law, a two-volume biography of Thurgood Marshall, and A Court Divided: The Rehnquist Court and the Future of Constitutional Law.