OUTGUNNED: Up Against the NRA: The First Complete Insider Account of the Battle over Gun Control

Journalist Brown and attorney Abel make a compelling case against the stranglehold the National Rifle Association exerts over attempts to introduce firearms regulation. With Congress and many state legislatures in the NRA's back pocket, activists ask, what is a reformer to do? According to Wendell Gauthier, the flamboyant Louisiana attorney who played a key role in suing tobacco companies, the plaintiffs' bar serves as a de facto "fourth branch" of government, achieving by litigation what lobbying prevents through legislation. The authors chronicle Gauthier's last crusade (Abel was a partner of the now deceased lawyer) against America's firearms manufacturers. The book describes how policy is shaped in the legislatures and courtrooms of the country, and the picture is unsettling. As portrayed by the authors, the process is characterized by equal doses of cynicism, ego, pragmatism and money. The story begins in New Orleans with the murder of gospel singer Raymond Myles, which spurred Mayor Marc Morial and Gauthier to initiate the first civil action by a municipality against gun manufacturers. Yet this book is ultimately a story of the NRA's profound political influence. Although some subsequent civil suits against guns remain active, most have been dismissed. Furthermore, as the authors recount, a settlement negotiated with gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson by the Clinton administration has been eviscerated by the Bush administration. While hardly a model of journalistic objectivity, the book presents a lively take on how business does, or doesn't, get done in the legislatures of the country. (Jan. 8)

Forecast:Readers of Sarah Brady's recent memoir, A Good Fight, will also want to read this.