The Gun Owners of America welcomes you to their Gun Owners of America
Web Supporters list!

Michael A. Bellesiles: Reviewer Wink Blinked

by Larry Pratt

One of the ways Michael A. Bellesiles’ book Arming America
has acquired credibility is — sad to say — by assigning it to
reviewers who hadn’t the foggiest idea what they were writing about.
A case in point is the review (3/21/2001) by Walter Wink in the
ultra-Liberal Christian Century magazine. Wink is a professor
of New Testament at the Auburn Theological Seminary in New York
City.

In his review Wink hails Bellesiles’ book as “an historical tour de
force” based on “painstaking and compendious research” that “exposes
the myths that have elevated the gun to its unique place in American
life — and death.” He says “turning aside from our enthrallment
with guns will require a spirituality of nonviolence, a willingness
to turn in our guns…. If we do our work well, perhaps Bellesiles’
future book can be titled Disarming America.”

Curious as to how much Wink really knows about the subject of the
Bellesiles book, we interviewed him. Well, no, he says, he is not
familiar with any of the scholarly criticisms of Arming
America. None. Zero. Zip. Zilch. And no, he says, he is not
any kind of an expert on guns in America. He says he was assigned
the book because he has done “a lot of work on non-violence.”

OK. So, how does Wink know the book is true? How does he know if
Bellesiles has accurately used probate records and other sources he
cites? Well, he says, he found the book was “internally
consistent.” Thus, Bellesiles’ use of records was “convincing.”

Q: “But, in fact, you have no idea, do you, if Bellesiles
accurately reports on the more than 11,000 probate records he says
he examined?”

A: “No. You’d have to spend several years [to check this].”

When asked if he is serious about everybody having a willingness to
turn in their guns?, Wink says yes, he is. Does he really think
criminals would turn in their guns? Wink replies:

In England it’s now a felony to be in possession of a gun. And
therefore any who’s arrested or stopped even, and has a gun, is
arrested. And that has lowered the gun-death rate considerably and
has proven to be a very effective way of disarming a public. Now,
this is very hard to do of course.

When told that England’s violent crime rate is now higher than
America’s, Wink says, incredibly: “That is not true. You just made
that statement up.” But, this statement is true. It is not made
up.

The London Daily Mail newspaper says (2/23/2001) that,
according to an international crime report, Britain “has a higher
crime rate than any other rich nation except Australia.” According
to this crime report, 3.6 percent of the population of England and
Wales were victims of violent crime in 1999; in the U.S. only two
percent of the population suffered an assault or robbery. British
Home Secretary Jack Straw is quoted as saying: “Levels of
victimization are higher here than in most comparable countries for
most categories of crime.”

As for gun-crime, the British The Observer newspaper has
reported (12/31/2000):

Gun crime in Britain is soaring to record levels: executions,
woundings and related incidents in the past year are set to be the
highest ever, an investigation by The Observer has
revealed…. The true figures could be even higher because victims
of many of the most violent gun crimes are reluctant to involve the
authorities…. The use of guns outside the big towns and cities
is rising too…. The number of illegally held guns is estimated
at three million. As handguns can no longer be bought or sold
legally, the police believe the vast majority of those coming on to
the market have been smuggled from abroad.

So much for Walter Wink’s absurd, idiotic and dangerous view that
gun control in England has been a “very effective way” of lowering
the gun-death rate and of “disarming a public.” As always,
everywhere, every time, in England, gun-control has disarmed only
law-abiding citizens leaving them helpless against criminals who
will always get guns.

In our interview, when Wink was asked if he knew that millions of
Americans use guns in self-defense every year, he said yes, he knows
this.

Q: “So, why should these Americans have to turn in their guns?”

A: “One thing is being in possession of a gun raises the
possibility of your getting killed.”

Q: “Says who?”

A: “The information on that I can’t recall right now….”

Q: “So, who should we give our guns to?”

A: “The local police.”

Q: “So you’re for banning private ownership of all guns?”

A: “I — let’s see, I, I prefer the English method.”

When told that that was a distinction without a difference, Wink hung up

the phone. When faced with the facts, Wink blinked.

[Larry Pratt is Executive Director of Gun Owners of America.]