Shooting Books

What would you do if were being bullied at your school? Would you go

and tell you're the problem? Well, Cameron Porter did something worse

in the book Shooter by Walter Dean Myers.

Cameron Porter is seventeen years old who goes to Madison High

School. Cameron is an African American who lives in Harrison County.

In his school he got tired of the problem that went on the school and you

Will find out.

Walter Dean Myers writes the book Shooter as if he were writing a play

With the characters names beside the line he speaks. My opinion is that I

Love the way he writes. I recommend this book who likes shootouts and

then you would actually feel that you were the main character

I got this book on tape from my local library. When I picked it up I hadn't immediately remember I'd heard the review for this. It was realistic yet clichéd. I'm tickled pink they actually used an African American voice actor for the role of the African American boy as well as Leonard. I'm sure Cameron's parent's felt they were doing their duty in trying to bring him up right but they never listened to him or valued his opinion. It's no wonder he'd hook up with Leonard who was equally as starved for attention.

I hadn't realized Myers is indeed African American. I feel he brings integrity to his portrayal of African American's in a way that I haven't experienced before. Not all African American's are illiterate, rap lovers with no ambition. It's possible to have too much ambition & no intuition.

I couldn't shake the feeling that I was listening to about a half a dozen composites of high school shootings. Been there, done that. It's still a good read/listen on my way to work. The last CD where we read or hear Leonard's diary thoughts is really amusing in a sick kind of way.

"Shooter" is the story of a school shooting told from the perspective of the two friends of the perpetrator, in interview format after the tragedy has occurred. Cameron Gray is the shooter's friend, and Carla is their mutual friend. Both teens have problems in the form of indifferent or abusive parents, bullying by peers, and in the girl's case, sexual abuse.
However, neither is as troubled as Leonard, who plots to blow up the school and eventually makes an attempt.

The book's strength comes from the fact that both Carla and Cameron are entirely believable teens. They don't speak in pop culture soundbites, they aren't endlessly snarky, and they don't have insight into their situation more appropriate for an adult of the author's age. I appreciated the fact that none of the young characters sounded as if they were on a primetime teen TV drama. The reader is given enough clues to piece together what happened and figure out why, without it being overly obvious or "message-y".

So why the semi-low rating? When it comes to the shooter, Leonard, himself, the author makes it impossible to figure out what is making this guy tick. Is he mentally ill? His diary entry has the language usage of someone suffering from perhaps either schizophrenia or manic depression. At times, I found it nearly unreadable, though that could have also been the font. While I felt sorry for the teen, I was unable to glean any insight into his behavior. While this is an interesting direction to take with a character, it removes a lot of responsibility for his actions, and makes the issue of bullying, bad parenting, etc., secondary. At least if you believe these conditions are caused by nature, not nuture.

"Give A Boy a Gun" by Todd Strasser uses a similiar format as "Shooter," only expanded to include interviews with the shooter's classmates and teachers. I think that might have helped provide more insight into the Leonard character.

It's a great book with suspense in every page! However it is not for kids.

This book was an exceptional book. Although it was very disturbing it had lots of good writing in it. It seemed to be based on Columbine with many of the themes the same. The way the book was set up was interesting, through many interviews with the people involved with the incident. It is about a boy named Len, who has numerous mental problems. He abuses prescription drugs, is bullied at school hates, and his parents. He has been arrested and suspended from school. His only friends are Cameron and Carla. Carla is his ex girlfriend and she hates him too after he reveals some information about her to the whole school. Cameron stays with him until the end but there he stops. Overall I highly recommend this book to people but probably ages 12 and over.
Jeremiah

I would love to be able to whole-heartedly recommend "One Mississippi", but I just can't. This book starts as a hilarious coming-of-age novel set in the 1970s and then it turns into some kind of horror story.

The 16-year-old protagonist, Daniel Musgrove, is forced to move from Indiana to a town outside of Jackson, Mississippi, which is a situation ripe for some comedic culture shock.

"One Mississippi" covers some ground on race relations in addition to the usual challenges of moving to a new community and making your way through high school. And then it really gets ugly.

"One Mississippi" reminded me of the movie "Meet the Parents." Quite often funny things were happening, but then something horribly uncomfortable would happen to the protagonist and you would think it couldn't get any worse. And then, it did get worse and yet more uncomfortable.

I loved and hated "One Mississippi."

I wanted to LOVE this book. It had all the elements in place for a book that I should love. But in the end I finished with a strong sense of like. This book, for me, was the boy that your mama wanted you to date because he was so perfect for you and the fit on paper was excellent, but in the end you had to be "just friends" because the chemistry was missing. I can't say how others will view this book, but for me the chemistry just wasn't there.

But when I say the elements were in place, they really are there. You have the loner, the outcast, the bully, the crazy family; add to the mix the generally apathetic high school administration, a football crazed community, one teacher who "gets" it, and many closets full of skeletons. The book should have been dark and outrageously funny. It should have rivaled "Gods in Alabama", which had most of the same elements in play, as a dark, violent comedy. But for me, it didn't. It was a good story, the book was well written, the characterizations were good. But it lacked that certain something that made reading compelling. In the end, this is a well written, well conceived book with good execution that has has all the excitement and intrigue of a gay prom date.

I pick this book up in Target's because of the title/cover and boy am I glad I did. This was a FUN read!

While I enjoyed the references to 70's culture, which brought back lots of memories, I just don't see this as a humorous book at all. (the cover even featured a quote from, of all people, Stephen King, that it was the funniest novel he'd read in ten years--guess I should have considered the source) On the contrary, it was very dark, from beginning to end. Many of the characters were downright disturbing, from Daniel's father to Arnita, to Tim, as well as some of the minor characters. It is difficult to elaborate on these comments without giving away key events, but Daniel's father was a most unsympathetic character, the effects of Arnita's injury are far from humorous, her mother is strange and disturbing, the "Christ" play was too ridiculous to be believed, and Tim was one creepy character from the start. One had to wonder over and over why Daniel would want to be friends with him. The ending was really bizarre, even though there was plenty of foreshadowing, so not that much of a surprise. It just didn't seem to fit. However, I am most puzzled by the depiction of this story as "humorous," "uproarious," "hilarious," or "rollicking." Disturbing, dark, and troubling are more accurate.

Childress has uncannily captured a great deal of the wit and tenderness of Richard Bradford's great novel Red Sky at Morning (my all-time favorite; read it if you haven't), centering on the cultural/geographic displacement of a teenage boy and his developing bond with another youth--one also on the social fringe, but for different reasons. Like Bradford's novel, this one engages the topics of war, marital frailty, economic disparity, the labyrinth pecking order of high school, and most notably, interracial dating. Childress' book is a darker one, as he allows his characters to explore more deeply into dark corners of human suffering. There is great sadness here, and the reader will grieve loss, yet you will sense the unwavering fondness the author feels for his players.

This book tries to cover most aspects of defensive or tactical shooting. It is NOT about surgical accuracy. In fact, I have not found any book that is about achieving accurate shooting technique, besides the US Army Pistol Marksmanship Training Guide which you can find for free online, and which is better than this book. On the topic of defensive shooting etc, Gabe Suarez's books are probably the best bet for you.

Pros:
- well illustrated
- concise and to the point
- latest techniques and most current thinking explained; up-to-date

Cons:
- chapter on trigger control is shortest in the book, even though author says this is the biggest accuracy problem for most shooters
- too much space (more than for grip and trigger control) devoted to basics like loading, reloading, malfunctions, drawing, holstering, etc issues unrelated to accuracy in shooting

Overall, not a bad book, but I feel Gabe Suarez and Massad Ayoob are better authors on this topic.

A little dissappointed that this book lacked examples of good practice drills. Would be a fine book for someone new to defensive handgunning.

A well thought out and written book, with plenty of illustrations to allow the reader to visulize what the author is talking about.The system presented is realistic as to what to expect in true self defense use of the handgun. If you are going to carry with a CCW permit or keep a handgun in the home for protection, the information in this book is essential.

I cruised through this book when I was already a decent shooter. There wasn't much there for me that I didn't already know. It's informative for a novice or marksman level shooter. If you want a book about the principles and mechanics as well as the mental aspect I would suggest Brian Enos' Practical Shooting. I got more from that book than any other. Even better yet. Find a shooting instructor such as Stanford to learn by doing. Enos will raise your game by getting you to better interpret what you are "seeing" that you may not be conscious of.

I have been on a kick for the last several months. I read books about guns, about ammo, and mostly, about tactics. Reading all of Massad Ayoob's books was a great experience and I wish he had more. Eventually, I had to explore other authors. This is when I found Andy Stanford. His style is great. No bull; to the point writing makes this subject very enjoyable and easy to read. He takes you through the basics, but also explores more in depth tactical information. This is a must-read for anyone who is integrating into their life self protection for their family.

I was drunk when I bought this book, so I feel like I was taken advantage of. But it is a great book, so it's kind of like I woke up next to a hot chick instead of a fat chick. In that case, I really can't complain. Ha:)

This book is a complete joke. Anyone who has seen the movie will read this book for more insight about everything behind-the-scenes. The stunts, the costumes, the sets, the special effects. Unfortunately, this book has none of that. The deepest it delves is into how Heath Ledger shook his head to make his eyeliner smear more. 75% of this book is the script. I don't care about the script, I watched the movie, and know what happens in every scene. I wanted to know how they made the Two-Face character from CGI, I wanted to know how they rigged the stunt scenes, I wanted to know how they built the cars and cycles. Instead, in this book, everything is glossed over like the pages it's printed on. They might as well have written on the final page: "See the Blu-ray for behind-the-scenes information about the movie!", because you already know everything that's written here. It's common sense.

I Write in Spanish: El producto llegó en muy buenas condiciones y me permite confiar aun mas en sus servicios para próximas compras.

Saludos

I was very impressed with this well presented film book,it is printed on a high quality paper,has great photos and production art throughout,is hardcover,has a dust jacket,and a reproduction of the original shooting script word for word,awesome book,outstanding for both "Batman"fans,and for serious movie fans,highly recommended!

Having seen the film more times than I probably should, the necessity to purchase The Dark Knight Screenplay was not far off on the list of things I wanted after viewing the film. Having placed over fifty pages of production art, make-up tests and still photos, topped with an excellant crime/drama of a story - only gives you more reason to buy what has already become such a landmark piece in the world of movies.

One of my graduate school professors recommended this book to my class. I just finished reading it. Here is a brilliant book, written in a beautiful, flowing style. Dr. Garbarino bases the book on in-depth interviews with some of the most violent boys in our country. These boys have killed classmates, dealt drugs, and engaged in kidnapping. Garbarino never lets you lose sight of the fact that these boys have committed heinous crimes. But he gives context to the crimes by explaining how these boys were abused, physically and emotionally, how they suffered, and how they were neglected. Context is not justification. Not only does Dr. Garbarino describe the causes and effects of violence, but he also proposes preventative solutions.

While I believe that Garbarino has valuable insight to offer and shares interesting research with the reader, but he offers up so many explanations for why the boys are violent that he offers no room for personal responsibility or culpability. Additionally, in the last half of the book he pushes an agenda of socialism and an end to Second Amendment rights.

Lost Boys: Why Our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save Them James Garbarino has been referred to by Edward Zigler as one of the nation's major social critics, his groundbreaking research and writing on children in refugee camps around the world, his study of children growing up in war zones from Cambodia, Mozambique, Kuwait, Nicaragua, and Palestine, not to mention his work with children growing up in this country in inner city war zones has influenced a whole generation of child development specialists, mental health professionals, politicians, and policy makers. He has been a truly inspirational figure for me and so many in the field in informing and guiding our work with violent youth. This book is destined to be a classic in the field and makes a compelling case for viewing in a humanistic way those youth who suffer traumatic, often unrecognized, and untreated lacerations to the soul that ultimately lead to a huge cost to society, not just economically, but more poignantly in pain and suffering. Garbarino along with Kenneth Hardy, who is another leading voice in this work, don't condone violence, in fact they deplore it, but they recognize a complicated underlying emotional process consisting of devastating emotional wounds to many of these youngsters who ultimately hurt and in rare, but extreme instances murder others. Typically these wounds have been ignored. In so many cases as Garbarino points out, when you peel away the layers, you will ultimately come to a traumatized child at the core. Tragically, many opportunities along the way are missed with these youngsters to recognize and treat the underlying pain; to provide the trauma-informed treatment that could offer healing to these deeply hurting youth. Our culture has become increasing punitive as if these methods were novel. The basic philosophy behind these harsh methods is that we need to break down the spirit of the kid. What is sadly missed in this approach is that for most of these kids their spirit is already broken down. Garbarino injects a refreshing breath of fresh air in the stale, dank, and limiting prevailing approaches that further demoralize our youth and offer little respite from violence in our society. To simply demonize our youth and to heap still harsher punitive measures on them is a deadend. By contrast, Garbarino's humanistic philosophy and deep committment to hurting youth opens the door to newer, more hopeful possibilites. His work has been instrumental in the encouraging movement in the last 8 years to develop trauma-informed treatment programs for youngsters in residential treatment diagnosed with conduct disorder. The Sanctuary Model developed by Sandra Bloom is one sterling example of such an approach. This is the first book I recommend to people working with violent youth. The field will be forever indebted to James Garbarino for this humanistic turning point in the treatment of deeply troubled youth.

You'll find nothing new in this book; social cues, abuse, cycle of violence, shame, role models, etc. Perhaps it was new news in 1999, but no longer. The author's brain seems to connect items which have nothing to do with each other, and in a judgmental way. See page 151, he makes a severe and inappropriate judgment of a person's reaction to imminent death, and attempts to make an outrageous connection to "being in touch with your soul." Don't waste your money. I'm sure you can find it in a local library and peruse it, but I doubt you'll get much out if it. Unless you're a sheltered Psych 101 student who has never watched the news.

I worked as a documentary producer for some time in the 90's and came to have some first-hand knowledge of one of the cases James Garbarino discusses in this book, that of Shareef Cousin, a New Orleans teen who was once the youngest person ever to be on death row in the US.


Garbarino presents Cousin as a prime example of how a child can fall into a life of violence and murder for lack of a father figure. Problem: Shareef Cousin was not violent and did not murder anyone. His case is one of the most famous US cases of a totally innocent person, in this case a child, landing up on death row. Cousin was actually on several home videotapes taken at the time of the crime playing in a basketball game at a distant community center. Authorities were well aware of this evidence at the time of his trial but suppressed the information, and, in the meantime, coerced Cousin into confessing to a robbery he also couldn't have committed in order to keep him in prison after he was taken off death row. (He's out now, all charges dropped and convictions overturned, and he's a fine, upstanding citizen.). His story is not one of a fatherless boy falling into a life of crime, but of racism and corruption in the New Orleans DA'S office.


If you use the Amazon search feature to view Garbarino's references to Cousin's case in this book, you'll see he gives the impression he interviewed Cousin at length to get all sorts of insight into how his childhood circumstances made him a murderer. He even intimates that Shareef more or less admitted guilt. This is sheer rubbish. From day one, Cousin, his wonderfully supportive family, and numerous witnesses proclaimed his innocence to anyone and everyone who would listen. And by the time this book was published, his murder conviction was being overturned and he was well on his way to being cleared of the sham robbery charges. I find it hard to believe Garbarino was unaware of Sharif's innocence when he wrote this section of the book. But he needed Cousin to be guilty, being the picture-perfect fatherless black kid and all, in order to support his shallow, pop-psychological theories on boys and violence, so he completely misrepresented this child and his situation.


Such a lack of respect for people and for the truth makes all the other anecdotes and "data" in this book highly suspect. What a shame because this is such an important topic that really needs to be addressed by an author of intellectual and personal integrity. -- If Garbarino is their only advocate, the Lost Boys will most likely remain lost.

It's a good book - easy to understand - not necessarily what a pro would need but very good for the beginner to intermediate.

This book is clearly not pointed at true beginners (and says as much). It fills a huge gap in the existing material, a book for the intermediate shooter. I teach a digital photography class at the local community college, and the author addresses most (if not all) of the questions that the more experienced students ask. My students are not professionals, many are beginners, and I recommend this book to any students that might want to continue their studies. The book is also not for the advanced photographer, is a great middle step for those that find "beginner" books to basic, and feel they don't quite understand some topics in "advanced" books.

Wonderful book for the experienced hobbiest/prosumer film photographer finally making the transition to serious digital work. I've been shooting film for 30+ years; however, I've been doing mostly digital "point & shoot" with a Lumix LZ2 for the last two years. I made the transition to a serious digital camera and technique a couple of weeks ago with the help of the author's second edition, published in 2007.

Highly recommended for all (with the exception of the beginner who will need to know the basics regarding f-stops, , focal-length, shutter speeds, ISO, and depth-of-field). If you're finally making the transition like me, you'll find this book enlightening to the point of rekindling the joy of photography.

I'm not sure what this book is supposed to accomplish. It doesn't teach fundamentals of photography -- it assumes you already know a lot; it uses some technical terminology that is never explained. But it also doesn't teach specific techniques (for the most part). It's just a bunch of vague recommendations, and it feels like the author just had to fill a number of pages with words to fulfill the terms of his contract so he could get paid.

There are numerous tips and tricks revealed in 'Shooting Digital, SECOND Edition' published in the fall of 2006, with xvi + 287 pages. As I am a beginning photographer just learning to use my Sony DSC-H5, I wanted to get recent good books written for digicam novices such as myself. Unfortunately, there are not many good recent books specific to the needs of digital photo amateurs. So I settled for this book, which at least is recent and aimed at beginners.

The book has been reorganized some since the 1st edition was published in 2003, though there are numerous anachronisms testifying to the laziness of the editors, who did not bother to update as much of the book as they should have. It is true that many of the techniques do not necessarily require up-to-date information to have teaching value, but it would have been nice to see more discussion of the present and future capabilities and shortcomings of modern digicams.

That said, there is much valuable info concerning digital, as opposed to film, cameras. Many example photos illustrate well the points made in the text. However, many included pictures simply seem to have been selected from a variety of stock photos and selected on the basis of being "good enough" to illustrate the point. Also, there should have been more photos overall and more of the photos used should have been of the side-by-side self-explanatory type, so that novices can see what they've done wrong, and what a correctly shot image would look like nearby. Thus, only about half the photos in the book are instructional in some way. But that means about half are not instructional. Indeed, this latter half seem to serve little purpose other than to anchor text to the page in a manner that was pleasing to whoever designed the layout of the book. Also, many of these purposeless images are not impressive: not as examples, not as art, not as well-exposed or well-composed suggestions, and even, like the large photo chosen for the cover of this 2nd edition, not of subjects worthy of photographing at all.

Although the second chapter of this 2nd edition is called "Shooting RAW," about half the chapter concerns itself with choosing the proper camera settings and shows a bit about how images can be tweaked via software. But time and time again throughout the book, examples of image editing via software refers to Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, both of which topics the author has written books about. These frequent references strike me as embedded advertising, both for his books as well as for Adobe. Since I do not use Adobe software, his sidebars on image editing really only serve as examples of what _can_ be done to fix marred photos after the shoot, rather than providing useful instruction. But if you have Adobe software, then you may find these sidebars valuable.

Finally, I'd like to point out that the pages in this book are NOT sewn in signatures, and the thickness of the pages combined with the stiffness of the perfect binding, means that the book will not lay flat when opened. The idiot who designed the book decided to put the wide margins on the OUTSIDE of the pages (instead of the inside where the pages are joined), so that it becomes difficult to read the text as your eyes move to the inside margins, and you have to keep turning the book back and forth in your hands. Also, the stiff binding combined with the lack of signatures means that, if you use the book frequently, then eventually the binding may break and the book will fall apart.

I will say, however, that the 9-page, two-column index is quite good, allowing you to lookup in the book some subject you remember and to find that subject discussed where you remember reading it. This is important, because the book has no glossary. So if you forgot what some term means, you can find it in the index and turn to the place in the book where it is defined.


[...]

I have read several of the author's books on self-defense with a pistol and shotgun. With these books, you can build the critical self-defense response needed in a crisis. Re-read the books often and dry-fire practice in your home ... in case a home invasion incident should happen when you least expect it in your neighborhood, much less at your residence.

A judgement call ... how to have a loaded weapon handy when the worst happens to you. Remember, an empty weapon is useless. A loaded weapon around curious children can lead to a family fatality.

This is a great book for anyone who owns a pistol and is thinking of using it for more than target shooting and hunting. Proper self defense takes practice and training. This book is a great tool to becoming more efficient and will get you the information you need. Gabe Suarez is well known in the firearms training community and has put the tactics and recommendations into use and is bringing real world experience to you. Well laid out and easy to read. This is a must of anyone wanting to become more efficient with their pistol.

Tactical Pistol Marksmanship was surprisingly disappointing, not because the information was bad, or because it was poorly written, but because compared to Gabe's other books, all of which I've read, it was slim on new content.

If this is the only book on the Tactical Pistol you get or read, you will likely learn a lot, but you will learn much more if you get Gabe's other book by that name, or his book The Tactical Advantage,or almost anything else he's written.

If this was the only thing I'd ever read by Gabe, I might have given it a 4 out of 5. Compared to Gabe's other work though (all of which I would rate at 5), this one was disappointing.

Gabe Suarez does a good job of introducing the novice to; and reminding the experienced shooter of the practical aspects of pistol use in tactical deployment.

Suarez introduces the reader, briefly, to historical considerations, ammunition and pistol selection (based on experience and personal preference), types of malfunctions, grip, stance and the usual basics that can never be emphasized enough.

He almost immediately launches into the real value of the book; clearing malfunctions, speed reloads, tactical reloads, multiple target engagements (including 360 degrees) and how to practice at home.

In my personal experience, Suarez' suggestion to practice routinely at home during dry fire practice sessions has drastically improved my speed, accuracy and confidence. I recommend this book to everyone I know that carries concealed, carries for a living or just wants to shoot better and faster.

I have read this book 3 times, as there is so much great information presented. Another book to underline key phrases.

I have an old Flayderman's from the 1980s that has been a great source of information over the years on antique firearms. The sheer amount of information gathered in it is incredible and the latest edition is, believe it or not, even better! More information on many of the firearms and more entries makes this edition the best yet. Flayderman's in an invaluable resource for those interested in antique firearms and I highly recommend it!

Ever since the first edition, Norm's book has been the standard reference for antique American firearms. No other reference comes close to the breadth of content. Unless someone takes over, this is likely to be the last edition as Norm is getting up there in years.

The index is still difficult to use as it has been since the first edition. It can be frustrating to locate information on a specific, less common, firearm. The prices listed for most items tend to be several years out of date.

I have ll the previous books, I have been waiting for this to come out. A must have for anyone who collects antique gun's.

As always, Flayderman presents the best in his guides. Well written and explanations are very accurate. A must for gun collectors and dealers.

I have bought 5 prior editions of this book. It is the best antique firearms valuation tool out there and full of interesting information.

This book is a great read. If you like Revolvers you will like this book.

After several months, I am still reading this book--it has a lot of detail and so it's kind of a slow read, but I still find it very interesting. There's practical information there as well as a whole bunch of now rather useless details which are mostly interesting from a historical standpoint. Mind you, I just like to shoot, and this is only my opinion about something I'm fascinated with. It's not for everybody....but,
personally, I'd say, if you want to be well informed regarding the matter of revolver shooting, this is a book to put in your library and read.

This is a must book for anyone who wants to shoot a pistol. Although it is seriously aimed at revolver shooters, many of the techniques covered in this book apply to semi-automatic pistols also. There is a lot of material to wade through to get to the points, but it is well worth it.

Some people may get frustrated because the author is mainly covering 38 caliber ammunition. Just remember the principals are the same. If you start out with 22 caliber and move up, it is actually easier to gain control and learn the lessons, so when you do move up to higher calibers, you already understand the principles. The important part is to gain the accuracy and be proficient.

The book is reasonably priced and 22 caliber ammunition is cheap. So have some fun and learn how to shoot that side arm of yours. You want to make sure you hit what your aiming at.

I want to say up front that I am a gun guy from way back, and a revolver man through and through. I have heard so many good things about this book that I could not wait to get it, but it is pretty boring to me. Of course, the material is dated, but McGivern's writing leaves something to be desired too. Very technical, and dry. I respect him tremendously for what he did, and for conducting these experiments with the revolver, but the book is boring no matter how you sugarcoat it!

I picked up this book when I has having difficulty shooting my S&W 617 revolver (it's a 22 caliber handgun). The writing style was old and I became accustomed to it after a chapter or so. I dug around through the text and found the Ed McGivern's instructions on grip, trigger control, body stance, and sighting. I followed these instructions precisely at the range while firing double action. Amazingly, my group sizes dropped from three to six inches at 21 feet to 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches in size! I continued practice using his advice and my revolver shooting has continuously improved--even after transitioning to a S&W 625 in 45 ACP.

It has been a year since I started this process. Over that year, I have reviewed the content of this book several times. There are *many* concepts inside that form the foundation for modern combat handgunnery. He discusses a variety of techniques for moving while shooting, draws, and so forth.

He does spend a substantial amount of time describing trick shooting. This is interesting, but probably not possible given today's range rules. There are techniques to be learned though; in particular: his process for breaking down a trick into a series of shooting exercises. Learning to speed shoot is a particular challenge with a double action revolver; his procedure is difficult and one born of experience. Most likely, the reader will need to burn a bunch of powder in order to figure it out (which is one thing I like about this book: to "get it" you really need to apply the concepts while on the gun range).

I found the sections that "justify" the double action revolver to be interesting. Apparently, the argument over single action versus double action had been going on for a decade or two. McGivern applied some sense and some science to show "what is possible." Today, we see the same argument between 1911 shooters and double action pistol shooters. Some things never change!

In all, I recommend this book to any shooter...new or old. Its style is a bit odd, but the results are well worth the effort. My double action revolver shooting has dramatically improved as a result of this book.

good educational product, it enhanced my general culture, this guy really knows his stuff, great buy

Gabe Suarez covers a wide range of topics: Shotgun Types, Ammunition, Accessories, Loading, Shooting Positions, Malfunctions, Close Quarters Defense, etc... It's an excellent overview of tactical shotgun shooting for those just beginning to learn and a great review for those with more advanced skills.

There are numerous illustrations, a list of resources and suggestions for further reading.

Overall a well written book that covers a lot of ground.

Check out this guide to the defensive shotgun while you take a class on the subject. This book emphasizes all the important techniques.

Gabe Suarez has written several books on shooting, and like the others, this book provides a solid introductory base to the who, what, when, where and why of employing the shotgun. Many have criticized his works because they can't get past "the basics", which he presents in each book. However, it's these "basics" that you're most likely to remember, use and be successful with. If you have his other books, you'll read through some familiar territory including the psychology of using a weapon against another human being, the risks and considerations and the common-sense practical aspects of being prepared for the time you may have to do so. Then he launches into the specialty of this book, suitable equipment (guns and accessories) and successful employment of the equipment to survive the encounter. Before you buy this book, beware, Suarez does not believe in point shooting (neither do I). If you're as stubborn as I am, only you're in the point shooting camp, don't bother with this book. Suarez is a student of Cooper and believes in using your sights. He does little to nothing to address the other point of view.

The Bounty Hunter breakin here in Phoenix in '97 prompted me to take up the defensive shotgun. I found a local school and began the thrilling task of learning how to operate the 12 gauge pump not only as a formidable tool for things that go bump in the night, but to learn its capabilities and shortcomings (hostage rescue). Suarez' TSG addresses all the best techniques and provides much supplemental material for applying these techniques using different operating systems (Rem/Mossberg slide/pump, semi-autos).

It's all here: patterning with buckshot/shot, one/two-hand operations, slings and modes of carry, tactical and emergency reloads, indexing, loading a slug on demand, position shooting, and transitioning to sidearm/secondary weapon. The book is filled with excellent photographs which document the above techniques. Suarez' skill as a trainer clearly shows in the effectiveness of presentation.

Although I'd recommend studying the defensive shotgun in a practical setting, this book is a great way to see what should be covered in such a course. If you don't have social shotgun skills, there's no time like the present. Social unrest, home invasion, nuisance animals--do it now.