The Gun Digest Book of Personal Protection & Home Defense

This is an excellent book. It has information for beginners, but there's lots of material for skilled shooters.I always wonder about the "experts" who scoff at a "beginner's book". Not sure what they're looking for. A book on how to shorten or soften the trigger pull? Or how to file down the hammer spur? These things are taught at a gunsmith or armorer school. The title of this book makes it pretty clear what's inside.Mr. Campbell likes 1911s but I didn't find him overselling them. Buy what you like.In not too overly large a book, everything is covered here: handguns, rifles, shotguns, and their use in different situations. Included in each discussion are a number of useful tricks and tips.A few good books by Ayoob, the manuals for your own firearms, and the latest guides to what's out there make a good little collection. This book is a good addition.

My first gun digest book was a Combat handgunnery by Massad Ayoob. And that biook was a real encyclopedia type. what lacks in this particular book is some more arguments supporting authors point of view. While Ayoob mostly operetes with experience from various law enforcement agancies and real life cases here I only read, I, My, Mine, Me. Nevertheless the content of this book might be quite usefull for beginners and contains some usefull advices and info, more advanced or more experinced users will barley find something new here unheared before, ome exclusion is a chapter about defense from dogs. Also it is good to read someone else opinion on that subject, someone who understands more in practical use of firearms and has serious background. Also I think this book is simply too small to cover such complex issues as home defense, weapons choices and etc. Thereby articles are too short and brief. Surprised that in bargain guns, there are not mentioned excellent Stoeger or Steyr pistols. I do like more Ayoobs style and think that his Gun Digest Books are really very usefull but i will keep this book in my library anyway.

This books is an opinion in search of an argument. Campbell means well, but he has very strong opinions, states them often, and rarely backs them up with evidence. He often contradicts himself, and his almost religious devotion to old-time guns like the 1911 (and his disdain for more modern guns like the Glock) cause him to make totally unsupportable, sweeping generalizations, as well as making statements on one page that disagree with statements made on another. This is what happens when you are essentially trying to bluff your way through a 250+ page book based largely on your own opinions and prejudices rather than on a serious study of evidence and statistics. Phrases like "seem to", and "I like to think" abound, and Campbell refuses to name names when it counts: to back up his statements with hard evidence that can be checked. There is no bibliography, no index, and no mention of specific sources, so you as the reader have to take the book on trust, even as you notice that the argument doesn't hold together well.There IS some good information in here, but it is overwhelmed by the opinion masquerading as fact. For an experienced gun person, this book would provide a few gems among the great deal of unsubstantiated opinions and prejudices (but why bother?). For a person new to self-defense and firearms, this book would be confusing at best, and dangerous at worst. Campbell writes a great deal, but is often so vague and verbose that it's hard to glean meaning from his prose. The crustiness factor is also high here: he is very old school, and you will not get a balanced view of gun selection here.I would strongly recommend Masaad Ayoob's two books from the same series: The Gun Digest Book Of Concealed Carry and The Gun Digest Book Of Combat Handgunnery as much more useful, authoritative, and clear, but above all, based on concrete evidence that proves Ayoob's points. Ironically, Campbell as an ex-police officer seems totally unaware of how to use evidence, which makes this book worse than weak. This raises another point: the "Gun Digest Book of" series is incredibly uneven. You simply cannot trust GD to choose authors consistently or to turn away something (like this book) that never should have seen the light of day. Avoid this book. For handguns, buy the two Ayoob titles above. For long guns, try "The Farnam Method of Defensive Shotgun and Rifle Shooting" and Gabe Suarez's dated but still useful "The Tactical Shotgun."

Nothing fancy or extra, a good starter on the journey to protect your life, property, family, and community. especially good on covering legality. also very common sense and practical, gives many mitakes you NEVER want to make.

This book is a guide for those that do not have time for personal training like me. I have too many obligations at this point but would love to attend one of the training schools. But for now, I purchase books and read up on the art of self defense. Maybe after retiring, I can persue other avenues. This book is a must read.