Robert Spitzer (political scientist)
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Dr. Robert J Spitzer is Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the State University of New York at Cortland. He graduated from New Hartford High School in 1971, and holds a 1975 B.A. from SUNY Fredonia, a 1978 M.A. from Cornell University, and a 1980 Ph.D. from Cornell University.
Spitzer is the author of eleven books and hundreds of articles, essays, and papers on many topics related to American government. His areas of specialty include the American Presidency and gun control. Among other works, he is the author of The Politics of Gun Control (ISBN 1-56802-905-5), a book which analyzes the political antecdents and consequences of the controversial issue of gun control. The book's analysis includes the history of gun control, the Second Amendment, criminological consequences of guns, the role of interest groups, public opinion, Congress, Presidency, the courts, and the major legislative acts pertaining to gun control, including the Gun Control Act of 1968, the Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986, the Brady Act of 1993 and the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994.
Spitzer argues that laws like the Brady Act are typical of gun measures, as the political struggle over them exceeds their policy consequences, as seen in the role of such groups as the NRA. The act led to the number of licenses gun dealers falling from 300,000 to 100,000.
