After mass shootings, politicians in Washington have failed to pass new gun control legislation, despite public pressure. But laws are being passed at the state level, largely to loosen restrictions.
Sandy Hook families aimed to hold the makers of the guns used in the shooting responsible.
AP Photo/Seth Wenig
While it’s a victory for the families of the victims, the settlement leaves a key legal question about the gun industry’s liability shield unanswered.
People who want to restrict guns have a point, but so do people who say those laws make little difference in mass shootings.
George Frey/AFP via Getty Images
Student activists are presenting important, emotionally powerful counter-narratives to those of the gun lobby. Their success will depend on whether they can sustain these efforts.
A line of AR-15s are on display at gunmaker Daniel Defense in Georgia.
AP Photo/Lisa Marie Pane
Teens’ brains develop different skills along a predictable timeline. These milestones should influence the legal age boundaries for voting, buying guns and being put to death.
Late actor and former National Rifle Association President Charlton Heston held a rifle aloft at a 2002 get-out-the-vote rally.
AP Photo/Jim Cole
Research is the foundation for evidence-based policies. But because of funding prohibitions, there’s little US research to inform the contentious debate around gun violence and gun control.
With no money to research guns, there’s no evidence to base policy on.
Håkan Dahlström
Horrific mass shootings in the US typically renew the national debate about gun policy. A gun researcher explains the lack of funding for study in this area and what that means for informed policy.
Guns have another kind of price tag.
Jim Young/Reuters
The current debate over the right to bear arms versus regulation is at a stalemate, but a new dialogue that focuses on the social burden of firearms might provide a new way forward.
Should this gun be in the hands of a civilian?
Connecticut State Police via Reuters
Though the perpetrators of the mass shooting in California appear to have acquired their guns legally, the vast majority used in violent crimes are obtained illegally.
Barack Obama speaks about counterterrorism and the US fight against Islamic State from the Oval Office.
Saul Loeb/Reuters
PhD Student, Harry S. Truman School of Government and Public Affairs. Graduate Fellow, Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy, University of Missouri-Columbia