Far from a knee-jerk reaction to Toronto’s recent mass shooting, fresh calls for tougher gun control laws have a long history in Canada. A man places his hand on his handgun in B.C. in 2014 during the International Practical Shooting Confederation Canada national championships.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Calls to outlaw handguns in Canada are hardly knee-jerk proposals in response to violent incidents. Instead, they’re in line with the historic Canadian trend to limit the presence of modern pistols.
If a news report mentions a shooter’s tough childhood, chances are he’s white.
ASAG Studio
White shooters are nearly 95 percent more likely to have their crimes attributed to mental illness than black shooters.
Police at the scene of a shooting in Toronto’s Greektown on July 23, 2018. The parents of Faisal Hussain, whose shooting spree left two people dead and 13 injured, say their son had struggled all his life with psychosis and depression, but none of the medications or therapies he tried were able to overcome his mental illness.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
Social media abhors informational vacuums and speed eclipses accuracy. That allows pseudo-experts, agitators and even liars to circulate rumours and poisonous information when big news breaks.
A woman wipes a tear as Toronto’s Greektown neighbourhood community gathers for a candlelit vigil to honour the victims of a deadly shooting in Toronto on July 22 that killed an 18-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
After acts of violence, we want to make sense of what is right and wrong and where we stand in the world. But we must ensure our belief systems are periodically and systematically checked.
The scene in Las Vegas several days after the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.
AP Photo/Gregory Bull
The hotel company filed an unprecedented lawsuit against the victims of the mass shooting in Las Vegas last October, arguing it has immunity from liability under federal law.
In June, 2009, people were invited to bring their firearms without bullets during a service at the New Bethel Church Louisville, Ky.
AP Photo/Ed Reinke, Pool
There is a long line of well-armed American preachers – both real and fictional – in US history and culture, confirming perhaps the view that true justice cannot be enforced by institutions alone.
Outside Santa Fe High School in Texas on May 18, 2018.
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
The notion of a ‘crisis of masculinity" clouds the understanding of complex social phenomena and falsely asserts a vision of humanity as being radically divided between men and women.
For the first time in decades, there is now a real possibility that some gun controls might be implemented.
Colin Abbey/AAP
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.
Students who walked out of school protest against gun violence in front of the White House.
Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
The lightning-quick corporate response to demands for a boycott against the NRA shows that companies can’t escape politics in an age saturated with social media.
AR-15-style rifles on display in a Texas retail shop.
AP Photo/Lisa Marie Pane
Gunmakers should be at the center of any discussion of the root causes of violence, and a closer look at firearms sales reveals some interesting trends.
Tyra Hemans, a 19-year-old senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, holds signs honoring slain teachers and friends.
Zachary Fagenson/Reuters
According to a photojournalism expert, there can be a relationship between exposure to grisly images and activism. But there are also ethical considerations to be made.
A lack of federal funds stymies gun violence researchers.
Alan English CPA
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.
Attendees attend a candlelight vigil for the victims of a shooting at a Florida school.
AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
Advocates of gun control may despair in the wake of mass shootings like the one in Parkland, Florida, but the history of government support for the gun industry shows Americans have more sway than they think.
Playing violent video games doesn’t make kids more aggressive.
AP Photo/Paul Sakuma
With mass shootings and sexual harassment reports on the rise, a psychologist reflects on how the evolving nature of male role models in the media may be contributing.
Service for victims of Sutherland Springs Baptist Church shooting.
AP Photo/Eric Gay
A scholar asks: If two acts of violence kill similar numbers of people, have similar effects on victims and communities, and spread fear and terror, should they not be seen as equally abhorrent?