• After Parkland, Students Choose to Participate
    by Facing History Team
    In Florida and around the United States, young people are speaking out to press for changes to American gun laws: writing op-eds and tweets, planning walk-outs and teach-ins, talking with reporters and lobbying elected officials, and organizing demonstrations. Here are questions and discussion points to use in the classroom to encourage civic participation.
  • America's Obsession With Guns
    by Ward Anderson
    After nearly every mass shooting, talk turns not to gun laws or their availability but to "the mental illness" of the shooters. Gun owners are stockpiling weapons of all sizes and firepower. They hate big government and some of them are even preparing for armed revolution. According to Ward Anderson, "America needs to stop pretending that the fetishizing of assault rifles and the fantasizing about armed insurrection are somehow completely normal."
  • The Big Reason Young People Don't Debate Gun Control the Way Adults Do
    by Mike Males
    Today's high school students have reduced gun homicides from a total of 447 in 1990 to 42 in 2016, and "across the country, school-age teens 12-17 show a drop in gun homicide rates more than double that of other ages." The online connectivity of this generation has worked wonders in bringing them together with others. Perhaps they might even accomplish the Holy Grail sought by other youth — a peaceful and less violent world!
  • Companies Cut Ties to the N.R.A., but Find There Is No Neutral Ground
    by Julie Creswell and Tiffany Hsu
    In the days since the Florida school shooting, the push for boycotts and meaningful change has mobilized faster than with previous mass shootings. Social media shows that reactions to companies dropping their contracts with the National Rifle Association are polarized.
  • Gun Death Rate Rose Again in 2016
    by Christine Hauser
    The rate of gun deaths in the United States rose and reflected the second consecutive year that the mortality rate rose. According to data from the Center for Disease Control, more than 33,000 people die in firearm-related deaths in the U.S. every year. Excluding most suicides, at least 15,549 people were killed by guns in the United States in 2017, according to a report by Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit organization that tracks media and law enforcement reports of shootings.
  • More Armed Police or Fewer Guns? How to Fix Our Nation's Gun Violence Issues
    by Courtland Milloy
    There were lots of guns at the March for Our Lives rally which centered around youth calling for an end to gun violence. When asked whether or not police guns made them feel safer, one student answered, "The whole point of protest is to stop relying so much on violence and start taking care of each other." The reporter sums up the real issue: "Political leaders who lie, renege on commitments, use their public offices for private gain, steal from the poor and give to the rich, erode the trust in authoritative news sources and in the process weaken and destroy democracy — that is the greatest threat to our national security."
  • More Guns Do Not Stop More Crimes, Evidence Shows
    by Melinda Wenner Moyer
    Although many proud gun-owners believe that having a weapon in the home serves as a deterrent to crime, research has proven that guns at home were four times more likely to cause an accidental shooting, seven times more likely to be used in assault or homicide, and eleven times more likely to be used in a suicide than they were to be used for self-defense.
  • Nine Ways to Help Students Discuss Guns and Violence
    by Laura Tavares
    In the wake of a mass shooting in Florida, students are taking action on gun control. Educators can respond in a variety of supportive ways, such as fostering civil discourse and reflection, establishing classroom norms, and encouraging informed dialogue.
  • "No More" or We Vote You Out: Students Lead Huge U.S. Anti-Gun Rallies
    by Ian Simpson and Katanga Johnson
    In solidarity with classmates who died in last month's Florida high school massacre, survivors and many others have called for tougher gun laws. Their goal is "to break the legislative gridlock that has long stymied efforts to increase restrictions on firearms sales."
  • The Secret History of Guns
    by Adam Winkler
    This article covers a wide range of people, events, and ideas including the Constitution, the Fourteenth Amendment and the right of individuals to have guns for self-defense, the activities of the National Rifle Association (NRA) in their battle against gun regulation, the centrality of guns in the philosophy of the Black Panthers, and much more.
  • Seven Insights to Help You Make Sense of Gun Violence
    by Jeremy Adam Smith
    We now have years of data showing what happens when we flood communities with firearms of all types, from handguns to assault rifles, and lift restrictions on our ability to carry and use them. Research can also help us understand what we can do to stop gun violence.
  • Students Lead Huge Rallies for Gun Control Across the U.S.
    by Michael D. Shear
    Many frustrated and exhausted adults who have tried for years to bring about reforms in gun laws have had their spirits lifted by a new generation of youthful activists who are "done hiding" from gun violence. These young people have pledged "to exercise their newfound political power in the midterm elections this fall."