This page spotlights gun manufacturing, gun sales, gun ownership, the marketing and culture of guns, and the resulting violence and deaths due to guns.

Gun Violence Archive (website)

Adam Winkler, The Secret History of Guns. The Atlantic, Sep 2011.

Dave Gilson, 10 Myths About Guns. Mother Jones, Jan 31, 2013.

Jason Clayworth, Iowa Grants Gun Permits to the Blind. USA Today, Sep 8, 2013.

Shadee Ashtari, Dealer Backs Down on Plan to Sell Smart Guns After Pro-Gun Activists Threaten to Kill Him. Huffington Post, May 2, 2014.

David Moye, Sandy Hook 'Truther' Tells Victim's Mother Her Daughter Never Existed. Huffington Post, May 14, 2014.

Adam Gopnik, Christopher Michael-Martinez's Father Gets It Right. The New Yorker, May 25, 2014.

Mark Joseph Stern, The Bloodshed State: Doctors in Florida Cannot Legally Protect Children from Guns. Slate, Jul 28, 2014.

Sheila V. Kumar, Accidental Fatal Shooting of Gun Instructor by 9-Year-Old Girl Sparks New Debate. Wall Street Journal, Aug 27, 2014.

Heather Digby Parton, Gun Nuts’ Vile Muslim Test: Why Open Carry Activists Don’t Want to Extend the Right to Everyone. Salon, Dec 19, 2014.

Shaun King, 62-year-old Black Grandfather Choked and Held Down by Three White Men Who See His Legal Firearm. Daily Kos, Jan 22, 2015.

Jeff Guo, The Legal Loophole That Allowed Dylann Roof to Get a Gun. Washington Post, Jun 18, 2015.

Tom Englehart, America Is Terrorizing Itself: Dylann Roof, James Holmes and the Violent Epidemic We (Still) Won't Acknowledge. Salon, Jun 23, 2015.

Eric Boehlert, Fox News’ Denial is Pathological: Race, Guns and the Lies the Network Tells Itself. Salon, Jun 23, 2015.

Hunter Roosevelt, 12 Times Mass Shootings Were Stopped by Good Guys With Guns. Controversial Times, Jun 23, 2015.  Although #1, 2, 3, 4 and others were already critiqued as typically misreported by Mark Follman, Do Armed Civilians Stop Mass Shooters? Actually, No. Mother Jones, Dec 19, 2012.

Evan Delifilippis and Devin Hughes, Gunfight or Flee: New Study Finds No Advantages to Using a Firearm in Self-Defense Situations. The Trace, Jul 14, 2015. research provides the latest evidence debunking the myth of defensive gun use

Tim Murphy, One City Tried Something Radical to Stop Gun Violence. This Report Suggests It's Working. From 45 Homicides to 11 in Seven Years. Mother Jones, Jul 27, 2015.

Erin Schumaker, This One Thing Could Keep Cops From Being Shot on the Job. Huffington Post, Aug 14, 2015.

David Ferguson, Good Guy With a Gun Shoots Carjacking Victim in the Head - Then Runs Away. Raw Story, Sep 27, 2015.

Peter Aldous, Here's What Really Reduces Gun Violence. Buzzfeed News, Oct 2, 2015.

Michael E. Miller, "Worst Nightmare": Woman With Concealed Gun Permit Shoots at Fleeing Shoplifter Outside Home Depot. Washington Post, Oct 8, 2015.

John Prager, "Good Guy with a Gun" Shoots 4 Year Old Dead in Road Rage Murder. Occupy Democrats, Oct 21, 2015.

Mark Gomez, San Jose: Boy, 9, Shot While in Bed After Upstairs Neighbor Shoots Himself in Foot.  San Jose Mercury News, Oct 28, 2015.

Jesse Paul, Colorado Springs Gunman, Victims ID'd; Police Quickly Confronted, Shot Suspect. Denver Post, Nov 2, 2015.

Tom McKay, This Is How Chicago Gets Flooded With Illegal Guns. Mic, Nov 3, 2015.

Elisabeth Parker, Toddlers Shot More People In US Than Islamic Terrorists In 2015: 20 Senators Want To Know Why (Reverb Press, Nov 20, 2015.

Kashana Cauley, A Black Woman Walks Into a Gun Show. Buzzfeed, Nov 30, 2015.

Zack Beauchamp, Guns Killed More Americans in 12 Years than AIDS, War, and Illegal Drug Overdoses Combined. Vox, Dec 2, 2015.

Megan Hickey, et.al., Here's a Map of All the Mass Shootings in 2015. PBS, Dec 2, 2015.

Nick Wing, Here's How The Nation Responded When A Black Militia Group Occupied A Government Building. Huffington Post, Jan 6, 2016.

Mark Follman, 7 Myths About Gun Violence in America, Debunked. Mother Jones, Jan 7, 2016.  a helpful collection of links

Kurt Eichenwald, Right-Wing Extremists Are a Bigger Threat to America Than ISIS Is. Newsweek, Feb 4, 2016.

Christopher Ingraham, Tennessee's New Official State Rifle is So Powerful It Can "Destroy Commercial Aircraft". Washington Post, Feb 26, 2016.

Zack Beauchamp, A Huge International Study of Gun Control Finds Strong Evidence It Actually Works. Vox, Feb 29, 2016.

Meg Wagner, Pro-Gun Florida Mom Accidentally Shot by 4 Year Old Son After Leaving Loaded Weapon in Car. New York Daily News, Mar 9, 2016.

Lindy West, The Macabre Truth of Gun Control in the US is that Toddlers Kill More People Than Terrorists Do. The Guardian UK, Mar 13, 2016.

Marc Cooper, Gun Control is a Misfire. The American Conservative, Mar 21, 2016.

Patrick Blanchfield, The Gun Control We Deserve. N+1 Magazine, Apr 21, 2016.  re: state, city laws; NRA history; types of gun control

Sharon LaFraniere and Agustin Armendariz, A Drumbeat of Multiple Shootings, but America Isn’t Listening. New York Times, May 22, 2016.  Most shootings with four deaths or injuries are invisible outside their communities, and most of the lives they scar are black.

Larry Buchanan, Josh Keller, Richard A. Oppel, Jr., and Daniel Victor, How They Got Their Guns. New York Times, Jun 12, 2016.  On 16 recent mass shootings

Jon Stokes, Why I "Need" an AR-15. Medium, Jun 14, 2016.

Brett Arends, What America's Gun Fanatics Won't Tell You. MarketWatch, Jun 14, 2016.  Alexander Hamilton's Federalist Papers #29 explains "a well regulated militia" is a National Guard

Yishan Wong, You Cannot Regulate Guns Unless You Know How to Use One. Medium, Jun 20, 2016.

David Smalley, Why Gun Nuts Lie - I Know From Experience. Patheos, Jun 25, 2016.

Ben Casselman, Gun Deaths in America. FiveThirtyEight, Jul 2016.

Christopher Ingraham, More Police Officers Die on the Job in States With More Guns. Washington Post, Jul 8, 2016.

Adam Winkler, The Right to Bear Arms Has Mostly Been for White People. Washington Post, Jul 15, 2016.

Olivia Quintana, Father Charged After 8-Year Old Brings Gun to School. Boston Globe, Nov 3, 2016.

German Lopez, Gun Violence in America, Explained in 17 Maps and Charts. Vox, Nov 28, 2016.

Alice Speri, How Many Children Were Shot Today? An Interview with Gary Younge. The Intercept, Dec 18, 2016.

Jessica Taylor, House Votes To Overturn Obama Rule Restricting Gun Sales To the Severely Mentally Ill. NPR, Feb 2, 2017.

Ali Vitali, Trump Signs Bill Revoking Obama-Era Gun Checks for People With Mental Illnesses. NBC News, Feb 28, 2017.  

Francis Wilkerson, The Costs of Southern Gun Culture. Bloomberg, Mar 30, 2017.

Tessa Berenson, ISIS Tells Followers It's 'Easy' to Get Firearms From U.S. Gun Shows. Time, May 5, 2017.

Peter Bergen, Trump's Travel Ban is Useless. Terrorists Mostly Come from Our Own Backyard. Washington Post, Jun 5, 2017.

Bonnie Berkowitz, Lazaro Gamio, Denise Lu, Kevin Uhrmacher and Todd Lindeman, The Math of Mass Shootings. Washington Post, Jun 6, 2017.

Milenko Martinovich, States with Right-to-Carry Concealed Handgun Laws Experience Increases in Violent Crime, According to Stanford Scholar. Stanford News, Jun 21, 2017.

Ken Stern, Former NPR CEO Opens Up About Liberal Media Bias. New York Post, Oct 21, 2017.  Contains some valuable information about defensive gun use

Brene Brown, Gun Reform: Speaking Truth to Bullshit, Practicing Civility, and Effecting Change. Brene Brown blog, Nov 8, 2017.  

Katie Zezima, After Mass Shootings, Retired Military Commanders Urge Congress to Address 'Gun Violence Crisis'. Washington Post, Dec 2, 2017.

Resist the Gun Lobby, What's Training Got To Do With It? Resist the Gun Lobby, Dec 6, 2017.

Bill Chappell, Columbia, S.C., Approves A Rare U.S. Ban On The Use Of Bump Stocks. NPR, Dec 17, 2017.

Nick Wing and Matt Ferner, Las Vegas Autopsies Reveal The True Brutality Of Mass Shootings. Huffington Post, Feb 14, 2018.  

Mike Dunham, Everything I've Learned About Gun Control aka "Holy Shit, Stop Trying to Ban Assault Weapons". Medium, Feb 21, 2018.  Dunham proposes that there is no difference between pistols and semi-automatic weapons; banning bump stocks is important; ubiquity of gun access still a challenge.

Heather Sher, What I Saw Treating the Victims From Parkland Should Change the Debate on Guns. The Atlantic, Feb 22, 2018.  Sher discusses the AR-15 bullet vs. the ordinary handgun bullet.

Francis Maxwell, Philando Castile Was a Licensed Gun Owner and Teacher. Facebook video, Feb 23, 2018.  

Vinnie Longobardo, An Armed Utah Teacher Accidentally Shot Herself at School. Washington Press, Feb 23, 2018.

Lincoln Anthony Blades, Black Teens Have Been Fighting for Gun Reform for Years. Teen Vogue, Feb 23, 2018.  

C.J. Chivers, Larry Buchanan, Denise Lu, and Karen Yourish, With AR-15s, Mass Shooters Attack With the Rifle Firepower Typically Used by Infantry Troops. New York Times, Feb 28, 2018.  

Jeremy Adam Smith, Why Are White Men Stockpiling Guns? Scientific American, Mar 14, 2018.  and Michael Harriot, Report: White Men Stockpile Guns Because They’re Afraid of Black People. The Root, Mar 15, 2018.  

Jon Greenberg, NRA Says Violent Radicals Are Behind the March for Our Lives. Politifact, Mar 23, 2018.  NRA-TV host Grant Stinchfield receives a "pants on fire" score

Fox News Sunday, Fox News Poll Shows Strong Support for Gun Control (Twitter, Mar 25, 2018)

German Lopez, This European Comedy Sketch Explains How the World Sees America's Gun Problem. Vox, Apr 4, 2018.  

David French, Shouldn’t Police at Home Exhibit at Least as Much Discipline as Soldiers at War? National Review, Apr 4, 2018.   

Jonathan Cohn, This is the Toughest Gun Law in America. Huffington Post, May 6, 2018.  re: Massachusetts

Ian Haydon, Kids and Guns: Study Finds Urban-Rural Divide That Changes With Age. The Inquirer Philly, Jul 9, 2018.  

Katherine Timpf, Jemel Roberson’s Death Is an American Tragedy. National Review, Nov 15, 2018.  significant for its admission, from a conservative source, that "a good guy with a gun" backfires for black men.  See also P.R. Lockhart, Jemel A Black Security Guard Caught a Shooting Suspect - Only to Be Shot by Police Minutes Later. Vox, Jan 23, 2019.  

Trevor Noah, A Year after the Parkland Shooting, the Fight for Sensible Gun Control Continues. The Daily Show, Feb 14, 2019.  highlights tighter and looser gun control changes since the Parkland shooting

The Young Turks, Ben Shapiro Schooled on Gun Control. The Young Turks, Mar 21, 2019.  regarding a 2015 study of, and reporting on, shooting deaths in other countries vs. in the U.S.

Patricia Mazzei, Florida to Let Teachers Carry Guns. Will Black Students Pay the Price?. New York Times, May 2, 2019.  and Richard Luscombe, The Florida Teachers Who Think Arming Them Is the 'Most Dangerous Decision Ever'. The Guardian, May 5, 2019.

Alvin Chang, Why Video Games Aren’t Causing America’s Gun Problem, in One Chart. Vox, Aug 5, 2019.  video games across countries, violence only in the U.S.

Aaron Rupar, Police “Neutralized” the Dayton Shooter in 30 Seconds. He Still Shot 14 People.. Vox, Aug 5, 2019.  “the strongest evidence yet that the “good guy with a gun” myth is just that” - refuting David French, My Family Has Been Threatened by Racists. Why Should They Outgun Me? National Review, Aug 6, 2019.

Dylan Matthews, Stop Blaming Mental Illness for Mass Shootings Vox, updated Aug 5, 2019.  See also William Wan and Lindsey Bever, Are Video Games or Mental Illness Causing America’s Mass Shootings? No, Research Shows. Washington Post, Aug 5, 2019.

David Freid, The Extremely Inefficient—And Only—Way to Trace Guns in the U.S. Vox, Aug 6, 2019.  “On television, when a perpetrator leaves a gun at the scene, a quick computer search can point law enforcement to the weapon’s owner. In reality—at least in the United States—no such database of firearms exists. To have one would be illegal, according to legislation that passed in Congress in 1986, lobbied for by the National Rifle Association.”

Saul Cornell, Don’t Ban Assault Weapons - Tax Them. The Atlantic, Aug 14, 2019.

Editorial Board, Making Companies Act When Government Won’t. New York Times, Sep 16, 2019.  “Investors and customers can make corporate America do more than the law requires on gun violence and global warming.”

Colin Kalmbacher, Feds Charge ‘Second Amendment Militia’ Members Who Allegedly Wanted to ‘Pick People Off’ During Kenosha Protests. Law & Crime, Sep 5, 2020.

Harriet Fraad and Julianna Forlano, Capitalism Hits Home: Capitalism's Connection to America’s Mass Shootings. Democracy at Work, Apr 22, 2021.  how changing gender roles and capitalism create isolated, lonely men; for-profit gun companies and the NRA call on men to protect their home and manhood

Carol Anderson, America’s Gun Obsession is Rooted in Slavery. The Guardian, Jun 4, 2021.  important colonial and early US history; fast forwarded to recent times

Ryan Busse, Prepare for the Shock Troops. The Bulwark, Nov 11, 2021.  “What happens when gun culture merges with a nationalist personality cult?” See also Ryan Busse, Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America. Public Affairs | Amazon page, Oct 19, 2021.

Kim Bellware, Sandy Hook Families Announce $73 Million Settlement with Remington Arms in Landmark Agreement. Washington Post, Feb 15, 2022.  “Crucially, the settlement also provides a framework for how to pursue legal action against gun manufacturers that have for decades enjoyed broad protection from lawsuits under a federal shield law… The narrowed lawsuit was filed under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act and contended, among other things, that the Bushmaster was a “combat weapon” designed for war, yet Remington improperly marketed it to civilians… In one marketing campaign Koskoff described to reporters, Bushmaster enabled people to “report your friend for not ‘being a man’ because they didn’t own a Bushmaster” and submit the friend’s email address to the company so they would be notified. The decision to focus narrowly on Remington’s marketing is what ultimately lifted the suit from long-shot to pathbreaking… The Sandy Hook families’ victory creates a path others can follow if they file complaints in states with similar statutes to Connecticut’s Unfair Trade Practices Act and establishes that the family can share the valuable internal company information gained through the discovery process.”

Justin King, Let's Talk About Something Better Than a Ban.... Beau of the Fifth Column, May 26, 2022. 60% of gun violence is done by people with a domestic violence record. Adding violence to animals covers another sizable group contributing to gun violence. We need to examine domestic violence patterns in law enforcement, because these laws are not being properly enforced.

Mark Follman, Trigger Points: Inside the Mission to Stop Mass Shootings in America. Dey Street Books | Amazon page, Apr 2022.  See interview with Christine Amanpour, Expert Challenges Mass Shooter Myth: They Don’t Just Snap.  Amanpour and Company, Apr 15, 2022.  Concrete policy possibilities at the government, law enforcement, school, etc. levels. Right wing media, as well as “mainstream media” (likely also influenced by gun money), likes to highlight gun violence in liberal states and cities as evidence that gun laws don’t work. What’s worse, is that this selective reporting focuses on areas with high racial diversity. Everyone is left with the impression that states with big (racially mixed) liberal cities (Illinois, California, New York) have the highest rates of gun deaths and gun violence. Nope. Here are the top 10 states for gun deaths per capita as of 2019 (per 100,000):

Alaska - 24.4

Mississippi - 24.2

Wyoming - 22.3

New Mexico 22.3

Alabama - 22.2

Louisiana - 22.1

Missouri - 20.6

South Carolina - 19.9

Arkansas - 19.3

Montana - 19.3

States with the most gun violence (per 100,000):

Alaska (24.5)

Alabama (22.9)

Montana (22.5)

Louisiana (21.7)

Mississippi (21.5)

Missouri (21.5)

Arkansas (20.3)

Wyoming (18.)

West Virginia (18.6)

New Mexico (18.5)

So, apparently, white people are shooting themselves and each other in droves in some states, and yet no one ever talks about the epidemic of white on white gun violence in Alaska or Montana. Funnily enough, these states are all very different in terms of demographics and density. They also have different levels of suicides vs homicides by guns. Montana gun deaths are very highly caused by suicide. Alaska is a bit more mixed (70/30), Alabama is half/half. 

What *do* they have in common? Loose gun laws and high rates of gun ownership. States with the lowest rates of gun deaths? Hawaii, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, California. There are, of course, outliers. But the overall trend is overwhelming. And yet, you only ever seem to hear about violence in these sorts of places. Source: https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/gun-violence-by-state

Ayman Mohyeldin, Laws Matter: Facts Contradict Gun Lobby's Lie That Regulation Can't Stop Gun Violence.  MSNBC, May 25, 2022.  Gov. Greg Abbott loosened Texas gun laws.  Texas no longer requires background checks, so felons can buy guns.  Gangs smuggle guns from Texas to Mexico and Central America.  Interviews Robyn Thomas, from the Giffords Law Center.  

Lawrence O’Donnell, Republicans Don't Want You To Know The Truth About TX School Massacre. The Last Word | MSNBC, May 26, 2022. Because they want to promote the myth of “the good guy with a gun,” Texas governor Greg Abbott and other GOP leaders misrepresented the police response at Uvalde, TX.

Jordan Klepper, Jordan Klepper Debunks The “Good Guy with a Gun” Argument. The Daily Show, May 27, 2022. Explores why only 3% of active shooter incidents are stopped with “a good guy with a gun.” About 20% are stopped by unarmed possible victims. A demonstration of officer training and why it takes 300+ hours of training. Klepper interviewed the author of an FBI study: FBI, Study of Active Shooter Incidents 2000 - 2013. FBI, Sep 24, 2014.

Mehdi Hasan, U.S. Gun Culture Wasn’t Always Like This.  The Mehdi Hasan Show | MSNBC, May 27, 2022.  Contains a video clip of President Reagan saying that the AK-47 is not self-defense or home-defense, Reagan’s support for the Brady Bill, a quote from an older NRA generation limiting gun carry.  The NRA has been taken over by gun manufacturing interests and single-issue extremists.  Hasan interviews Adam Winkler, Gun Fight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America.  W.W. Norton & Company | Amazon page, Jul 2013.

Mark Follman, Gavin Aronsen, Deanna Pan, US Mass Shootings, 1982–2022: Data From Mother Jones’ Investigation.  Mother Jones.  The full data set from our in-depth investigation into mass shootings.  Originally published 2012, regularly updated.

Saagar Enjeti, The Racist History of Gun Control in the U.S.  Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar, May 30, 2022.

Thomas Lecaque, Christian Nationalists and the Holy Gun Crusade.  Religion Dispatches, Jun 7, 2022.

Wisecrack, American Gun Violence: How We Got Here. Wisecrack, Jul 8, 2022. A very illuminating and engaging one hour video.

Brian Tyler Cohen, Gavin Newsom Makes Huge Announcement.  Brian Tyler Cohen, Jul 13, 2022.  On gun maker and distributor accountability, allowing victims of gun violence to sue them.  Cohen features Gov. Newsom’s ads on Truth Social.

Brian Tyler Cohen, Gavin Newsom Joined Truth Social. His First Post is Brilliant. Brian Tyler Cohen, Jun 17, 2022. Governor Newsom asked why red states are responsible for 8 of the top 10 states with the highest murder rates by gun. Cohen does a quick glance at gun death stats by state and by city.

Kimberly Wehle, The Best Hope for Fixing America’s Gun Crisis.  The Atlantic, Jun 19, 2022.  “the nation’s tort system, which is available right now to push gun manufacturers to adopt precautionary marketing practices, safer designs, and more supervised sales regimes… litigation holds out the possibility that victims of gun violence might be monetarily compensated for their injuries. What’s more, successful plaintiff-driven lawsuits can motivate defendants (and their insurers) to avoid future liability by changing their business models to maximize gun safety… The stage is set more favorably for gun manufacturers, thanks to Congress’s passage of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) in 2005, which specifically bars civil lawsuits against manufacturers, distributors, and dealers of firearms. In the 1990s and early 2000s, dozens of municipalities across the country brought lawsuits concerning gun violence, arguing that the gun manufacturers created a public nuisance by enabling illegal sales in secondary markets. New York was the first state to sue on the theory that firearms companies design and market handguns “in a way they know supplies unlawful demand for guns” and “impairs residents’ ability to use public spaces.” Several entities in the gun industry, including Smith & Wesson, voluntarily entered into settlement agreements that mandated practices such as conducting background checks at gun shows, placing hidden serial numbers on firearms, adding trigger locks, confining sales of multiple firearms to a single person at one time, videotaping sales, implementing digital tracking systems, and increasing employee training.”

Júlia Ledur, There Have Been Nearly 40 Mass Shootings So Far This Year.  Washington Post, Jan 24, 2023.   

Jon Stewart, Interview with Oklahoma State Sen. Nathan Dahm.  The Problem with Jon Stewart, Mar 3, 2023.  “State Sen. Nathan Dahm (R-OK) has penned several bills loosening gun restrictions, including the nation's first anti-red flag law against restricting gun access to those deemed dangerous. Not only does he want to protect the Second Amendment, but he also believes guns make us safer. We think it's probably one or the other.”  Stewart asks, “When will we be safer?  At what point of gun ownership?”  Then he asks, “Isn’t voting a constitutional right?  Why do we have to register?  So if gun ownership is a constitutional right, why can’t we make people register?”  Nathan Dahn has no responses.  Brilliant.  See short summary and commentary by David Doel, Jon Stewart Manhandles Gun Nut Senator in Debate.  The Rational National, Mar 3, 2023.

Marilyn Heck, 4-Year-Old Girl Shot and Killed by 3-Year-Old Sister in Houston, Sheriff Says.  ABC News, Mar 13, 2023. “Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the child was "unintentionally" shot.”

Krystal Ball, Mom Charged After 6 Yr Old Shoots Teacher. Breaking Points, Apr 15, 2023. The child had a past history of violence and the school required a parent to accompany him at all times. Richneck Elementary School administrators failed to properly supervise the child. The mother owned the gun.

Amy Goodman, Gun Capitalism: How Lobbyists & GOP Fight Regulation & Push Gun Ownership Despite Deadly Shootings. Democracy Now, Apr 21, 2023. Historian Andrew McKevitt says, "We ought to conceive of our gun problem as a problem of gun capitalism." He covers the history of the proliferation of individual gun ownership since World War II in his forthcoming book, Gun Country: Gun Capitalism, Culture & Control in Cold War America. McKevitt also discusses how the NRA and pro-gun lobby impedes progress on gun control through the implicit threat of “political violence.””

Amy Goodman, "After Uvalde": Maria Hinojosa on Guns, Grief & Community Outrage 1 Year After Texas School Shooting. Democracy Now, May 23, 2023. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa, the founder of Futuro Media and host of Latino USA. She anchors the upcoming Frontline, Futuro Media and Texas Tribune co-production, After Uvalde: Guns, Grief & Texas.

Deutsche Welle, America’s Love Affair with Firearms.  DW Documentary, Jul 27, 2023.  “Gun violence is on the rise in the United States. An estimated 400 million firearms are in private hands. Casualties are at a record high. But the dispute over stricter gun laws is dividing the country. Various initiatives call for tougher controls. But some people resist these, pointing to the Second Amendment and what they say is their constitutional right to defend themselves. For them, carrying a firearm is part of their American identity.  This documentary paints a portrait of a heavily armed nation. The filmmakers visit places like the ‘Gunsite Academy’ in Arizona - the largest private shooting school in the world. Gun enthusiasts from all over the country practice their marksmanship here. They also meet people like Brandon Wolf, survivor of the devastating gun massacre at the Pulse nightclub. Since the tragedy, he has been fighting for gun law reform. Philip Smith, on the other hand, is the founder of the National African American Gun Association. The organization's declared goal is to get as many African American citizens as possible to take up arms.  Physician Stephanie Bonne sees what firearms can do every day. She works for a hospital in Newark, New Jersey, with an intensive care unit that almost exclusively treats victims of shootings. In her eyes, gun misuse in the U.S. has long counted as a full-blown epidemic.”

Andrew C. McKevitt, Gun Country: Gun Capitalism, Culture, and Control in Cold War America.  University of North Carolina Press | Amazon page, Nov 2023.  See review by Becca Rothfield, The Real Origins of America’s Gun Culture.  Washington Post, Nov 9, 2023. 

Jon Stewart, America’s Gun Problem & Dystopic Present. The Daily Show, Feb 6, 2024. Why conservatives are so against bans on assault weapons.