Gun Violence

Introduction

Mourners visit a memorial for victims gunned down at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, in May. The mass shooting, one of hundreds this year, helped spur Congress to pass the most significant gun control bill in 25 years. (Getty Images/Michael M. Santiago)

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Overview

Pediatrician Emily Lieberman was watching a local Fourth of July parade with her family when she heard gunshots ring out. She grabbed her 5-year-old and ran — locking themselves into a bathroom in a nearby business. She was separated from her husband and 8-year-old amid the chaos, finally reuniting with them two hours later. “The fact that my children will have this memory for the rest of their lives is what's most devastating,” Lieberman told The Washington Post. 1

The shooting in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park left seven dead and 47 injured. Suspect Robert Crimo III, 21, was arrested after a brief police chase. It was the third major U.S. mass shooting in less than two months.2

“We need to end this horror. We need to stop this violence,” Vice President Kamala Harris said after the Highland Park shooting. “And we must protect our communities from the terror of gun violence.”3

American flag-themed sunglasses are among the many items left behind after people enjoying a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill., fled for their lives when a shooter opened fire, killing seven and injuring dozens. Despite the publicity they generate, mass shootings account for just a fraction of gun deaths. (AFP/Getty Images/Youngrae Kim)

The Highland Park killings came just days after President Biden signed a bipartisan measure designed to address gun violence, called the Safer Communities Act. It was the most significant gun reform bill in decades and was spurred by recent mass shootings at a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., and an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Uvalde served as a strong call to action after 19 children and two teachers were killed at Robb Elementary School and police failed to act for more than an hour before finally shooting the gunman, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos.4

The new legislation expands background checks for would-be gun buyers under the age of 21, helps states establish so-called red flag laws to remove weapons from people who are judged to be a danger and keeps guns out of the hands of a larger number of domestic violence offenders.5

“While this bill doesn't do everything I want, it does include actions I've long called for that are going to save lives,” Biden said as he signed the measure. “At a time when it seems impossible to get anything done in Washington, we are doing something consequential.”6

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who led the negotiations with Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., on the measure, said, “I don't believe in doing nothing in the face of what we saw in Uvalde, and [what] we've seen in far too many communities. Doing nothing is an abdication of our responsibility as representatives of the American people here in the United States Senate.”7

Despite the bipartisan support for the law, it still generated intense controversy. The National Rifle Association (NRA) voiced its opposition. “This legislation can be abused to restrict lawful gun purchases, infringe upon the rights of law-abiding Americans and use federal dollars to fund gun control measures being adopted by state and local politicians,” the gun rights advocacy group said in a statement.8

Some echo the NRA's position. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who voted against the Safer Communities Act, said after the Uvalde shooting, “I'm willing to say that I'm very sorry it happened. But guns are not the problem, OK? People are the problem. That's where it starts — and we've had guns forever. And we're going to continue to have guns.”9

According to the Gun Violence Archive, an independent research group, there have been 390 U.S. mass shootings in 2022 as of Aug. 3. While mass shootings — defined as those in which four or more people are injured or killed, excluding the shooter — grab the headlines, they account for just a fraction of deaths by gun violence, at less than 1 percent, according to some experts.10

In 2020, the most recent full year for which data is available, the Gun Violence Archive recorded more than 19,000 gun-related deaths, excluding suicides. Of those, 611 people were killed in mass shootings. James Alan Fox, a professor of criminology, law and public policy at Northeastern University in Boston, says of mass shootings: “Though rare, these are the ones that tend to motivate discussions of [gun] restrictions.”11

The number of U.S. gun-related homicides in 2020 hit the highest level in more than 25 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), rising by 35 percent compared to the previous year. The CDC said the pandemic may have played a role in the increase by disrupting schools, social services, work and housing and increasing social isolation. Black Americans were disproportionately affected, with the homicide rate for African Americans growing by almost 40 percent.12

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While the focus of gun violence tends to be on homicides, suicides make up a large portion of gun-related deaths and accounted for more than half of U.S. gun deaths in 2020, the Pew Research Center reports. In 2022 so far, there have been nearly 14,200 suicides, compared to almost 12,000 homicides and other gun-related deaths, according to the Gun Violence Archive.13

In a speech about gun control legislation, Biden highlighted another aspect of the situation: “Guns are the No. 1 killer of children in the United States,” he said. Gun-related deaths among children and teens climbed 30 percent from 2010 to 2019, according to a study in The American Journal of Medicine. The steepest increases in firearm mortalities among youth were a result of suicides, which were up by 63 percent.14 (See Short Feature.)

At the same time that Congress was passing a gun measure, the U.S. Supreme Court tossed out a New York gun restriction that limited carrying a concealed handgun outside the home.15

New York lawmakers responded to the ruling by adopting the Concealed Carry Improvement Act, which bans anyone under the age of 21 from buying a semiautomatic rifle and limits the purchase of bullet-resistant body armor by civilians. It requires an applicant for a gun permit to have “good moral character,” provide social media account information and pass a firearm safety course. It also bans carrying weapons in certain locations, such as schools and polling places. A gun rights group, Firearms Policy Coalition, has filed suit, saying the ban on semiautomatic weapons violates the Second Amendment.16

Gun sales soared after much of the country went into lockdown in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, sales were averaging about 1 million per month. That increased to almost 2 million a month in 2020 amid the pandemic and the social unrest that followed the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. The total for that year, 22.8 million, was the highest on record. Guns sales were almost as high in 2021, at 19.9 million.17

As of 2018, there were 393 million guns in private hands in the United States, and almost 20 million military-style rifles such as the AR-15. These numbers do not include untraceable “ghost guns,” which are increasingly popular and difficult to manage.18 (See Short Feature.)

In Uvalde, Ramos used an AR-15-style rifle to kill 21 and injure 17 more. In Buffalo, 10 Black people were killed and three other people, one of them Black, were injured in the supermarket shooting. Payton Gendron, 18, used a military-style rifle and has been charged with federal hate crimes in the shooting. According to the criminal complaint, Gendron wrote that his motivation was “to prevent Black people from replacing white people … and to inspire others to commit similar racially-motivated attacks.”19

After the high-profile mass shootings using these military-style weapons, Biden called for a ban on such rifles. “We're living in a country awash in weapons of war. What is the rationale for these weapons outside war zones? Assault weapons need to be banned.”20

These semiautomatic rifles are civilian versions of military-grade weapons. Gun control supporters say civilians should not be able to own them, but gun rights advocates, the gun industry and others say they are used for hunting, shooting competitions and target practice. Assault weapons were banned under federal law starting in 1994, but the ban was allowed to expire in 2004.21

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, argued against a new ban. “When you disarm law-abiding citizens, the result is the criminals don't follow the laws. They have the guns and the law-abiding citizens are unable to defend themselves.”22

The United States is not alone in experiencing gun violence. In a shooting that shocked the world, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated in early July by a man wielding a homemade gun at a political rally. Japan has some of the strictest gun ownership laws in the world: Private citizens are not allowed to own handguns, and only licensed hunters and target shooters can buy shotguns. Police also have discretion to prevent people from obtaining a gun license. Last year the country had just 10 shootings that were not accidents or suicides; only one person died and four were injured.23

The United States far outpaces other developed countries in gun-related homicides. The United States had a rate of 4.12 gun-related homicides per 100,000 population in 2019, compared to 0.5 in Canada, 0.18 in Australia and 0.04 in the United Kingdom.24

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As politicians, law enforcement, advocates and citizens consider how to deal with gun violence in America, here are some of the questions being debated:

Will tougher gun control measures reduce gun violence?

In the wake of multiple major mass shootings, Americans' support for gun control is at its highest in a decade. In a recent Marist public poll, almost 60 percent of respondents said it was more important to control gun violence than protect gun rights, while 35 percent thought gun rights were more important. Even among gun owners, a majority, 56 percent, said it was more important to reduce gun violence. However, those findings vary drastically by political party — 70 percent of Republicans prioritized protecting gun rights, compared to 92 percent of Democrats who chose controlling gun violence.25

But some argue the issue is people, not weapons. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas said after the Uvalde mass shooting in his state that mental health issues were the crux of the problem. “We as a state, we as a society, need to do a better job with mental health,” he said at a press conference. “Anybody who shoots somebody else has a mental health challenge.”26

Dr. Lois Lee, an emergency physician and associate professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine at Harvard University, says the issue extends beyond mental health. “I don't want people to think addressing mental health will fully address the gun violence problem we have. We need to address access and safety,” she says.

Some argue the prevention of mass shootings is unrealistic when guns are so prevalent. “The ubiquity of firearms all but guarantees that a person who wishes to obtain one will do so before too long,” wrote the conservative magazine National Review in a recent editorial.27

Others say that should not stall policy actions that could help. “The idea that gun laws won't have an impact in reducing mass shootings and school shooting violence is a myth,” Louis Klarevas, a research professor at Columbia University who specializes in gun violence, told The Texas Tribune. “One law is good, but it's just a starting point. The more laws you have, the more effective your framework will be. If you want to do the best job possible, you have to take a comprehensive approach.”28

Part of the problem is the sheer number of guns in the United States, says Grant Reeher, a political science professor at Syracuse University who studies gun policy. Reeher argues that laws on access to guns can play an important role in addressing that number, saying, “The more hurdles on gun purchases will, in small ways, help to lower the total number of guns in circulation.”

After the House vote on gun control measures in June, Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, said: “We can't save every life, but my God, shouldn't we try?” But Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said it is crucial to protect gun owners' rights. “The answer is not to destroy the Second Amendment, but that is exactly where the Democrats want to go,” he said.29

Even the mother of a gun violence victim spoke out against gun control at a House committee hearing. Lucretia Hughes, whose son was killed in a 2016 shooting, is a conservative activist who belongs to the group Turning Point USA and is a delegate for the DC Project Women for Gun Rights. She told the committee she wants to be able to have a gun to protect herself.

Lucretia Hughes, a conservative activist with the group DC Project Women for Gun Rights, whose son was killed in a 2016 shooting, told a House committee in June that she wants a gun to protect herself. “Gun owners are not the enemies, and gun control laws are not the solution,” she said. (AFP/Getty Images/Jason Andrew)

“How about letting me defend myself from evil? You don't think that I am capable and trustworthy to handle a firearm? You don't think that the Second Amendment doesn't apply to people that look like me?” asked Hughes, who is Black. “Gun owners are not the enemies, and gun control laws are not the solution,” she said during her testimony to lawmakers. She asked Congress to ban gun-free zones and implement educational programs on firearms.30

Mike Hammond, legislative counsel for Gun Owners of America, a gun rights lobby organization, says shootings, such as those at schools, “occur in gun-free zones. If citizens are allowed to defend themselves, it will be a safer country than a less safe one.”

A recent event supports this argument. In July, Elisjsha Dicken was praised when he stopped a gunman by using his own personal weapon to shoot and kill an armed man who had shot three shoppers at a shopping mall in Greenwood, Ind. “We will say it again: The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” the NRA said in a Twitter post after the incident.31

While some say a “good guy with a gun” is enough to stop shootings, as happened at the Greenwood mall, it has actually made a difference in relatively few cases. The Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center at Texas State University found that of 433 active shooter incidents between 2000 and 2021, just 22 ended when a bystander shot the attacker. In 10 cases, the bystander was a security guard or off-duty law enforcement officer.

In some other cases, civilians who were trying to shoot the gunman were instead killed by police. A bystander killing an attacker “is exceedingly rare, the exception rather than the rule,” said Adam Skaggs, chief counsel and policy director at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, an organization that focuses on reducing gun violence.32

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Others say new laws are not the answer. Instead, better enforcement of existing laws is needed. “The laws that are needed are already on the books. There's a lack of political will to apply the laws,” says Mark Oliva, spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearm industry trade association. He cites such instances as prosecutors dropping gun crime charges.

In Washington, D.C., for example, 23 people were arrested for gun offenses in one week earlier this year. Prosecutors did not charge 13 of them. In one case, prosecutors dropped charges after determining a gun found in the trunk of a car could not be clearly linked to a particular passenger. In the other cases, four were awaiting trial and six who were convicted received sentences ranging from 18 months in jail to participating in a diversion program, which focuses on rehabilitation rather than incarceration.

D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Contee III called the lack of prosecution on gun cases “very frustrating,” and said he was concerned that those who were not held pending investigations could be “picking up another gun.” He added, “I also want to see people going to jail and being held accountable when they violate our community and go out there and use illegal firearms in our city.”33

Research by the RAND Corp., a nonpartisan policy think tank, found several measures that help reduce gun deaths:

• Safe weapon storage or child access prevention laws. (Only 19 states have adopted such laws so far.)

• Required background checks for firearms bought from a licensed dealer.

• Waiting periods for obtaining a firearm.

• Prohibitions on firearm possession for those with domestic violence restraining orders.34

John Gunn, assistant professor of psychology at Gwynedd Mercy University in Pennsylvania, who worked with the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at Rutgers University, found that states with the most gun control laws have lower homicide and suicide rates than those with fewer laws.

His research examined firearm deaths from 1991 to 2017 and found states such as Mississippi and Idaho, with few gun regulations, had higher firearm death rates than states such as California and Massachusetts, which had more regulations. As of 2018, for example, California had 107 gun regulations, 3.9 gun-related suicides per 100,000 people and 3.22 gun-related homicides per 100,000. Mississippi had just two gun regulations, 9.87 suicides and 11.31 homicides per 100,000 people.35

More regulations “put barriers between someone deciding to buy a gun and getting it right away,” which could deter gun violence, Gunn says.

Should civilians have access to military-style assault weapons?

Military-style assault rifles, especially AR-15-style weapons, have been used in some of the most infamous mass shootings in the past decade, including the school shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

The AR-15 is a semiautomatic version of the M-16 rifle designed for the military. It is lightweight, easy to use and, in most places, can be bought by anyone 18 or older. By contrast, handguns require purchasers to be at least 21. AR-15 ammunition travels at almost three times the speed of sound, causing more damage to the human body than some other rifles. A standard magazine holds 30 rounds but can be modified to hold more.36

The AR-15, currently the most popular rifle in the United States, was named for its manufacturer, ArmaLite Rifle, which developed the weapon in the 1950s. The right to produce the rifle was sold to Colt's Manufacturing Co. in 1959, and Colt created the first civilian model. When the patent expired, other manufacturers began producing similar weapons.37

A customer checks out a semiautomatic rifle at Bob's Little Sport Gun Shop in Glassboro, N.J., on May 26. Assault rifles, such as the popular AR-15, have been used in many high-profile mass shootings. A federal ban on such weapons expired in 2004. The House passed a bill in July to renew it, though it is unclear if it will pass in the Senate. (Getty Images/Anadolu Agency/Tayfun Coskun)

In 2019, Colt announced it was discontinuing its manufacture of the AR-15. “The fact of the matter is that over the last few years, the market for modern sporting rifles has experienced significant excess manufacturing capacity. Given this level of manufacturing capacity, we believe there is adequate supply for modern sporting rifles for the foreseeable future,” the president and CEO of Colt, Dennis Veilleux, said in a statement.38

Policy efforts to ban its sale since the early 2000s have fallen flat. Biden has called for reinstatement of the 1994 federal ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. During the decade the ban was in effect, mass shootings declined, but after the law expired, mass shootings tripled, Biden previously said.39

“We have found that when large capacity mags are regulated, you get drastic drops in both the incidence of gun massacres and the fatality rate of gun massacres,” Columbia professor Klarevas said. He studied what he calls “gun massacres,” in which six or more people were shot and killed, in the decades before, during and after the ban. From 1984 to 1994, there were 19 massacres with 155 deaths. When the ban was in effect from 1994 to 2004, the level dropped to 12 massacres and 89 deaths. The following decade after the law's expiration, it jumped to 34 incidents and 302 deaths.40

In a July speech, Biden vowed to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines for civilian use. Harris echoed his call. “Congress needs to have the courage to act and renew the assault weapons ban,” she said. “An assault weapon is designed to kill a lot of human beings quickly. There is no reason we have weapons of war on the streets of America.”41

The NRA rejected these calls for a ban, saying: “The focus and burden of our laws ought to be on prosecuting violent criminals and in ensuring those with dangerous behavioral issues don't have access to any firearm.”42

The National Shooting Sports Foundation calls semiautomatic weapons, such as the AR-15, “modern sporting rifles” used by hunters, competitive shooters and for self-defense. The association says these types of rifles are not assault weapons, and that this definition only applies to fully automatic weapons, such as a machine gun. “It's not what the firearm [opponents] make it out to be. It's not the same rifle as I had in the Marine Corps,” says association spokesman Oliva.43

Federal firearms laws do not define the terms assault rifle or assault weapon, said Erik Longnecker, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). “Assault rifle and assault weapon are both political terms that are not defined in the Gun Control Act or the National Firearms Act,” he said.44

The guns have been defended by some GOP lawmakers. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said, “I'm law-abiding, I've never done anything, I use it [an AR-15] to kill feral pigs. The action of a criminal deprives me of my right.”45

In New York, Republican Rep. Chris Jacobs, whose district is near Buffalo, ended his re-election campaign in the face of intense criticism from his party after supporting gun control measures, including an assault weapons ban, limits on high-capacity magazines and raising the minimum age to purchase a long-barrel gun to age 21.

“I hope I've been compassionate when I read and heard about previous incidents like this that have happened over the years, but I guess there's just something markedly different when it happens in your city, to people you know. This has been a profoundly impactful event for me,” Jacobs said.46

The public is divided on the issue across political lines. A recent Marist poll of more than 1,000 U.S. adults asked respondents if they would “definitely” vote for or against a candidate for Congress who wanted to ban the sale of semiautomatic assault guns. Among respondents, 56 percent said they would vote for a candidate who wanted to ban the sale of such weapons and 36 percent said they would vote against. For Democrats, 83 percent said they would vote for such a candidate, compared to 34 percent of Republicans and 45 percent of independents.47

Politicians have also considered the idea that these types of weapons do not need to be banned outright but instead need more appropriate age limits, particularly in light of the fact that six out of the nine deadliest U.S. mass shootings since 2018 have been committed by people age 21 or younger.48

After the Uvalde shooting, the House voted to raise the federal minimum age to purchase a semiautomatic rifle from 18 to 21 and to ban high-capacity ammunition magazines, but the measure failed in the Senate.49

During debate in the House, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., called the proposal to raise the minimum age for purchasing semiautomatic weapons “immoral.” “We're telling 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds … you can go die for your country, we expect you to defend us, but we're not going to give you the tools to defend yourself and your family,” he said.50

But some say more maturity is needed to handle such weapons. “We know from lots of studies around motor vehicles and drinking and other common types of injuries that this age group is still developing its frontal lobe, impulse control, judgment,” said Megan Ranney, an emergency physician and academic dean at Brown University's School of Public Health.51

Tom O'Connor, a member of the board of Gun Owners for Responsible Ownership, an advocacy group for reasonable gun control based in Oregon, says, “Those are particularly lethal weapons and really are not necessary and shouldn't be in civilian hands.”

Would increased school security measures reduce the threat of school shootings?

The Uvalde shooting has put a renewed national spotlight on school security. The gunman walked unimpeded into the school and law enforcement waited for more than an hour to take decisive action and storm the classroom to kill the shooter.52

Immediately afterward, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called for boosted school security and armed teachers and administrators. “You're going to have to do more at the school,” he said. “You're going to have to have more people trained to react.” In Texas, the state already has more than 250 school employees who serve as armed school marshals in 62 school systems.53

“What stops armed bad guys is armed good guys,” Cruz, the Texas senator, told the NRA's convention just days after the Uvalde shooting.54

That sentiment has been a long-standing talking point for gun advocates.

For the 2019-20 school year, almost two-thirds of U.S. public schools had security staff present at least one day a week, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, and more than half had a sworn law enforcement officer present who routinely carried a firearm. Security staff were most common at the middle school and high school levels.55

An analysis of 225 school shootings that occurred between 1999 and 2018 by The Washington Post found 40 percent of the campuses had an armed police officer. But the school officer shot the gunman in just two of those cases.56

Police officers guard a high school in West New York, a town in northern New Jersey, on May 26. Nearly two-thirds of public schools have some security personnel on site at least one day a week, but many lawmakers want further protective measures. (Getty Images/VIEWpress/Corbis News/Kena Betancur)

Others argue that more guns are not the solution. “What we really want isn't good guys with guns stopping bad guys with guns. What we really want is bad guys without guns. That's a better strategy,” Columbia professor Klarevas said.57

Along with armed personnel, many lawmakers also call for increasing school security, or “hardening” schools. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., said she supported “taking COVID money and repurposing that to put out matching grants that states could use to harden their schools.” Following the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018 that left 17 dead, Congress authorized spending $1 billion over 10 years to improve school security.58

Such measures might include installing metal detectors, surveillance cameras and door locking systems, wrote Elizabeth K. Anthony, associate professor of social work at Arizona State University. More than $2.7 billion is spent on school hardening each year, she wrote. “But there is currently no conclusive evidence that any of these measures prevent school shootings.”

A complicating factor, she added, is that because many school shooters are students, alumni or others with ties to the school, they would probably be able to pass through security checkpoints.59

Fox, the Northeastern University professor, argues that the best school safety measures are unobtrusive, so school does not feel like a fortress to students. He cites such measures as planting landscaping to decrease school access, installing bulletproof glass and using acoustic sensors, which notify law enforcement when and where shots are fired. Fox also criticizes having armed guards on campus and holding active shooter drills. “It sends a message bad guys are out to get you,” he says.

Others say such security barriers are not enough. Jagdish Khubchandani, a public health professor at New Mexico State University, said more than half of U.S. schools have at least two security measures in place, such as security cameras or active shooter drills. “Look at all the shootings that have happened in the past decade in schools — were those schools not doing enough? Physical structures are not a deterrent. Someone who's decided to shoot and kill and die doesn't think about school security much.”60

Some states are taking other protective measures. Ohio recently approved a law that allows teachers to carry guns in the classroom after 24 hours of training. Previously, more than 700 hours of training was required. Gov. Mike DeWine said it was up to school boards to decide whether to implement the measure.61

“The best thing is to have a police officer in the schools. They can be plain clothes, but some schools may not be able to do that,” DeWine said. Republican state Sen. Frank Hoagland said it was a “common-sense, proactive step in securing our schools from the threat of an active shooter.” However, the Ohio Education Association and Ohio Federation of Teachers opposed the measure, calling it “dangerous and irresponsible” to put guns in the hands of those who do not have proper training.62

James Price, professor emeritus of health education and public health at the University of Toledo in Ohio, says school shooters are typically males who attend the school or are recent graduates. “It's not some mentally ill adult coming into the school,” he says.

Price says that, as an educator himself, he cannot imagine a scenario where “I have a gun and I have to kill this student. Most teachers would lay down their lives for their students…. It seems like a most unrealistic situation for protecting youths.”

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Background

The Second Amendment

Much of the modern debate over guns has centered on the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment, which says: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”63

At the time the Constitution was drafted, in the late 18th century, many thought governments used soldiers to oppress their own people. As a result, there was a push to allow the new federal government to raise armies only when fighting foreign adversaries and to rely on civilian militias in other circumstances. Instead, the Constitutional Convention, a group of state delegates appointed to draft a new governing framework, decided the federal government should have the ability to establish a standing army and regulate the militia.

This 1774 illustration shows a gathering of minutemen, the colonial militia of New England, who were ready to fight the British Army at a moment's notice. The Second Amendment to the Constitution provided for “a well-regulated Militia,” part of a compromise that empowered state militias while allowing the federal government to establish a standing army. (Getty Images/MPI/Archive Photos/Contributor)

A group calling itself the Anti-Federalists, who opposed a strong central government, feared this concept would take away states' rights to defend themselves against federal oppression. James Madison, who is often referred to as the “Father of the Constitution” and later became president, proposed the Second Amendment as a compromise solution to empower state militias. The amendment also established the belief that the federal government could not disarm its citizens. But there has been disagreement over whether the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to keep and bear arms, or only the collective rights of formal militia units.64

“An individual's right to use guns in self-defense is not expressly written in the Constitution,” Yale University law professor Reva Siegel said.65

Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, agrees. “There is not a single word about an individual's right to a gun for self-defense or recreation in Madison's notes from the Constitutional Convention,” he wrote.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to rule that the Second Amendment protected individual gun ownership outside of a militia four times between 1876 and 1939, Waldman wrote. That has led to different interpretations of the Second Amendment.66

Gun Control Laws

While many picture the Wild West as a lawless place, frontier towns actually had some of the strictest U.S. gun control laws, wrote UCLA law professor Adam Winkler. In fact, by the early 1900s, 43 states had banned or limited firearms in public.67

The National Firearms Act of 1934 marked the first national gun control legislation. The law was part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's “New Deal for Crime” and was aimed at stopping “gangland crimes,” spurred by gang warfare tied to bootlegging during Prohibition, which outlawed the sale of alcohol, in the 1920s and 1930s. The law imposed a tax on the manufacture, sale and transportation of certain firearms.68

It would be the first of many gun control laws throughout U.S. history:

• The Federal Firearms Act of 1938 required gun manufacturers, importers and dealers to obtain a federal firearms license. It also specified that certain people, such as convicted felons, could not buy guns and required sellers to keep records of their customers.

• The Gun Control Act of 1968, enacted after several high-profile assassinations during the 1960s, banned importation of guns that have “no sporting purpose,” required people to be 21 years old to buy a handgun, prevented the mentally ill from buying a gun and required guns to have a serial number.

• After an assassination attempt on Presidential Ronald Reagan in 1981, which permanently disabled White House press secretary James Brady, the 1993 Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act required background checks before a gun sale by a licensed dealer or manufacturer. It also established the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, operated by the FBI.

• The 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act prohibited the manufacture, transfer or possession of semiautomatic assault weapons unless they were legally possessed before the law took effect. It also banned the sale or manufacture of 19 military-style assault weapons, including AR-15s, and of certain high-capacity magazines with more than 10 rounds.69

While these laws were aimed at controlling guns, the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act went in the other direction, preventing gun manufacturers from being named in federal or state civil suits filed by victims of gun violence.70

Era of Mass Shootings

Some think of mass shootings as a recent phenomenon, but such events have occurred as far back as the late 1800s — they were just much rarer.71

The first modern U.S. mass shooting occurred in 1949, when 28-year-old World War II veteran Howard Unruh walked around his Camden, N.J., neighborhood shooting his neighbors with a semiautomatic pistol. Thirteen people were killed and three injured in just 12 minutes.72

“I am glad I done it,” Unruh told police after he was apprehended. “The neighbors have been picking on me for months and when I came home last night and found my gate had been taken, I decided to shoot all of them so that I would get the right one.”73

Howard Unruh, a World War II veteran, is arrested after he walked around his Camden, N.J., neighborhood in 1949 shooting his neighbors with a semiautomatic pistol. He killed 13 and injured three in what is considered the first modern U.S. mass shooting. (Getty Images/Bettmann/Contributor)

Nearly two decades later, another mass shooting gripped the nation. In 1966, former U.S. Marine and college student Charles Whitman climbed to the top of the clock tower on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin and began shooting with a sniper rifle. He killed 15 people and injured more than 30 others. (One of the victims died years later of wounds sustained in the attack.) Authorities also discovered he had killed his mother and wife earlier that day. Whitman was eventually shot by police at the scene. An autopsy found Whitman was suffering from a brain tumor, but experts disagree on the role it might have played in the killings.74

A few more decades passed until another school mass shooting became a watershed moment for the nation. Two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, opened fire at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in 1999, killing 13 people and injuring 24. The shooters then killed themselves. Following the shooting, many schools updated protocols for law enforcement to immediately enter a school during a violent incident, rather than waiting to respond. Columbine also led to many schools holding active shooter drills.75

Since then, the nation has been repeatedly rocked by high-profile mass shootings:

• In 2007, Virginia Tech student Seung-Hui Cho shot two students at a dormitory, then went into a classroom building, chained and locked the doors and began shooting. He killed 32 people and injured 23 before committing suicide.76

• In 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza killed his mother then drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., where he shot his way into the school, killing six educators and 20 children before taking his own life.77

• Gunman Omar Mateen, 29, opened fire at the LGBTQ-friendly Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., in 2016, killing 49 and wounding more than 50. Police eventually killed Mateen.78

• Just a year later, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock began shooting from a window of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas at people attending a country music festival across the street. He killed 58 and injured more than 800 before killing himself.79

• In 2018, gunman Nikolas Cruz, 19, who had been expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, entered the school and opened fire, killing 17 and injuring 17 others. He fled the school and was arrested a short time later. He is currently awaiting sentencing. Survivors banded together to form a movement to push for gun violence prevention, which among other events staged March for Our Lives protests nationwide.80

• In 2021, a 21-year-old man, Robert Aaron Long, killed eight people, including six Asian women, during a shooting spree at three Atlanta-area spas.81

The National Rifle Association

Amid the rise in gun violence over the years, the NRA remains one of the nation's most powerful lobbying groups.

The organization was founded following the Civil War in 1871 by two Union officers who were upset by troops' poor shooting skills. Their goal was to improve those skills. The NRA even worked with the federal government during that time; the U.S. Army occasionally donated surplus equipment to be used in NRA trainings, and New York state helped the organization purchase its first shooting range on a farm in Long Island in 1872. For decades, the NRA was known primarily as an organization that promoted proper use of firearms and firearm safety and education.82

However, after three presidential assassinations in the 19th and early 20th centuries and the shooting of former President Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, lawmakers and the public began to consider restrictions on the availability of guns. The NRA wanted to be a part of the public discourse, launching itself into the political realm.83

So, the NRA worked with Congress on gun control laws such as the firearms acts of 1934 and 1938. NRA leader Karl T. Frederick said at the time, “I have never believed in the general practice of carrying weapons. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses.”84

The NRA supported more gun restrictions in 1968, after the assassinations of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy that year. But the group blocked efforts to create a national gun registry and a requirement that all gun owners be licensed.

The organization began to shift gears in the 1970s, after ATF agents shot a longtime NRA member during a gun raid at his home. Hard-line gun rights activists became more prominent in the organization as a result. The NRA soon created its first lobbying group, the Institute for Legislative Action, in 1975. Some members staged a revolt at the NRA's annual meeting in 1977 to make the organization more hard-line, and Harlon Carter was elected executive vice president. “You don't stop crime by attacking guns,” he said. “You stop crime by stopping criminals.”

The NRA then became focused on opposing gun control measures and lobbying for the rights of gun owners. The group also began grading politicians on a scale of A to F; those with the top scores, who supported gun rights, received campaign contributions from the NRA. In the early 2000s, Fortune magazine named it the most powerful lobbying group in Washington.85

However, the NRA has seen a drop in revenue and membership in recent years. This has occurred alongside a rise in protests and public pressure against the group, particularly after the Parkland school shooting in 2018. Several corporations, such as United Airlines and Hertz, cut ties with the association in the weeks following the shooting, stripping NRA members of customer discounts and benefits. Large anti-NRA protests regularly occur at the group's annual conventions, including at this year's meeting in Houston just days after the Uvalde mass shooting.86 The NRA's revenue dropped by almost one-quarter, from $367 million in 2016 to $282 million in 2020, according to the organization's tax filings. Contributions and grants from corporations and members dipped by 15 percent during those same years.

Wayne LaPierre, CEO and executive vice president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), prepares to speak at the group's annual convention in Houston on May 27, just days after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. New York State Attorney General Letitia James has accused LaPierre of misusing NRA funds, a charge he has denied. (Getty Images/Brandon Bell)

“The NRA relies on revenue from members, and they seem to be losing members,” said Frank Smyth, an NRA member who wrote a book on the history of the organization. In 2013, the group had about 5 million members; in 2021, that number dipped to below 4.9 million, CBS News reported.87

New York State Attorney General Letitia James filed suit against the NRA in 2020, arguing the organization should be disbanded due to years of what she called corruption and misspending. She also sued four current or former executives, seeking restitution.88

The organization's CEO, Wayne LaPierre, has been accused in the lawsuit of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on private planes and $1.2 million of NRA funds for personal expenses, while also accepting expensive gifts from vendors. In her suit, James requested that the organization's corporate charter be dissolved. In response, the NRA filed for bankruptcy, even though the organization is in good financial shape, and declared it was moving its headquarters to Texas and would reorganize as a nonprofit; however, a bankruptcy judge rejected the moves.89

In March, a New York judge rejected James' effort to put the organization out of business but allowed her lawsuit accusing executives of illegally diverting funds to continue.90

Supreme Court Decisions

The U.S. Supreme Court has played an important role in defining the scope of the Second Amendment.

The court's most consequential decision in this area came in 2008, in District of Columbia v. Heller. In that opinion, the court overturned Washington, D.C.,'s handgun ban — and went on to rule for the first time that the Second Amendment granted an individual right to possess a firearm that is unrelated to service in a state militia. The court also held that an individual can use a gun for purposes such as self-defense at home, although it added that some forms of gun regulation were still allowed. “That was the first Supreme Court decision to strike down a gun-control law in constitutional history,” Yale law professor Siegel said.91

The Heller ruling came following a campaign by conservatives during the 1980s and '90s for the appointment of federal judges who would give a broader interpretation to the Second Amendment, said Susan Liebell, a political science professor at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia.

“There has been a decades-long and very successful movement to change the public perception of what the Second Amendment is for,” said Joseph Blocher, a law professor at Duke University.92

Before Heller, one of the court's most important Second Amendment rulings had come in 1939, when it ruled in U.S. v. Miller that the amendment did not guarantee a person's right to possess a sawed-off, double-barreled shotgun because having such a weapon is not related to the preservation of a well-regulated militia.93

Since the Heller ruling, the court in 2009's U.S. v. Hayes decision affirmed a federal law preventing people convicted of domestic violence from owning guns. The following year, in McDonald v. Chicago, the court ruled that individuals in all 50 states have the right to keep and bear arms.94

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Current Situation

Congress and the White House

In reaction to Uvalde and other recent mass shootings, Congress passed the Safer Communities Act in June, which enhances background checks for those under the age of 21, restricts gun access for domestic violence offenders, provides funding for red flag laws and additional funding to address mental health issues.95

But the impact the new law will have “depends on the implementation. Any law is only as good as it is being used,” says Gunn, an assistant professor of psychology. But laws have to be “implemented justly,” Gunn says, adding that red flag laws “get used more often with people of color.”

Gun rights groups are concerned about the new law. “A big chunk of this is unconstitutional and we think the rest is unwise,” says Hammond of Gun Owners of America. His organization views red flag laws that are now on the books as unconstitutional because gun owners are not allowed to participate in court proceedings to determine whether someone's gun should be taken away.

Oliva of the National Shooting Sports Foundation agrees. When it comes to laws focused on red flags and mental health concerns, his group “never opposes if there is due process, but none of the states now have due process protections.”

In light of the mass shootings in Highland Park, Uvalde and Buffalo, the House Oversight Committee is investigating the firearms industry and the manufacturers of the guns used to commit these recent acts. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., chair of the committee, requested files from three major gun manufacturers on the companies' sales revenue, NRA funds and annual spending on marketing, advertising and lobbying.96

Uvalde and Highland Park mass shooting survivors, families and supporters rally in Washington, D.C., for tougher gun controls on July 13. Polls consistently show a majority of Americans favor stricter gun laws, even as existing controls have been stripped away by a more conservative U.S. Supreme Court. (AFP/Getty Images/Oliver Contreras)

In a letter to Sturm, Ruger & Co. CEO Christopher Kilroy obtained by The Washington Post, Maloney wrote:

“The information you provided has heightened the Committee's concern that your company is continuing to profit from the sale and marketing of weapons of war to civilians despite the harm these weapons cause, is failing to track instances or patterns where your products are used in crimes, and is failing to take other reasonable precautions to limit injuries and deaths caused by your firearms.”97

The executives testified to the House Committee on Capitol Hill on July 27. At the hearing, the CEOs denied responsibility for the recent mass shootings. Daniel Defense CEO Marty Daniel told the panel:

“Mass shootings are all but unheard of just a few decades ago. So what changed? Not the firearms…. I believe our nation's response needs to focus not on the type of gun but on the type of persons who are likely to commit mass shootings. I believe these murders are local problems that have to be solved locally.”98

Despite the recent legislation, gun control advocates contend there is still much to be done. On July 13, hundreds of mass shooting survivors and their families marched to the Capitol to demand further gun control measures. Ashley O'Brien, who works in Highland Park, said, “Ban assault rifles now. Pass universal background checks. It won't solve everything. But it is a big first step that has to happen, and it has to happen before more people need to experience the trauma of a mass shooting.”99

A measure to ban assault weapons was approved by the House in late July, but it is unlikely to gain approval in the Senate. The legislation would criminalize the sale, manufacture, possession or transfer of many types of semiautomatic weapons and large-capacity magazines.

“Our nation has watched in unspeakable horror as assault weapons have been used in massacre after massacre in communities across the country,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. “We know that an assault weapons ban can work because it has worked before.”

The previous assault weapons ban expired in 2004.

But Ohio Rep. Jordan said, “Today, they're coming for your guns. They want to take all guns from all people.”

With an evenly divided Senate, the measure is unlikely to be approved. It would require the support of at least 10 Republicans to defeat a filibuster.100

How voters will respond to recent gun reforms this November is an open question. But new public polling by the Pew Research Center finds a majority of Americans approve of gun control. Almost two-thirds of respondents approved of the new gun control measures, but nearly 80 percent said they will not succeed in reducing gun violence. More than 60 percent of those polled said they would like Congress to take further action to control guns.101

Meanwhile, a poll by The New York Times/Siena College found two-thirds of Democratic voters thought guns were among the top issues facing the country, compared to 5 percent of Republicans and 28 percent of undecided voters.102

Some Democrats are using the recent legislation as a major talking point as midterm campaigns roll out. Building Back Together, a pro-Biden group, began a six-figure television advertising campaign in July in the swing states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Nevada touting the legislation.103

Scope of the Second Amendment

June's Supreme Court ruling in the case New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen marked only its second major decision on the Second Amendment in more than a decade.

“Because the State of New York issues public-carry licenses only when an applicant demonstrates a special need for self-defense, we conclude that the State's licensing regime violates the Constitution,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court's conservative majority.104

Some worry what this decision could signal. The ruling “will have monumental ramifications far beyond carrying firearms in public — on everything from age restrictions to assault weapons bans to limits on high-capacity magazines,” said Steve Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law. “We're in for a whole new slew of litigation challenging any and every gun-control measure in light of the analysis in today's ruling,” Vladeck added.105

The Supreme Court's ruling was not a surprise to Winkler of UCLA, who calls it a “very predictable outcome of the 2016 election,” which ultimately gave Republican President Donald Trump the opportunity to appoint three conservative Supreme Court justices. The ruling “sent a signal” that the high court is likely to hear future Second Amendment cases, Winkler says.

Supporters view the decision as a big step in the right direction. “This is going to have massive implications,” said Hannah Hill, director of research and policy at the National Foundation for Gun Rights, an advocacy group. “A lot of gun laws will not be able to withstand Second Amendment scrutiny.”106

Winkler says he thinks the latest gun control measures approved by Congress are likely to survive court scrutiny because they are “very moderate.”

Following its ruling on New York's handgun limits, the high court sent several cases back to lower courts for reconsideration. These included bans on assault-style rifles in Maryland and on large-capacity ammunition magazines in California and New Jersey.107

State Responses

After the Supreme Court ruling on the New York law and the recent spate of mass shootings, some states are beefing up their gun control efforts.

In New Jersey, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said the Supreme Court decision, “in addition to making a mockery of the recent tragedies in Uvalde and Buffalo, severely undermines the efforts of individual states to protect their residents from gun violence.” Legislation passed in the state in July requires individuals to receive training before obtaining a gun license, requires handguns purchased out of state to be registered and outlaws. 50-caliber weapons. “These are common sense,” Murphy said. “These are not going to be our last words on gun safety.”108

A new law enacted in New York in response to the Supreme Court ruling requires firearm applicants to provide information on their social media accounts so officials can judge their “conduct and character.” New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul said some people using social media sometimes telegraph “their intent to cause harm to others.” The law, called the Concealed Carry Improvement Act, requires applicants to undergo gun safety training, prove their shooting skills and take part in an in-person interview. It also bans concealed weapons from public areas such as subways, schools and government buildings; private businesses must post a sign if guns are allowed.109

In June, Delaware approved a package of gun safety measures, which include banning the sale of assault weapons, limiting high-capacity magazines, raising the age to buy most firearms to 21 and holding gun manufacturers and dealers accountable for recklessness or negligence that leads to gun violence.110

California Gov. Gavin Newsom discusses a bill he signed on July 22 allowing individuals, as well as state and local governments, to sue gunmakers if their weapons cause harm. After the Supreme Court ruled against a New York gun restriction, some states loosened their gun laws while others like California made them tougher. (Getty Images/David McNew)

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill in July with several new measures, including allowing individuals, as well as state and local governments, to sue gunmakers if their weapons cause harm. The bill also requires gun and ammunition manufacturers, distributors and dealers to follow new state “standards of conduct” regarding safety and marketing and sales, such as deceptive advertising and having “reasonable controls” established to prevent unsafe gun sales. The law will go into effect in July 2023. The NRA opposed the move, citing the law's vague language.111

“Our kids, families and communities deserve streets free of gun violence and gunmakers must be held accountable for their role in this crisis. Nearly every industry is held liable when people are hurt or killed by their products — guns should be no different,” Newsom said.112

On the other hand, the high court's decision has prompted some states to loosen their gun laws. In Maryland, for example, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said people seeking concealed carry licenses no longer need a “good and substantial reason” for carrying a gun, as was the standard previously required when applying for a wear and carry permit in the state. It “would be unconstitutional to continue enforcing this provision,” Hogan said. A similar measure in Massachusetts is also no longer being enforced.113

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Outlook

Continued Legal Battles

A June Gallup poll found Americans rated the economy and gun policy as the top two issues shaping their votes in the midterm elections, with 53 percent saying the economy was “extremely important” and 52 percent rating gun policy as extremely important. The poll was conducted after the shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo, but before the bipartisan gun legislation was approved.

“The importance of gun policy … to vote choice [is] by far the highest on record and may now be even higher given the events that transpired after the poll was completed,” the poll authors wrote.114

“I think there is a lot of agreement among the Democratic coalition and suburban voters that something should be done on this issue,” said Lanae Erickson, senior vice president for social policy at Third Way, a center-left Democratic think tank. “Unfortunately, the issue is usually low salience, especially when it's not proximate to one of these shootings. We've seen that the issue gets raised around one of these massacres, and then that has a shorter and shorter half-life, where people's attention is maintained.”115

The Supreme Court decision rolling back New York's concealed weapon law is expected to open the doors to a raft of new litigation related to Second Amendment rights, UCLA professor Winkler says.

In the court's majority opinion, Thomas wrote: “The government must demonstrate that the [gun] regulation is consistent with this nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation.” This focus on history overlooks the standard lower courts' generally use, which tries to determine whether the law supports an important government interest.116

“Applying the history and tradition test is going to be fatal to at least some number of gun control laws,” Winkler says. For example, he expects future litigation to be brought against states with concealed carry restrictions.

Tom King, president of the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, vowed to file suit against that state's new gun laws. “It is obvious that this hastily proposed legislation was prepared without much thought and in apparent conflict with the [Supreme Court's] decision,” he said. “More importantly, the legislation is so convoluted and ambiguous that even top-drawer [Second Amendment] lawyers are having difficulty interpreting the legislation and explaining exactly what it means to their clients.”117

In the past, the Supreme Court did not take many Second Amendment cases, Winkler says. Now, the high court is likely to rule on more cases and he expects “lower courts will strike down far more gun laws.”

Some fear the high court's ruling will lead to more gun violence. Robert Spitzer, a political science professor at State University of New York, Cortland, writing for CNBC, cited one study that found more lax concealed carry laws increased violent crime by 13 percent to 15 percent, and another study that found the handgun murder rate climbed by more than 10 percent with looser laws. Mass shootings were also more common in states with loose gun control laws.

As a result of the Supreme Court decision, Spitzer predicts that “more gun carrying will occur, and it will lead to more gun mayhem, as our country's founders and leaders well understood.”118

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Pro/Con

Will increased gun control measures curb gun violence?

Pro Tom O'Connor Co-founder, Gun Owners for Responsible Ownership. Written for CQ Researcher, August 2022 In the United States, 41,000 people die from gun violence every year and 110 Americans are killed by guns every day. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that gun violence now exceeds automobile accidents as the leading cause of injuries and deaths among U.S. children and youth. This is a major public health crisis that is unequaled in any other developed country in the world. Reducing gun violence requires a comprehensive approach; there is no one simple answer. But there are a series of common-sense gun laws and regulations that can make a difference. Gun Owners for Responsible Ownership is an organization of gun owners, outdoor enthusiasts and veterans who seek reasonable and responsible solutions to preventing gun violence. We believe our Second Amendment rights come with responsibilities. We believe responsible gun owners should take the lead to promote safe gun ownership and sensible laws and regulations. We support the following specific measures at the federal and state levels: Require background checks on all firearm sales, including at gun shows and private sales. This should include closing the “Charleston Loophole” by requiring completed background checks before a sale. Require safe and secure storage of firearms when not in use to help prevent child access and reduce suicide. Adopt, educate and enforce red flag laws and extreme risk protection orders to give family members and law enforcement the tools to obtain a court order to remove firearms when a family member is in crisis. Increase the age requirement to 21 for all long-gun sales to match existing requirements for handgun sales. Strictly regulate military-style weapons and high-capacity magazines under the National Firearms Act, just as machine guns are currently regulated. Require all firearms to have a traceable serial number, including unfinished frames and receivers. Create and fund local community-based violence prevention programs. Fund research into the causes and ways to reduce gun violence. These measures could help save lives. Research shows that states with more comprehensive gun safety laws have fewer deaths by gun violence and states that have the least regulation have greater gun deaths and injuries. These are reasonable regulations. None of them would prohibit hunting, target shooting, collecting or the use of a firearm for self-defense, if necessary. Responsible gun ownership and reducing gun violence begin with all of us working together.

Con Mark Oliva Managing Director of Public Affairs, National Shooting Sports Foundation. Written for CQ Researcher, August 2022 Gun control advocates clamoring for gun bans are missing the point of their own argument. They seek to control the gun, ignoring criminals. A serious debate of the criminal misuse of firearms must focus on those breaking the law. The facts surrounding these horrifying incidents show that existing laws were not used by authorities. Highland Park, Ill., has a ban on so-called “assault weapons.” Illinois also has a red flag law that wasn't invoked against the alleged murderer there. In fact, police seized several knives and a sword from him after authorities classified him as a “clear and present danger.” The state's red flag law was unused. The same is true in Uvalde, Texas. That individual made threats of rape and assault against former classmates. He threatened to shoot up the school on several occasions, yet no one informed authorities. State Police brought in the alleged murderer in Buffalo, N.Y., for a mental health evaluation last year, but he was never subject to New York's red flag law. He was never brought before a judge for an adjudicated mental health hearing for involuntarily commitment to a mental health facility or to have him declared mentally defective, which would have prohibited him from possessing guns. The Parkland, Fla., murderer had dozens of points of intervention where school, county, state or federal authorities could have acted. The FBI admitted they failed to investigate two separate tips about the murderer, the last of which came just days before the tragedy. The Sutherland Springs, Texas, murderer obtained firearms because the U.S. Air Force failed to submit disqualifying records, including convictions in a court-martial and felony domestic abuse, involuntarily commitment to a mental health facility and a dishonorable discharge. Each is a disqualifier and should have prohibited him from gun ownership. The U.S. Sentencing Commission, a Department of Justice agency, reported that 88.8 percent of felons convicted of using a firearm in their crimes were already prohibited from possessing a firearm. The laws to prevent these criminals exist. What is missing is the will to enforce these laws to protect America's communities. Anti-gun politicians instead focus on gun bans. The U.S. Supreme Court specifically notes that firearms in common use are constitutional for all lawful purposes, including self-defense. Attempts to ban firearms in the name of public safety only deny law-abiding citizens the ability to protect themselves and give criminals with no respect for life or law an upper hand.

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Discussion Questions

Here are some issues to consider regarding gun violence in the United States:

• What are the arguments against tougher gun control measures? Do you agree?

• Why are military-style weapons frequently used in mass shootings? Should they be banned from civilian use?

• Mass shootings often get the most attention, but what type of gun violence is the most common?

• Who proposed creating the Second Amendment? Why?

• How has the National Rifle Association evolved since its founding?

• What is the significance of the recent Supreme Court ruling on New York state's law regarding carrying concealed guns?

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Short Features

Youth Suicides Account for Growing Share of U.S. Gun Deaths

An introvert with a quirky personality, Tierra James was often a target of school bullies. Her mother, Antoinette Perkins, said fellow classmates made fun of her daughter's appearance, such as her glasses and clothes.

“The one thing she wanted more than anything in this world is to have friends,” Perkins told a New Orleans news channel. She would never get that chance. Instead, the 13-year-old used a family gun to kill herself in November 2021. “I picked my baby up with a bullet in her head,” Perkins said.1

James is, sadly, one of many victims of suicide. While discussions about gun violence tend to center on mass shootings, the majority of U.S. gun deaths each year are suicides. As of Aug. 3, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a data and research group, almost 14,200 of the nearly 26,200 firearm deaths in the United States this year were suicides.2

In 2020, the most recent year for which statistics are available from the federal government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 46,000 Americans committed suicide. A firearm was used in almost 53 percent of those deaths.3

Youth suicides are at the forefront of this trend. In 2020, the suicide rate among people ages 10 to 24 hit a 20-year peak, according to a report by the nonprofit gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety that drew on CDC data.4

The group's latest report found that in one year, from 2019 to 2020, the firearm suicide rate increased by 15 percent for those between the ages of 10 and 24, and the rate jumped twice that much among 10- to 14-year-olds. By comparison, the rate among the U.S. population overall increased by only 2 percent during that same period.5

While it is unclear exactly why suicide rates are climbing among young people, experts say increased anxiety and depression — likely exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic — cyberbullying and the impacts of social media are all thought to have an influence.6

“As students continue to navigate changes in school learning environments — a result of the ongoing challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic — there is concern that the anxiety and loneliness already felt by many young people will continue to increase,” Everytown researchers wrote.7

Sarah Burd-Sharps, senior director of research for Everytown, told CBS News: “But these suicides can be prevented, most immediately by removing access by children and teens to firearms, strong gun safety laws and by supporting youth with open, honest conversations about mental health.”8

Limiting children's access to guns can make a big difference. According to a gun safety organization cofounded by former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords — herself a gun violence survivor — safe storage and child access prevention laws can lower suicide and unintentional gun deaths for children and teens by up to 54 percent. Safe storage laws require that gun owners keep their firearms in a safe or other secure locking device, while child access prevention laws make adults criminally liable if they leave a firearm accessible to a minor. Those with children in the house also are advised to keep their guns stored unloaded and to stow ammunition separately from the firearm.9

A man dials the combination to his home gun safe in Westminster, Colo. Suicide rates among young people are rising, and gun control advocates say safe gun storage can slow this trend. (Getty Images/Newsmakers/Michael Smith)

If safe storage practices are used, a person who is contemplating suicide would have to unlock a gun safe to retrieve the firearm or get the firearm and then get the ammunition. That can give people time to think longer about what they are contemplating and change their mind, says John Gunn, assistant professor of psychology at Gwynedd Mercy University in Pennsylvania, who worked with the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at Rutgers University.

“Most people who die by suicide have lived with those thoughts for a while,” Gunn says. For those who want to commit suicide, 80 percent to 90 percent succeed on their first attempt if they use a handgun, compared to just 5 percent who overdose, he says.

Gunn also touts red flag laws, which allow a judge to temporarily ban people from having a gun if they are considered a threat to themselves or others. The absence of safe storage and red flag laws “rob us [of] a chance to intervene,” Gunn says.

Dr. Lois Lee, an emergency medicine doctor and associate professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine at Harvard University, says technology can help keep firearms safe, such as biometric gun safes that open only with the fingerprint of an authorized user, or personalized smart guns that require a fingerprint authentication before they can be fired.

Gun manufacturer LodeStar Works, based outside Philadelphia, is hoping to make such smart handguns available to the public later this year.10

Larry Keane, a lobbyist for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearm trade association, is skeptical about the technology. “If the battery fails, and you cannot use the firearm in a time of need, [such as] someone's breaking into your house … that's a bad outcome if you have that firearm for self-protection,” he said.

He also said firearms developers have talked about smart gun technology for years, but it has never been commercialized. “The technology isn't there yet.”11

— Susan Ladika

[1] Mike McDaniel, “Mother mourns the death of daughter gone to suicide after being bullied,” 4WWL, Nov. 18, 2021, https://tinyurl.com/2p87maad.

[2] “Gun Violence Archive 2022,” Gun Violence Archive, July 28, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/4mjy6wyj.

[3] “Suicide Data and Statistics,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, June 28, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/t8yahrxz.

[4] “The Rise of Firearm Suicide Among Young Americans,” Everytown for Gun Safety, June 2, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/mr3s3w3f.

[5] Li Cohen, “Firearm suicide among America's youth has hit its highest rate in 20 years, report finds,” CBS News, June 2, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/3tkhb5kh.

[6] Quinn Owen, “Gun suicide soars as cause of death among youth: Report,” ABC News, June 2, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/573pk6ar.

[7] “The Rise of Firearm Suicide Among Young Americans,” op. cit.

[8] Cohen, op. cit.

[9] Allison Anderman, “Safe Storage Laws Save Lives,” Giffords, Dec. 9, 2021, https://tinyurl.com/24dv6xn6; “Safely Storing Guns and Ammunition in Your Home,” Mass General Brigham, Sept. 11, 2016, https://tinyurl.com/43h5vjts.

[10] Shirin Ali, “Smart guns that require fingerprint identification coming to the US,” The Hill, Jan. 11, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/3zv449vv.

[11] Jordan Winters and Ken Dilanian, “Will a ‘smart gun’ finally make it to market?” NBC News, April 5, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/yckfp3en.

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Popular “Ghost Guns” Create New Safety Hurdles

A California man who was banned from owning firearms because of a domestic violence restraining order evaded the restrictions by using a so-called ghost gun to kill his three daughters, a chaperone and himself this year.

During a supervised visit at a Sacramento church, David Mora Rojas killed his daughters, who were between the ages of 9 and 13, using a homemade semiautomatic rifle-style weapon that had an extended magazine with extra ammunition.12

Rojas' use of a ghost gun, which has no serial number and is typically bought online and assembled in someone's home, is “horrifying but not surprising,” said David Pucino, deputy chief counsel for the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.13

The number of ghost guns in the United States has soared. Last year, about 20,000 of these weapons were recovered by law enforcement officers, a tenfold increase from 2016, according to the White House. The lack of serial numbers makes it extremely difficult for law enforcement officers to trace ghost guns back to their purchasers if they are found at crime scenes.

As a result, the use of such guns makes it harder to catch and prosecute a shooter after a crime, said Eugene O'Donnell, a lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. “In some cases, it could mean not apprehending someone at all or it could raise the doubt about some cases where someone is claiming he's not the shooter.”14

Confiscated “ghost guns” are displayed at a June 29 news conference in New York City, where Mayor Eric Adams and State Attorney General Letitia James announced a lawsuit against the distributors of components used to make such weapons. Illegal and largely untraceable ghost guns have contributed significantly to growing violence in U.S. cities. (Getty Images/Spencer Platt)

In response, the Biden administration in April issued a rule banning the manufacture of ghost guns, including a ban on “buy build shoot” kits, which do not have serial numbers and can be bought online or at a store. People do not need a background check to purchase such kits and can assemble them into a firearm in just 30 minutes. Since the introduction of the new federal rule, United Parcel Service (UPS) has stopped making deliveries for some retailers that sell parts for ghost guns that do not comply with the federal requirements.15

Under the new rule, guns made from kits are considered firearms under the Gun Control Act, which requires kit manufacturers to be licensed and include serial numbers on their products. In addition, sellers of gun kits must be federally licensed and run background checks on would-be buyers. The new rule will require licensed dealers who buy pre-existing ghost guns to include serial numbers on them before selling them.16

Two gun rights advocacy groups, the Gun Owners of America and the Gun Owners Foundation, filed suit against the rule, saying it “remains of significant concern due to the vague, illegal and unconstitutional mandates it will place on citizens, manufacturers and parts dealers nationwide.”17

Mark Oliva, spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearm industry trade association, says that “it's always been legal to produce firearms at home” and some people do it as a hobby.

John Feinblatt, president of the gun control organization Everytown for Gun Safety, applauded the Biden administration rule. “Ghost guns look like a gun, they shoot like a gun, and they kill like a gun, but up until now they haven't been regulated like a gun,” Feinblatt said.18

The Gun Control Act of 1968 requires anyone manufacturing and dealing in firearms on a regular basis to have a federal license. According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the new Biden administration regulation on ghost guns will apply only to those who regularly conduct such business.19

New York Police Department Inspector Courtney Nilan says people who want to build guns for nefarious purposes will continue to be able to get ghost guns despite the new measure, because “[manufacturers] will sell you all of these parts or gun kits to make a fully functioning firearm with no background check, with no verification of who you are. All you need is a credit card. It doesn't matter your age; it doesn't matter your criminal record.”20

In Japan, a handmade gun was used in the recent assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in a country where gun violence is almost nonexistent. The accused gunman, Tetsuya Yamagami, reportedly told investigators he found instructions online on how to make firearms and ordered parts and gunpowder online.

“Anyone with a basic understanding of how guns work could have made it with minimum knowledge,” commentator Tetsuya Tsuda said.21

— Susan Ladika

[12] Abené Clayton, “A father used a ghost gun to kill his three daughters. It's the sign of a growing crisis,” The Guardian, March 8, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2p97r2a2.

[13] Ibid.

[14] Mark Morales and Brynn Gingras, “Growing ghost gun problem adds to America's violence woes,” CNN, April 5, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2p86ratb.

[15] “The Biden Administration Cracks Down on Ghost Guns, Ensures That ATF Has the Leadership it Needs to Enforce Our Gun Laws,” fact sheet, The White House, April 11, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/4e9kt6ee; Keegan Hamilton, “UPS Has New Ghost Gun Shipping Rules That Could Disrupt the Industry,” Vice, July 8, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/5n89u9m6.

[16] “The Biden Administration Cracks Down on Ghost Guns,” op. cit.

[17] Caroline Thorman, “GOA And GOF Sue Biden's ATF Over ‘Ghost Gun’ Rule,” Gun Owners of America, July 8, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2p8f8uu9.

[18] Michael Balsamo and Zeke Miller, “Biden issues new federal rule aimed at privately made ‘ghost guns’ without serial numbers,” The Associated Press, April 11, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/mry35tdd.

[19] “Ghost Guns: Undetectable Firearms Explained,” NSSF, accessed July 15, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/3mp6s5uj.

[20] Morales and Gingras, op. cit.

[21] Ju-min Park and Daniel Leussink, “The DIY gun used to kill Japan's Abe was simple to make, analysts say,” Reuters, July 10, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/4c3tzupw.

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Bibliography

Books

Follman, Mark, Trigger Points: Inside the Mission to Stop Mass Shootings in America, HarperCollins, 2022. The national affairs editor for Mother Jones magazine focuses on efforts to identify mass shooters in advance and prevent them from turning violent.

Mak, Tim, Misfire: Inside the Downfall of the NRA, Dutton, 2021. An investigative correspondent for NPR examines the history of the National Rifle Association, its shift to oppose gun control legislation and the corruption tied to its leader Wayne LaPierre.

Articles

Cohen, Li, “Firearm suicide among America's youth has hit its highest rate in 20 years, report finds,” CBS News, June 2, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/3tkhb5kh. New findings from a gun safety organization reveal that the suicide rate for 10- to 24-year-olds in which a gun was used is at its highest level in more than two decades.

de Vogue, Ariane, and Tierney Sneed, “Supreme Court says Constitution protects right to carry a gun outside the home,” CNN, June 23, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/bdhkv3hd. The U.S. Supreme Court, led by its conservative majority, rules against a New York law that limited who could carry a concealed handgun outside their home.

Goodman, J. David, “Aware of Injuries Inside, Uvalde Police Waited to Confront Gunman,” The New York Times, June 9, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/4rpnuxre. An investigation into the law enforcement response to the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, finds lawmen waited more than an hour to enter a classroom and kill an active shooter.

Lynn, Samara, “What some lifelong gun owners say about AR-15s,” ABC News, June 10, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/5h7exymu. Some longtime gun owners voice their support for measures to control ownership of military-style rifles.

Montanaro, Domenico, “Poll: Support for controlling gun violence hits its highest point in a decade,” NPR, June 9, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/ypazcr3t. A new poll finds almost 60 percent of respondents support gun control over gun rights, compared to 35 percent favoring protecting gun rights.

Morral, Andrew R., “The Gun Laws That Work, and the Gun Laws That Don't,” RAND, May 27, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/y9vt7zj3. A behavioral scientist discusses which gun control policies actually help to reduce gun violence.

Sotomayor, Marianna, “Uvalde parents recount shooting horror and plead for gun control,” The Washington Post, June 8, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/4v4h5d6z. A survivor and family members of those caught in the Uvalde shooting speak to the House Oversight and Reform Committee about the elementary school attack and call for gun control measures.

Vasilogambros, Matt, “Supreme Court's Gun Rights Decision Upends State Restrictions,” Stateline, The Pew Charitable Trusts, July 8, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/c4u5f88z. Gun rights advocates applaud a U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn New York restrictions on carrying a gun outside the home, and rush to apply for gun permits in states where access has been limited.

Weissert, Will, “Biden signs landmark gun measure, says ‘lives will be saved,’” The Associated Press, June 25, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/yypk28d5. President Biden signs the most significant gun control legislation in decades.

Reports and Studies

Kegler, Scott R., et al., “Vital Signs: Changes in Firearm Homicide and Suicide Rates — United States, 2019-2020,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 13, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/4r4p9stc. Federal health researchers report that the rate for homicides committed with a firearm jumped by almost 35 percent between 2019 and 2020, with the biggest increases among Black, American Indian and Alaskan Native males.

Price, James H., and Jagdish Khubchandani, “Epidemiological trends of youth firearm mortality in the U.S. States, 2010-2019,” American Journal of Medicine Open, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/44zhpjb2. A University of Toledo professor emeritus of health education (Price) and a public health professor at New Mexico State University (Khubchandani) find the firearm mortality rate for youth climbed by 30 percent from 2010 to 2019, largely due to an increase in suicides.

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The Next Step

Assault Weapons

Carney, Jordain, Sarah Ferris and Anthony Adragna, “House Dems' policing fight reignited by anti-crime push,” Politico, July 27, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/3wk99bd8. House Democrats put plans for an assault weapons ban on hold as they argued internally over the specifics of policing bills tied to the gun measure.

Hymes, Clare, “Gunmakers made over $1 billion in assault weapon sales in the past decade, congressional report finds,” CBS News, July 27, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2p8tj3fm. An investigation by the House Oversight and Reform Committee finds gun manufacturers have profited significantly from the sale of assault weapons due to successful marketing that especially targets young men.

Washington, Jala, “‘I will not let my students die in vain’: Uvalde teacher calls for assault weapons ban in his town,” KXAN, July 28, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/bdcntsrh. A Uvalde, Texas, teacher called on locals to sign a petition to ban assault rifles in the town after a mass shooting at a local elementary school.

Ghost Guns

“Connecticut Man Charged In Manhattan For Trafficking ‘Ghost’ Guns,” United States Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York, July 21, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/yc4a5h77. The Justice Department charged a Connecticut man for trafficking ghost guns after purchasing the parts online and at gun shows.

Fischer, Howard, “Arizona Attorney General joins lawsuit to bar ATF from cracking down on ‘ghost guns,’” KAWC, July 28, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2p84emry. A lawsuit against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) argues that new federal rules against ghost guns are an overreach of the agency's authority.

Terry, Jermont, “Manager of Matteson car wash charged with trafficking 36 guns, some of which were ghost guns,” CBS News, July 28, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/d56vxy57. An Illinois man was arrested for allegedly trafficking more than 35 guns, including ghost guns, machine guns and rifles.

Mass Shootings

Chakraborty, Ranjani, “Why US gun laws get looser after mass shootings,” Vox, July 28, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/3e2fjpvv. States often change gun laws after mass shootings, many loosening restrictions, even as the federal government rarely moves on the issue.

Pierce, David, “Anxiety increased amid national mass shootings, experts urge positivity,” ABC News Channel 20, July 28, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/3pep6cjs. Mental health experts are concerned many Americans are developing anxiety about attending large events after a rise in mass shootings.

Shapiro, Emily, “Highland Park mass shooting suspect indicted on 117 counts,” ABC News, July 27, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/bp9ajjny. The young man accused of carrying out a mass shooting at a suburban Chicago Fourth of July parade has been indicted on 117 counts, including 21 counts of first-degree murder.

Suicides

“U.S. youth firearm mortality increased over the past decade; trends differ significantly across states, study finds,” ScienceDaily, July 19, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/4wvbcb4k. Some states with stricter gun access laws successfully reduced the number of youth gun deaths in recent years, a new study finds.

Aerts, Lindsay, “Rep. Curtis hopes to prevent gun suicides nationally with law similar to Utah's,” KSL NewsRadio, July 19, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/mtwxwvpx. Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, is proposing a bill to allow those experiencing a mental health emergency to voluntarily put themselves on a do-not-sell gun list.

Saunders, Heather, “Do States with Easier Access to Guns have More Suicide Deaths by Firearm?” Kaiser Family Foundation, July 18, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/4bm32p56. Suicides by firearm are twice as likely to occur in states with the fewest gun laws, compared to states with the most gun laws.

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Contacts

Everytown for Gun Safety
P.O. Box 3886, New York, NY 10163
202-630-8673
everytown.org
The largest nonprofit gun violence prevention organization in the United States; deals with everything from gun violence to hate crimes to suicide.

Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
268 Bush St., #555, San Francisco, CA 94104
415-433-2062
giffords.org
A nonprofit that works to end gun violence, headed by former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was seriously injured in a shooting.

Gun Owners for Responsible Ownership
P.O. Box 2394, Lake Grove, OR 97035
responsibleownership.org
A nonprofit representing gun owners that seeks reasonable solutions for preventing gun violence.

National Rifle Association
11250 Waples Mill Road, Fairfax, VA 22030
800-672-3888
home.nra.org
The nation's largest gun lobbying organization that focuses on supporting the rights of gun owners.

National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF)
11 Mile Hill Road, Newtown, CT 06470
203-426-1320
nssf.org
A trade association for the firearms industry that works to promote, protect and preserve hunting and shooting sports.

New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center
Rutgers University School of Public Health, 683 Hoes Lane, West Piscataway, NJ 08854
732-235-9566
gunviolenceresearchcenter.rutgers.edu/
A university-affiliated center focused on researching the causes, consequences and solutions to gun-related violence.

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Footnotes

[1] Patrick Marley, Robert Klemko and Kim Bellware, “How the Highland Park parade shooting unfolded: A marching band, then gunshots,” The Washington Post, July 6, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/ybdsp4nx.

[2] “Highland Park Parade Mass Shooting Victims Now Include 7 Killed, 47 Injured,” NBC5, July 5, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/353kk7th; Ximena Bustillo, “Parents of recent mass shooting victims urge Congress to act on gun control,” NPR, June 8, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2abamu4b.

[3] Christopher Cadelago and Jonathan Lemire, “‘Be absolutely furious’: Dems want more from Biden after Highland Park,” Politico, July 6, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/wxe2bx6w.

[4] Don Clyde and Shauneen Miranda, “Biden signs gun safety bill into law,” NPR, June 25, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2kkyhjrs; J. David Goodman, “Aware of Injuries Inside, Uvalde Police Waited to Confront Gunman,” The New York Times, June 9, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/j2tj7f4b.

[5] Will Weissert, “Biden signs landmark gun measure, says ‘lives will be saved,’” The Associated Press, June 25, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/ye2y9htt.

[6] Clyde, op. cit.

[7] Abby Livingston, “U.S. Senate approves first major gun legislation since 1994, one month after Uvalde shooting,” The Texas Tribune, June 23, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/mr33vh64.

[8] Clyde, op. cit.

[9] Emily Cochrane et al., “Where Senate Republicans Stand on Gun Legislation,” The New York Times, May 25, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/23nwxzc5.

[10] “Gun Violence Archive 2022,” Gun Violence Archive, July 27, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/597kxc9v; Mark Berman et al., “The staggering scope of U.S. gun deaths goes far beyond mass shootings,” The Washington Post, July 8, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/r6naemse; and “Explainer,” Gun Violence Archive, accessed Aug. 8, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/bderb9jp.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Spencer Kimball, “U.S. gun homicides reached highest level in 25 years during Covid pandemic, CDC says,” CNBC, May 10, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/3j56x6tn.

[13] John Gramlich, “What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S.,” Pew Research Center, Feb. 3, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/mrxrh8mz; “Gun Violence Archive 2022,” op. cit.

[14] Zachary B. Wolf, “Biden urges 10 Republican senators to join Democrats on gun-related legislation,” CNN, June 3, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/435mvzwh; James H. Price and Jagdish Khubchandani, “Epidemiological trends in youth firearm mortality in the U.S., 2010–2019,” American Journal of Medicine Open, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/mr47txjc.

[15] Ariane de Vogue and Tierney Sneed, “Supreme Court says Constitution protects right to carry a gun outside the home,” CNN, June 23, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/yc6nmmxk.

[16] Katelyn Cordero, “New York passes strengthened gun laws in wake of SCOTUS ruling,” Politico, July 1, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2p96xaun; “N.Y. passes a bill that raises the age to buy and own semi-automatic rifles,” The Associated Press, NPR, June 3, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/58tk528j; and Erik Larson, “New York Assault-Weapons Ban Draws Suit by Gun-Rights Group,” Bloomberg, July 13, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2p8zre7e.

[17] Joe Walsh, “U.S. Bought Almost 20 Million Guns Last Year — Second-Highest Year On Record,” Forbes, April 14, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/ye5wu62c; Matthew Loh, “America has 20 million AR-15 style rifles in circulation, and more guns than people in the country,” Business Insider, May 30, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2p97et6r; and Elliott Ramos and Joe Murphy, “6 charts that show the rise of guns in the U.S. — and people dying from them,” NBC News, May 25, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/4b7wnvdr.

[18] Ibid.

[19] “Buffalo shooting suspect says his motive was to prevent ‘eliminating the white race,’” The Associated Press, NPR, June 16, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/298b9k5a.

[20] Brett Samuels, “Biden ‘determined’ to renew assault weapons ban,” The Hill, July 11, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/mu37wyye.

[21] Jonathan Franklin, “Where AR-15-style rifles fit in America's tragic history of mass shootings,” NPR, May 26, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/287j2kj8; Meghan Keneally, “Understanding the 1994 assault weapons ban and why it ended,” ABC News, Sept. 13, 2019, https://tinyurl.com/6j478avm.

[22] Michael Macagnone, “House Democrats advance assault weapons ban after mass shootings,” Roll Call, July 21, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2s55stsh/.

[23] Rachel Treisman, “Abe's assassination shocks Japan, where gun control is strict and shootings are rare,” NPR, July 8, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/29tbmxwu; Ellen Francis et al., “What are Japan's gun laws? Abe killing shocks nation with few shootings,” The Washington Post, July 8, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/yvwssej5.

[24] “On gun violence, the United States is an outlier,” Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, May 31, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/54arrh5k.

[25] Domenico Montanaro, “Poll: Support for controlling gun violence hits its highest point in a decade,” NPR, June 9, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/4dby264n.

[26] Mike Hixenbaugh and Corky Siemaszko, “Abbott calls Texas school shooting a mental health issue but cut state spending for it,” NBC News, May 25, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/5n8krxh.

[27] “When Gun Laws Don't Prevent Gun Crime,” National Review, July 6, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2nvcpvnt.

[28] Jolie McCullough and James Barragan, “Texas politicians search for solutions after another mass shooting. Experts say we've already found them,” The Texas Tribune, June 6, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/3nuvxctu.

[29] “The House passes a gun control bill in response to the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings,” NPR, June 8, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2p8wudvp.

[30] Rebecca Cohen, “Gun violence victim's mother tells Congress she doesn't want more gun control laws so she can defend herself ‘from evil,’” Yahoo Life, June 8, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2f9s87eh.

[31] Richard Fausset, Eliza Fawcett and Serge F. Kovaleski, “After Indiana Mall Shooting, One Hero but No Lasting Solution,” The New York Times, July 19, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/bdz6ftru.

[32] Ibid.

[33] Peter Hermann, “D.C. gun seizures are soaring — but charges aren't sticking,” The Washington Post, June 1, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/22yazfkj.

[34] Andrew R. Morral, “The Gun Laws That Work, and the Gun Laws That Don't,” RAND, May 27, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/4jwpb459.

[35] “State Firearm Laws,” State Firearms Laws Database, Boston University School of Public Health, accessed July 13, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/yc5hbce9.

[36] Sara Swann, “The history of the AR-15 and how it became a symbol of American gun culture,” Poynter, June 29, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/4nr7nbww; C.A. Bridges, “Is an AR-15 an assault rifle? What you need to know about America's most popular rifle,” Fort Myers News-Press, June 2, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/3pdpm5hk.

[37] “AR-15,” United States Concealed Carry Association, accessed July 24, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/4mep2j4u.

[38] Mallika Mitra, “Colt will no longer make AR-15s for civilians, but gun control advocates might not have much to celebrate,” CNBC, Sept. 20, 2019, https://tinyurl.com/29ajn6ts.

[39] Ron Elving, “The U.S. Once Had A Ban On Assault Weapons — Why Did It Expire?” NPR, Aug. 13, 2019, https://tinyurl.com/zjvdhyff; “Remarks by President Biden on Gun Violence in America,” The White House, June 2, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/4fcj8x35.

[40] Christopher Ingraham, “It's time to bring back the assault weapons ban, gun violence experts say,” The Washington Post, Feb. 15, 2018, https://tinyurl.com/4s2njpbs.

[41] Diana Glebova, “Biden Says He ‘Won't Stop’ until ‘Assault Weapons’ Are Banned,” National Review, July 11, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2p9fkazk; “Harris calls for renewing the assault weapons ban after Highland Park mass shooting,” NPR, July 5, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/5etsuwev.

[42] Samara Lynn, “What some lifelong gun owners say about AR-15s,” ABC News, June 10, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/5n7dy8y7.

[43] “Modern Sporting Rifle: Introduction,” NSSF, accessed July 9, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/4nrkbj65.

[44] Lynn, op. cit.

[45] Virginia Chamlee, “Feral Hogs, Prairie Dogs and Chicken-Eating Raccoons: How GOP Lawmakers Are Defending AR-15s,” People, June 8, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/373v3fhf.

[46] Marianna Sotomayor, “Republican who supported assault rifle ban ends reelection campaign,” The Washington Post, June 3, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/bdz25bth.

[47] “NPR/PBS News Hour/Marist National Poll: Gun Violence in the United States, June 2022,” MaristPoll, June 9, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/5t4mc2wd.

[48] Glenn Thrush and Matt Richtel, “A Disturbing New Pattern in Mass Shootings: Young Assailants,” The New York Times, June 2, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/3xjhv732.

[49] Mike DeBonis, “House passes tough new gun measures hours after wrenching testimony,” The Washington Post, June 8, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/muu4abbf; “Factbox: What's In, What's Out of the US Senate's Gun Safety Framework,” Voice of America, June 12, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/c2t8sne3.

[50] DeBonis, op. cit.

[51] Martin Kaste, “Should 18-year-olds be allowed to buy semi-automatic rifles? State and courts debate,” NPR, May 21, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/mr2zhw87.

[52] “What to Know About the School Shooting in Uvalde, Texas,” The New York Times, July 5, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2ccy5enu.

[53] Moriah Balingit, “Republicans, reluctant to pass gun regulations, push arming teachers,” The Washington Post, May 25, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/y8pt3umd.

[54] McCullough and Barragan, op. cit.

[55] “Digest of Education Statistics,” National Center for Education Statistics, accessed July 9, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/yzz7s4f6.

[56] Balingit, op. cit.

[57] McCullough and Barragan, op. cit.

[58] Aidan Quigley and Lindsey McPherson, “GOP talk of school ‘hardening’ panned as fig leaf by Democrats,” Roll Call, May 25, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/mpswxr2f.

[59] Elizabeth K. Anthony, “Does hardening schools make students safer?” The Conversation, June 21, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/yckufr99.

[60] Poppy Noor, “Gates, no windows, single entry: can school redesign deter mass shootings?” The Guardian, July 4, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/37sh89m9.

[61] Bill Chappell, “Ohio Gov. DeWine signs a bill arming teachers after 24 hours of training,” NPR, June 14, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2p829p3u.

[62] Ibid.

[63] “Second Amendment,” Constitution Annotated, Library of Congress, accessed July 6, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/bdd7f58j.

[64] “Second Amendment,” History Channel, Nov. 27, 2019, https://tinyurl.com/36s9abxt; “James Madison,” Presidential biographies, The White House, 2006, https://tinyurl.com/mwh4rxup.

[65] Amber Phillips, “How the Second Amendment was reinterpreted to protect individual rights,” The Washington Post, May 31, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/xxjza5zk.

[66] Michael Waldman, “How the NRA Rewrote the Second Amendment,” Brennan Center for Justice, May 20, 2014, https://tinyurl.com/2p8d9ea9.

[67] Cathy Shufro, “A Brief History of Guns in the U.S.,” Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health, Oct. 13, 2021, https://tinyurl.com/2p9ffkz2.

[68] Sarah Gray, “Here's a Timeline of the Major Gun Control Laws in America,” Time, April 30, 2019, https://tinyurl.com/mu5bje33; Robert Spitzer, “How the NRA evolved from backing a 1934 ban on machine guns to blocking nearly all firearm restrictions today,” The Conversation, May 25, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/28xvhnv5.

[69] Ibid.

[70] Gray, op. cit.

[71] Tom Price, “Gun Violence,” Chronology, CQ Researcher, July 27, 2018, https://tinyurl.com/y5ntyhz4.

[72] David M. Zimmer, “America's first mass shooting: 70 years ago, a WWII veteran killed 13 of his neighbors,” USA Today, Aug. 28, 2019, https://tinyurl.com/45hb68kb.

[73] Ibid.

[74] David Montgomery, “Texas Marks '66 Sniper Attack as University Prepares for ‘Campus-Carry’ Law,” The New York Times, July 30, 2016, https://tinyurl.com/yc7v7szh. Eva Frederick, “Experts still disagree on role of Tower shooter's brain tumor,” The Daily Texan, July 30, 2016, https://tinyurl.com/mws29bp9.

[75] Mark Abadi, James Pasley and Taylor Ardrey, “The 30 deadliest mass shootings in modern US history include Buffalo and Uvalde,” Business Insider, May 26, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/4ff8dzc8; Columbine Shooting,” History Channel, May 25, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/mrxcpv7z; and Michelle Mark, “How Columbine changed American schools,” Insider, April 20, 2019, https://tinyurl.com/2x8ck9py.

[76] Abadi, Pasley and Ardrey, op. cit.; “Virginia Tech shooting leaves 32 dead,” History Channel, April 14, 2021, https://tinyurl.com/2p99p8pf.

[77] “Sandy Hook School Shootings Fast Facts,” CNN, May 26, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/yjmatuzw.

[78] Ralph Ellis et al., “Orlando shooting: 49 killed, shooter pledged ISIS allegiance,” CNN, June 13, 2016, https://tinyurl.com/y63542c3.

[79] “Gunman opens fire on Las Vegas concert crowd, wounding hundreds and killing 58,” History Channel, Sept. 28, 2021, https://tinyurl.com/bdectpah.

[80] “Teen gunman kills 17, injures 17 at Parkland, Florida high school,” History Channel, May 25, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/sr6xzz8v.

[81] “8 Dead in Atlanta Spa Shootings, With Fears of Anti-Asian Bias,” The New York Times, March 26, 2021, https://tinyurl.com/ykeym39r.

[82] Ron Elving, “The NRA Wasn't Always Against Gun Restrictions,” NPR, Oct. 10, 2017, https://tinyurl.com/28auwvyk; “A Brief History Of The NRA,” National Rifle Association, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/4xvb2w59.

[83] Elving, op. cit.; Christopher Klein, “When Teddy Roosevelt Was Shot in 1912, a Speech May Have Saved His Life,” History Channel, July 21, 2019, https://tinyurl.com/yzu23668.

[84] “The surprising history of the NRA,” The Week, March 18, 2018, https://tinyurl.com/3jy9ee5d.

[85] Elving, op. cit.; “The surprising history of the NRA,” op. cit.

[86] Conor Friedersdorf, “Can Gun-Control Advocates Make the NRA Toxic?” The Atlantic, March 2, 2018, https://tinyurl.com/4uu7wmuz; “Protests at NRA Convention in Texas, but Speakers Reject New Gun Laws,” U.S. News & World Report, May 27, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/3ndhwdjf.

[87] Aimee Picchi and Kate Gibson, “NRA, long viewed as invincible, faces shrinking membership and revenue,” CBS News, May 27, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/ypha4vnd.

[88] Danny Hakim, “New York Attorney General Sues N.R.A. and Seeks Its Closure,” The New York Times, Aug. 3, 2021, https://tinyurl.com/2p97svpa.

[89] Ian Millhiser, “The lawsuit seeking to impose the ‘death penalty’ on the NRA, explained,” Vox, May 13, 2021, https://tinyurl.com/bp4tn9hr.

[90] Michael R. Sisak, “Judge Blocks NY's Bid to Shutter NRA, but Lawsuit Continues,” U.S. News & World Report, March 2, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/yc2jzfjn.

[91] Amber Phillips, “How the Second Amendment was reinterpreted to protect individual rights,” The Washington Post, May 31, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/xxjza5zk.

[92] Ibid.

[93] “United States v. Miller,” Oyez, accessed July 25, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2w8b5rx3.

[94] “Summaries of Significant Supreme Court Cases Related to Firearms and Domestic Violence,” Battered Women's Justice Project, accessed July 25, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/46njpv9y.

[95] “‘It's going to save a lot of lives’: Inside the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act,” Advisory Board, June 28, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2p872trh.

[96] Jacqueline Alemany, “House committee calls CEOs of gun manufacturers to testify,” The Washington Post, July 7, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/3s62wb7a.

[97] Ibid.

[98] Isabella Murray and Mason Leib, “Gun CEOs testify to House after mass shootings, blame ‘erosion of personal responsibility,’” ABC News, July 27, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/8jfbww4j.

[99] Jordan D. Brown et al., “Rally at U.S. Capitol pushes for gun control: ‘I am unwilling to … be another thought and prayer,” USA Today, July 13, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/33e89bus.

[100] Sahil Kapur, “House passes assault weapons ban that's doomed in the Senate,” NBC News, July 29, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/yd2wp9pf.

[101] “Broad Public Approval of New Gun Law, but Few Say It Will Do a Lot To Stem Gun Violence,” Pew Research Center, July 11, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/y6uzyb96.

[102] Nate Cohn, “Poll Shows Tight Race for Control of Congress as Class Divide Widens,” The New York Times, July 13, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/mpwncwcx.

[103] Julia Manchester, “Pro-Biden group pours money into touting bipartisan gun safety law,” The Hill, July 14, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/yybhndfv.

[104] de Vogue and Sneed, op. cit.

[105] Ibid.

[106] Matt Vasilogambros, “Supreme Court's Gun Rights Decision Upends State Restrictions,” Stateline, The Pew Charitable Trusts, July 8, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2nprd85y.

[107] Andrew Chung, “U.S. Supreme Court throws out rulings upholding gun restrictions” Reuters, June 30, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/mrxujk52.

[108] “Governor Murphy Signs Executive Order Directing State Departments and Agencies to Identify Gun Violence Prevention Measures,” press release, State of New Jersey, June 24, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/3hact2n7; Ali Watkins, “After Another Mass Shooting, New Jersey Tightens Gun Laws,” The New York Times, July 5, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/ycxyrz4u.

[109] Landon Mion, “New York approves gun law requiring buyers to provide social media handles,” Fox News, July 2, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/drxb9fnx.

[110] “Governor Carney Signs Package of Gun Safety Legislation,” press release, Office of the Governor, June 30, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/muku5zt9.

[111] Jon Healey, “California opens the door to suing gun makers. Here's what the new law does,” Los Angeles Times, July 13, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/33sh7fdz; Kate Gibson, “New California law opens gate to lawsuits against gun manufacturers,” CBS News, July 13, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/9etp4x6v.

[112] “New California Law Holds Gun Makers Liable: ‘The Gun Industry Can No Longer Hide,’” press release, Office of Governor Gavin Newsom, July 12, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/tstnmxxu.

[113] Alison Durkee, “Maryland Loosens Concealed Carry Law In Light Of Supreme Court Gun Ruling,” Forbes, July 5, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/4znr4pk7.

[114] Lydia Saad and Megan Brenan, “Americans' Intensity Running High Before U.S. Midterms,” Gallup, July 8, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/3wj2wcw7.

[115] Adam Wren, “How the gun debate will be won or lost in the suburbs,” Politico, June 1, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2xxs7666.

[116] Adam Liptak, “Supreme Court Strikes Down New York Law Limiting Guns in Public,” The New York Times, June 23, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/4757rdph.

[117] Brendan J. Lyons, “New York's new gun laws expected to face court challenge,” Times Union, July 7, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/2z4r739j.

[118] Robert Spitzer, “How the Supreme Court rewrote history to justify its flawed gun decision,” CNBC, June 23, 2022, https://tinyurl.com/35ksn8yn.

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About the Author

Susan Ladika is a freelance writer in Tampa, Fla., whose work has appeared in Managed Care magazine, Health Payer Specialist by the Financial Times, HR Magazine, Bankrate.com and CreditCards.com. She previously worked as a writer and editor for newspapers in the Southeast, including The Tampa Tribune. She also has reported from Europe for The Associated Press. Her most recent report for CQ Researcher was on corporate branding.

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