Hooked on Lead — Covering America’s Gun Obsession
Reading Time: 3 minutes In 2019, we have stepped up our coverage of gun policy and gun violence. Here are some of our most interesting articles.
Youth Suicides by Firearms Are on the Rise
Reading Time: 4 minutes Youth suicides by firearms are increasing, yet no federal laws focus on preventing these deaths, leaving children victim to minimal mental health access and loose gun laws.
Florida Seeks to Make Sharing Footage of Mass Shootings Illegal
Reading Time: 3 minutes Florida lawmakers want to protect the families of mass shooting victims at the expense of free press.
Youth Struggle With After-Effects of Gun Violence
Reading Time: 7 minutes From Parkland to Pittsburgh, nonprofits are helping students deal with gun violence trauma. But advocates say schools should play a bigger role.
In 2019, Active Shooter Drills Are the New Fire Drills in Schools
Reading Time: 6 minutes With gun violence on the rise for the first time since the 1990s, active shooter drills are becoming a “normal” part of the school day. Here’s what kids are being taught and why.
Mass Shootings and Mindfulness
Reading Time: 13 minutes Opinion: 2018 has been, by some counts, a record year for American mass shootings. If guns are the hardware driving the violence, what is the software and how can we start to address changing it?
Will Republicans Counter Millennial Protests with New Voter Suppression Laws?
Reading Time: 3 minutes Personal attacks on the Parkland students have shown that their political opponents are scared. Will they resort to new voter suppression schemes to keep millennials away from the polls in November?
The AR-15: Weapon of Choice for Mass Shooters
Reading Time: 2 minutes Fourteen teenage students will never get to go to prom or attend college, but somehow this tragedy feels like just another chapter rather than a plot twist in America’s tortured narrative about guns.
Surprising Facts About Who Threatens Our Safety the Most—Recommended Reading
Reading Time: 2 minutes Despite the media’s overwhelming coverage of foreign terrorism, there’s a much bigger problem here at home.
RussRant: No “Insanity Defense” for US Obsession with Guns
Reading Time: 3 minutes The South Carolina church shootings are no anomaly. Americans are senselessly gunned down—at a rate of 30 per day (excluding suicides and accidents). Gun advocates who want no meaningful restrictions, ostensibly to protect themselves, put all of us at risk. Yet those advocating universal disarmament are not practical. But here’s a third way.
“The Drugs Made Me Do It?”
Reading Time: 4 minutes The finger-pointing about who is to blame for gun violence
has turned to prescription pharmaceuticals. We’re told that they
transform people into killing machines. But is the problem the
drugs themselves—or the ease with which the mentally ill can obtain
guns?
The NRA’s Proposal to Vastly Expand Government
Reading Time: 3 minutes Putting armed guards into every school seems an odd thing for certain people to be advocating. It runs counter to their general philosophy, and many other complications emerge.
PODCAST: Russ Baker on George HW Bush, guns, news timing, Syria and more
Reading Time: < 1 minute In this interview with host Pat Thurston on the popular San Francisco-based KGO, Russ discusses less publicized aspects of George HW Bush’s life, makes new enemies over guns, explains why timing is everything in the news business, and laments the media’s failure to level with the public over Syria. Plus more.
Explainer: How Poor Timing Buries Important News
Reading Time: 4 minutes What a difference it makes…when news breaks. A look at the consequences of poor timing, in stories about Israel/Gaza and gun violence.
Get Your Pink Rifle at Dick’s! America’s Love Affair with Money and Violence
Reading Time: 5 minutes Those who make a fortune selling guns are doing the obligatory show of sensitivity. They know that if they can just keep their heads down, it will all blow over, and they’ll be back in clover soon enough.
Controlling Gun Violence: Not a Prayer?
Reading Time: 2 minutes The politicians have a lot to say about gun deaths in America—and keep on saying it, over and over.
Did You Hear About the Shooting?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Something is wrong with a country where mass murder seems a routine occurrence. The fact that we merely report these things without really doing anything about them is even more telling.
The Oakland Paradox: Obama, Weed and Guns
Reading Time: 5 minutes Two big stories in Oakland, California, on a single day. In one, the Obama administration is doing something about nothing. In another, it is doing nothing about a very big something. Bang!
The Trayvon Effect: Americans as Tragedy Addicts
Reading Time: 3 minutes The death of Trayvon Martin is a tragedy. But what do we actually do about it? And what else is getting ignored while we and the media focus all of our attention on one powerfully emotional case after another?
Is This Photo Relevant?
Reading Time: < 1 minute Given Palin’s denunciations of efforts to restrict guns in America, and her website graphic (see blog post below) featuring crosshairs over members of congress, is it fair for news organizations to run a picture like this? Please weigh in with a comment-and please keep a civilized tone.