Gun Violence

Once, the Fearful Response to a School Shooting was Novel

by Sarah Churchwell

The United States has reached the point where multiple generations of families are traumatized by school shootings. 

Another Consequence of Gun Culture: Fake Emergency Calls

Although campus communities are thankful when they don't experience gun violence, shootings have spawned another disruptive phenomenon: the mass shooting hoax. A campus security expert discusses how colleges can respond. 

Mass Shootings Reflect the Narcissism of Young Men

by Tom Nichols

The injured grandiosity of "failed to launch" young men is pushing them to seek outsize revenge, often using the readily available guns. 

America's Tragic History of Campus Shootings Goes Back to 1840

John A.G. Davis, a professor of law, was killed by a masked member of a student mob engaged in firing pistols into the air to protest for the right to carry guns on campus. 

Our Gruesome Politics are Destroying the Cultural Ideal of Childhood

by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela

The romantic ideal of children as innocents deserving of the protection of adults has long been a rallying cry for politicians. After two pandemic years and more school shootings, are they even pretending to care anymore? 

Matthew McConaughey Goes Home

by John Fea

As a movie fan, the author has never been moved by the Uvalde, Texas native. But as a Christian, he found the actor's public solidarity with the victims and their families compelling and honest. 

The Debate Renews: Show Images Victims of Mass Killings in the Press?

by Jelani Cobb

Mamie Till's decision to place her son's open casket in the national media shone a light on Jim Crow atrocities, but it's unclear that showing the victims of gun massacres – even children – is making any difference. Photos of hundreds of lynching victims only encouraged their killers.

Publicizing Pictures of Dead Children Will Backfire on Gun Control Advocates

by John Temple

"Maybe one day some editors will have a picture of a dead child even more powerful than the one we published that will finally make a difference."

Will Buffalo Change Anything?

Historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and survivor/activist David Hogg discuss whether American politicians will ever confront the horrific combination of racism and guns. 

The Forgotten School Gun Massacre in Stockton, CA

Patrick Purdy killed 5 children, all from Southeast Asian refugee families, and injured 30 others in a schoolyard gun attack in 1989, an incident that should be a reminder of the horrific combination of racism and guns in America. Gun violence scholar Pat Blanchfield explains how we've collectively forgotten.

Secret NRA Tapes in Wake of Columbine Show Decision to Attack Critics for "Politicizing" Mass Shootings

The NRA faced a crossroads after the Columbine shootings in 1999. They chose a scorched-earth posture that has guided their response to every mass shooting incident since, documented in recordings of high-level strategy meetings.

Understanding Gun and Police Violence Lies Between History and Power

by Kwasi Konadu

Dealing effectively with gun violence and police violence requires recognizing they are connected by the long history of America's culture of force in defense of the social order. The National Gun Violence Awareness Day observed today should reflect this connection.

96 Minutes

An oral history by witnesses and survivors of Charles Whitman's mass shooting at the University of Texas on August 1, 1966. 

Understanding America's History Of Gun Control

by Samantha Benthien

As gun violence rates continue to increase, looking to America's history of gun control can provide insight into this polarized issue. 

Can the NRA Survive its Current Crisis?

by Robert J. Spitzer

The NRA is facing a serious crisis. 

We Must Stop Valuing Guns More Than People

by Greg Bailey

Fom garlic festivals to shopping malls, from schools and churches and synagogues, there is a darkness in the soul of America. 

The ‘warspeak’ permeating everyday language puts us all in the trenches

by Robert Myers

Cultural language can impact gun violence. 

We Need A Long-Arc Historical Perspective to Understand White Supremacist Extremist Violence.

by Eric V. Tait, Jr.

Much like today, in the early 1980s, people of color and the gains of the civil rights movement were increasingly under attack and many Americans wanted to “turn back the clock to an earlier era.”

Political Corruption Underwrites America’s Gun-Control Nightmare

by Thom Hartmann

The story of the rich politician whose extreme corruption inspired the 17th Amendment--and how the Citizens United ruling allows money to rule politics once again. 

Run, Hide, Fight If You Must…Now What?

by David Lee McMullen

A history professor at UNC Charlotte reflects on the campus shooting last Tuesday.