Homicides by Firearm USA 2023
Critical Analysis
According to the data form the chart above, in 2012, how many deaths from firearms occurred per million people in the United States?
How do firearm deaths in the United States compare to Australia?
Explain why the U.S. has so many more homicides by firearm than all the other countries from the chart above.
If this chart were entitled and contained data on, "homicides by snapping turtle attack", do you think the US would ban turtle ownership or at least make turtles harder to get?
The Second Amendment reads: "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." The First Amendment reads, in part, “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech.” Yet, with the landmark ruling in Schenck v. United States (1919), the Court created the “clear and present danger test,” which allows speech to be regulated and abridged. Do you think it would be wise to consider a clear and present danger test for firearms?
The 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling of McDonald v. Chicago (2010), made the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense applicable to the states. With Justice Samuel A. Alito writing for the majority, the Court reasoned that rights that are "fundamental to the Nation's scheme of ordered liberty" or that are "deeply rooted in this Nation's history and tradition" are appropriately applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. How does this ruling make it difficult for states like New York or others to ban guns?
In the comments section, based on this chart, write the Second Amendment as you would like it to be written today:
In an extraordinary move, Tennessee's Republican-led House voted Thursday (yesterday) on whether to expel three Democratic lawmakers who recently led a raucous protest from the House floor calling for gun law reforms. Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson acknowledge that they didn't follow the rules of order and decorum by speaking without being formally recognized. But they're facing a disciplinary measure that's only been used twice since the 1800s. Republicans have said the trio's actions amount to an insurrection. Listen to the NPR story below.* Make a claim about whether these legislators should be expelled?
If the United States had the same Covid death rate as Australia, about 900,000 lives would have been saved. Despite having very similar demographics, the death rate from COVID was ten times higher in the United States than it was in Australia. How do you think Australia’s COVID response relates to the similarly lower rate of homicide from firearms?
According to the Gun Violence Archive, how many mass shootings have occurred in the U.S. so far this year?
Learning Extension
Check out these extremely comprehensive charts on guns in America from Vox.
Action Extension
Share your opinion on mass shootings with the president at (202) 456-1111. Or discuss your opinion on mass shootings with one of your state's U.S. Senators or Member of the US House of Representatives. Call the capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
Visual Extension*
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