Homicides by Firearm
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:
Nick Kristof has an incredible variety of rich graphics about guns in the US.
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?
The gunman who killed 10 people in a racist rampage in Buffalo, NY, left behind a lengthy manifesto about why he was planning to kill minorities, who he claimed were going to replace White Americans. The “Replacement theory,” espoused by the suspect in the Buffalo massacre, has been embraced by some right-wing politicians and commentators. No public figure has promoted replacement theory more than Fox host Tucker Carlson, who has made it a central theme of his show since 2016. A Times investigation published this month showed that in more than 400 episodes of his show, Mr. Carlson has amplified the notion that Democratic politicians and other assorted elites want to force demographic change through immigration. How much responsibility for the Buffalo massacre belongs to Tucker Carlson?
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.