Gun Voters

AP US Government and Politics

In the 2016 presidential election, if you only counted voters who live in households with guns, which states would Hillary Clinton have won?

NY Times The Upshot

1. How accurate was your prediction?

2. What most surprised you about this data?

3. What is the big story these maps tells?

4. Why do you think that is?

5. What's one consequence of that?

6. Do you think there is a bigger dividing line in American voting than gun ownership?

7. Based on your own knowledge, how accurate is this data in your personal circle of friends, acquaintances, and family?

8. What is it about gun owners that attracts them to candidates Donald J. Trump?

9. And what is it about non-gun owners that attracts them to candidates like Hillary Clinton?

10. It's been said that there's three kinds of people, those who can count, and those who can't. It's also been said that there two kinds of people, those who can finish their sentences and

11. It's also been said that Americans either go to Starbucks or they go to Cracker Barrel, but they don't go to both. Can you think of another thing, like guns, or lattes, that so divides Americans?

12. Are these maps good news, bad news, or neither?

13. Only about 37% of Americans own guns, but they own a lot of them, and it's been estimated that there are about 300 million guns in America (almost one for every person.) Does that surprise you?

14. Let's say that you were the editor for a newspaper that was running an article about these maps. What headline would you write?

15. I was heading up the on ramp onto I-90, which is a really, really, really big highway - right next to Chicago O'Hare airport (one of the world's largest airports) when all of a sudden I saw a pretty big coyote. I thought: what the heck! Do you believe me? And then this morning (I'm not lying) I saw a shepherd (flowing robes, head scarf, shepherd's crook) walking past my house (which is the middle of a small city). What the what? In the comments section below, write the most surprising thing you've seen on the side of a highway:

Learning Extension

Check out these super-cool maps of American states divided up by voter demographic from our friends at the NY Times Upshot.

Action Extension

Go to Survey Monkey (yes, that's a real site. No, there's nothing to worry about) and customize your own 2016 presidential election map (there's a drop down menu to customize the map by demographic!!!!) Share a screenshot of and your thoughts about the most interesting map you come up with in class or online!

Bonus Maps!