Guns: killing or saving? America's gun problem

On Feb. 14, 2018, a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. In the aftermath, led first by students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, teenagers around the country initiated an unprecedented wave of youth activism for gun control. Teenage voices from all sides of the issue weighed in, and in the months that followed, they helped reinvigorate one of the nation's longest-raging debates. Beginning in March 2018, NPR sought out more than 15 teenagers from nine states and Washington, D.C., to document their relationship with guns. Everyone featured in the resulting film was 17 years old in 2018. Most of these teens were seniors in high school. As they approached their graduations, they spoke from a variety of diverse backgrounds and perspectives — from sport shooters in the Midwest to a student planning to join the military in the Southwest; from a teenager in Washington, D.C., who lost his twin brother to gun violence to a young woman in Montana...

Part 2 What are the arguments against gun control? The arguments come down to principle, law and practicality.  Gun rights advocates see weapon possession as a matter of individual rights. They say that people have the right to arm themselves for hunting, self-defence , sport – or just because they want to. Legally, the debates often come down to the Second Amendment, whose 18th-century context and language have been endlessly parsed and debated: “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.” Gun rights advocates say that means an  individual  right to gun possession, while gun control advocates say it means the people’s  collective  right, through a militia. For generations, the Supreme Court avoided directly answering the question, though its decisions were often seen as favouring the collective interpretation. But in 2008,  the Supreme C...

Five men who worked for Henry Pratt Company in Aurora were gunned down during a termination meeting   What happened:  Five people were killed in Aurora, Illinois, on Friday when a man being let go from his job opened fire at the Henry Pratt Co. in the Chicago suburb. During the termination meeting, the gunman took out a pistol and began killing people, authorities said. He then stormed into a warehouse and was killed after firing at police.   The victims : Clayton Parks of Elgin, human resources manager Trevor Wehner of DeKalb, human resources intern and Northern Illinois University student Russell Beyer of Yorkville, mould operator Vicente Juarez of Oswego, stockroom attendant and forklift operator Josh Pinkard of Oswego, plant manager Another employee and five police officers were wounded, according to Aurora police. A sixth officer, who is 23, suffered a minor injury unrelated to gunfire. He's served on the Aurora force for two years. ...

Here is a list of the deadliest single day  mass shootings  in US history from 1949 to 2018. Events: 58 killed - October 1, 2017 -  In Las Vegas,  64-year-old Stephen Paddock  of Mesquite, Nevada,  sprays gunfire on a crowd of 22,000 concertgoers from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino , killing 58 people and injuring almost 500. Witnesses say the gunshots last between 10 and 15 minutes. Officers breach Paddock's hotel room to find him dead. Authorities believe Paddock killed himself and that he acted alone. 49 killed - J une 12, 2016 -  Omar Saddiqui Mateen, 29, opens fire inside Pulse, a gay nightclub, in Orlando. At least 49 people are killed and more than 50 are injured. Police shoot and kill Mateen during an operation to free hostages officials say he was holding at the club. 32 killed - April 16, 2007 -  Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. A gunman, 23-year-old student Seung-...