Should the US Change Its Gun Laws?
One thing to know before this week starts: on Wednesday you will be assigned a side, and you'll have to argue it whether or not you agree with it. That's deliberate. Thursday is when you get to say what you actually think. In between, the polling delivers something most people don't expect — on several specific policies, Republicans and Democrats agree by huge margins. The real disagreement is narrower than the shouting suggests.
Reading List
Read the first two before Tuesday and the third before Wednesday. Notice as you read that they're doing different jobs: one reports survey data, one argues a case, and one lays out both sides.
Before Tuesday
- Key Facts About Americans and Guns — Pew Research Center. Survey findings, no argument.
- The Science Is Clear: Gun Control Saves Lives — Scientific American. This one is an editorial — the magazine's editors arguing a position. Read it as an argument. Link coming soon
Before Wednesday
- Should More Gun Control Be Enacted? — Britannica ProCon. Bring two pros and two cons you found most compelling. Link coming soon
One-Week Plan
Here's the shape of the week. Your guide will set the exact timing for your section.
Read the Sentence First
The first ten amendments to the Constitution are the Bill of Rights. The second one is about the right to bear arms, and it's twenty-seven words long. You'll read it before anyone says anything about it.
That's worth doing carefully. Most people have opinions about this amendment without ever having read the sentence — and the sentence is genuinely odd, because it puts two ideas in one breath: a well regulated militia, and a right that shall not be infringed. Write down what you make of it, and how it fits what you already believed.
Ten Charts
Free write first: as an adult, do you think you're likely to own a gun? Why or why not?
Then the data, roughly in this order:
- What the words mean. The difference between automatic and semiautomatic — get this straight early, because a lot of arguments about guns are really arguments about vocabulary.
- The US against other countries, on gun ownership and on firearm homicides. Some countries rank high on one and low on the other. Why?
- Suicides and homicides. How the ratio between them is changing. This chart surprises nearly everyone, and it changes what "gun deaths" means.
- The comparison that matters. The US doesn't have the highest overall suicide or homicide rate among wealthy countries. So what does that tell you specifically about the ones involving guns?
- Where deaths come from overall, which states have the highest and lowest firearm mortality, and the trend in mass shootings — including how mass-shooting deaths compare to gun deaths in general.
- What Americans actually want. The last slide is the important one: which policies have strong support from both parties, and which ones split them.
Argue the Side You're Given
Free write first: what do you think about requiring a licence to buy a gun — and how could someone use the Second Amendment to argue against licensing?
Then the constitutional question the whole topic sits on: where's the balance between "shall not be infringed" and "a well regulated militia"? Both phrases are in the same sentence. Any position you take has to deal with both.
The rules for today's breakout:
- You'll be assigned a side. Argue it with fidelity, even if it isn't yours.
- Tomorrow you can argue either side, or something in the middle.
- Respond to and reference other students — that's easier today, because you can answer with a counterargument.
- Use the data. Use the two pros and two cons you brought.
This feels strange for about five minutes and then becomes the most useful thing you'll do all week. Building the strongest version of a case you don't hold is how you find out whether your own case is any good.
Before you leave: what haven't we looked at any research on? Find something that fills a gap, and bring a quote from it.
Your Own View
Free write on the best question of the week: what are the most important things we could be teaching children now that would help prevent future gun violence — even if nothing at all changed about the laws?
Then share your resource, pick one a classmate found, read it properly, and say what it adds. Today you argue what you actually think.
Score Your Own Week
What went well, what to improve, what you learned, and whether anything you believed changed. Then the participation matrix. Be honest with yourself.