The news was hard to fathom a year ago: twenty first graders and six educators shot to death during an ordinary school day in Newtown, Connecticut. Afterward, the national soul-searching seemed to reach new depths, with President Obama insisting “these tragedies must end, and to end them we must change.” At the time, polls showed a majority of Americans agreed some aspects of gun laws could be altered, expanding background checks, for instance. But Washington lawmakers failed pass legislation, and the debate has since shifted to the states. Both sides have scored victories in state legislatures, with gun-rights groups slightly ahead. And now, one year later - the American public seems at times ambivalent and at times deeply divided on this issue once again.
GUESTS:
- Jon Bresler – founder of the Project for Safer Communities, which supports grassroots action for gun violence prevention.
- Kevin Landrigan – longtime political reporter for the Telegraph of Nashua
- Evan Nappen – attorney on the board of Pro-Gun New Hampshire, an umbrella organization for all Second Amendment supporters in the state. His law firm in Concord concentrates on gun law matters
CALLOUT:
- Andy Smith - associate professor of political science at UNH and director of the UNH Survey Center
LINKS:
- Washington Post blog: the next gun control debate — in 6 charts
- UNH Survey Center pollon N.H. gun views
- N.H. legislature may see a renewed fight over gun control in 2014
- Mental health checks among N.H. gun control measures
- Another NHPR look at guns in N.H., one year after Newtown
