Gun Violence // Current TV

NRA sues San Francisco

A day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Americans have a constitutional right to... more

dafunkyaztec
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3 years ago
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2 comments

Student wanted to break school massacre record

A teenage boy charged with plotting a Columbine-like massacre at his Indiana high... more

jabutle3
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3 years ago
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Straight Outta Hunters Point 2

San Francisco's darkest secret is back and the issues have escalated. Murder,... more

Kevin_Epps
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3 years ago
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11 comments

Man opens fire at church festival

A man opened fire outside of St. John Baptist de la Salle, a Roman Catholic church in... more

Swiyyah
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4 years ago
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23 comments

Ban GTA IV for killing virtual people, but what world do we live in?

Surely the problem is not that watching violence on screen & committing it in... more

Mr_Costello
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4 years ago
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7 comments

Oakland Turf - Teaser v1

A look into the street culture and culture of gun violence in Oakland, California.

robertogrijalva
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4 years ago
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Chicago in the lead for Murder Capital 2008

In a city where there has been a hand-gun ban on the books since the early 80's,... more

D_J_M_P
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4 years ago
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Football star gunned down by gang

It's especially sad since he was attracting scholarship attention from Stanford,... more

MornRail
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4 years ago
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2 comments

School shootings: A new form of domestic terrorism

There were five school shootings during a seven-day period in February of 2008.... more

jasonsereno
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4 years ago
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31 comments

Covering a tragedy: NIU

I spent Friday morning with the staff of the Northern Star, NIU's student... more

zoso1001
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4 years ago
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4 comments

Five killed in fiery Los Angeles standoff

5 people were killed, including a SWAT officer and the gunman after a nightlong... more

Swiyyah
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4 years ago
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4 comments

Suspect Arrested in Connection to Vegas Bus Shooting

18 years old, caught in Denver for attempted murder of 6 people on a Vegas bus.... more

amaness
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4 years ago
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1 comment

Gunman kills 2 at missionary training center

A gunman opened fire Sunday in a training center for young Christian missionaries... more

AshleyWard
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4 years ago
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John Lennon : Imagine 27 Years Later

A man of peace who used his fame to change the world. Lost to us too early through a... more

JanforGore
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4 years ago
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4 comments

First shake up of US gun laws in 70 years will ruffle a few feathers

Is it a human right to own a hand gun or should all guns for personal use be banned?... more

Padders100
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4 years ago
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2 comments

Go out, have a game of B ball on the street

the problem is not that kids are fat, it's that they're fat and... more

ish757
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4 years ago
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0 comments

Is it Hot in Here? Or is it Us?

As the number of annual gun deaths in America surpasses 30,000, the gun debate has been getting pretty shrill. Thats shrill as in sharply unpleasant and tough on the ears. In fact, the word debate as in a discussion of ideas, hardly applies anymore. Somehow, the talk of guns has evoked such profound fears that we are reduced to childish screaming and name-calling.
From where I sit, it looks like this: Gun owners say that gun control people are unpatriotic, hysterical wimps and maybe even communistic. Gun-control advocates hint that gun-owners are narcissistic neanderthals with sexual-inadequacy problems that they cover up with guns. One side warns of creeping tyranny, another brandishes pictures of bright-eyed children killed by gunfire. If you think Im exaggerating the heat that this question evokes, do an internet search for gun control or gun violence. The anger that you see doesnt create much of a background for solving a problem. The confict is about what people need to feel secure and so the emotions are wild and high. Its safe to say that there is more contact, both casual and constructive, between Israelis and Arabs than there is between the sides in the American gun debate.
All this has the makings of tragedy, of a situation where two sides are equally sure of, and in a sense entitled to their own sense of being right, moral and visionary. In tragic conflicts, no one gives way and everybody loses.

Its tempting to think that we might just let this issue work itself out in fifty separate state legislatures and in the courts. After all, the abortion debate is just as hot, just as divisive and rancorous and while its not settled, we seem to be surviving as a nation in spite of it.

Maybe a clue to an eventual solution lies in the nature of some of our other national debates.
Abortion, for all its heat, is an issue that inevitably sheds a bit of light. Everyone who advocates free access to abortion recognizes that there is an awful sadness involved in it. Everyone who works to restrict the availability of abortion knows someone who has had one. Our antagonisms on the issue draw at least some of the people on either side together because we can empathize with the other sides sadness.
The future of health care also gets people hot under the collar. To some its obvious that access to health care is a basic human right. For others, its just as obvious that government shouldnt be in the health care business. For both sides, their opinion is on the side of the angels. But even here, theres some common ground. Hardly anyone would want to see children go untreated and no one wants the government taking choice out of ones personal health care.

So lets try for a bit of common ground in the gun debate. First, lets imagine that its possible for good and honest people to hold opinions different from our own How about starting with the language we use. Ill promise to stop referring to gun nuts if youll agree to give up on the gun-control crowd. After we stop the name-calling, maybe we can begin to recognize that the other side has some concerns that ought to be addressed.
Maybe we can ask ourselves some questions.

A question for the gun rights people: What steps can we take to prevent the needless gun deaths of innocent people?

A question for the gun control people: How can we reassure law-abiding gun-owners that keeping our streets safe doesnt mean confiscating their guns?

I wonder if a bit of serious thought about the other sides concerns might slow us all down enough to see that there are real people on the other side of the issue. I wonder if seeing each other for the first time might bring us a little bit closer to a solution to a grave national problem. Or shall we wait until another 30,000 people die and then start acting like grown-ups?

Lynn Hoffman, author of bang BANG a romantic thriller about sex, death and guns
As the number of annual gun deaths in America surpasses 30,000, the gun debate has... more

bangBANG
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4 years ago
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