Under the Gun - David Remnick

Under the Gun Since February 14th, when a nineteen-year-old gunman allegedly killed seventeen people and wounded much more at a high school in Parkland, Florida, The New Yorker has been covering the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting and its aftermath. Emily Witt learned how the survivors have begun the Never Again movement, spoke to students about their sorrow and anger, and travelled with them to Tallahassee; Charles Bethea met Florida gun owners and wrote about the Internet trolls who are exploiting the shooting for their own ends; and Evan Osnos responded to the extraordinary CNN town hall in which Marco Rubio—“ashen, unmanned”—faced the parents of victims. This week, we’re bringing you some of our most insightful writing about guns in America. In “Four Truths About the Florida School Shooting,” Adam Gopnik reminds us of the fundamental facts that should be shaping our response to mass gun violence; in “What’s Really Standing in the Way of Gun Control,” Jeffrey Toobin explains why it’s lack of political will, not restrictive legal precedent, that's preserving the status quo. In longer pieces, Jill Lepore explores the complex history of gun regulation in America, and Evan Osnos examines the economics of the gun business. Finally, Jelani Cobb and Margaret Talbot reflect on previous mass shootings—last year’s shooting at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas and the 2016 attack on the Pulse night club, in Orlando, respectively. Let’s hope that the Parkland shooting will be a turning point in this sad, enraging story. —David Remnick

A selection of stories from The New Yorker’s archive Daily Comment Four Truths About the Florida School Shooting The claim of the gun lobby’s complicity in murder is not exaggerated or hysterical but, by now, quite simple and precise. Daily Comment What’s Really Standing in the Way of Gun Control Are the state, local, and federal governments powerless to pass laws that restrict the purchase, possession, and use of guns? As it turns out, no. By Jeffrey Toobin PAID POST “Breathtaking...[and] urgent.” —NPR.org An epic, page-turning novel, Exit West is a love story both of our time and for all time. A Reporter at Large Making a Killing Most of the time, when Americans shoot one another, it is impulsive, up close, and apolitical. None of that has hurt the gun business. In recent years, in response to three kinds of events—mass shootings, terrorist attacks, and talk of additional gun control—gun sales have broken records. By Evan Osnos U. S. Chronicles Battleground America The United States is the country with the highest rate of civilian gun ownership in the world. (The second highest is Yemen, where the rate is only half that of the U.S.) No civilian population is more powerfully armed. By Jill Lepore Daily Comment Another Worst Mass Shooting People typically have to apply themselves to reach new benchmarks, and it is indisputable that we, as a society, have applied ourselves to reach this one. By Jelani Cobb Daily Comment Terror Begins at Home There is a connection between domestic violence and mass shootings, and in acknowledging that connection there is some hope for helping to prevent both. By Margaret Talbot

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