The GAO, Interest Groups and Gun Control

When we talk in class about the GAO I always have the kids go to their website to look at a few of their studies.  If you haven't done so this year, here is on study that is in the news.  The GAO report found that 91% of those on terrorist lists were able to legally purchase guns (1119 out of 1228).  The GAO concluded that these people's names should be turned over to the FBI - something that is not currently being done.

If you want your students to argue the merits on both sides of gun control, the first several paragraphs of this article do a good job of laying out both sides of the debate essentially stating the liberal (people aren't in a militia so shouldn't get guns) with the conservative (the militia was/is made up of the people and there was no army initially).   The article is from a center to a slightly left learning British publication.

Next you might want to know what the US defines as a terrorist and who keeps the list.  The "who" is the National Counterterrorism Center.  Here's how you can be added to the terrorist watch list and even have it done mistakenly (your students can debate the merits of getting this from a liberal source).

Finally one can debate why we are using the notion of "mass murders" using the number four.  If we do, the image above (here is more) shows all of the ones in the last year. If you click on any, you can find more information.  Note that the 355 number that is being mentioned in the media is for people killed and injured by guns

Of course you can also mention interest groups on both sides such the NRA and the Brady Campaign. Here is a recent ad from the NRA and here is one from the Brady Campaign featuring a known terrorist.