What we’re reading: Week 1

By Jessica Boehm and Marlena Chertock

Detroit police chief gracing cover of NRA Magazine, defends stance on right to bear arms (5/19, CBS Detroit) After at least five fatal shooting in two months that dealt with home intrusion, the Detroit police chief is featured on the cover of an NRA Magazine voicing his support of the right to bear arms as a method of protecting one’s self.

Smart guns, electromagnetic pulse, and planning for unknown-probability dangers (Eugene Volokh, 5/23, The Washington Post): Volokh discusses the possibility of how an e-bomb (a nonnuclear electromagnetic pulse that renders all electronics useless) could destroy “smart gun” technology.

Kentucky legislature clearing way for more gun permits (Mike Wynn, 5/27, The Kentucky Courier-Journal) After the passing of at least a dozen laws that make it easier to secure a gun permit, Kentucky has seen the number of people with permits quadruple in the past 10 years.

How the NRA rewrote the Second Amendment (Michael Waldman, 5/19, Politico Magazine)
Waldman explains how public sentiment about gun ownership and the Second Amendment has shifted over the course of history with the help of the National Rifle Association.

After attack near campus, California weighs gun bill (Jennifer Medina, 5/28, New York Times) A bill proposed in California days after the mass shooting in Isla Vista aims to allow law enforcement and private citizens to file restraining orders against those with a potential propensity for violence, keeping them from buying and owning guns.

Photographs: A Decade’s Worth of Toy Guns in America (Kristina Loggia, 5/27, New York Magazine): Loggia photographed toy guns from the past decade.

Jessica Boehm is a News21 Hearst Fellow.