Former Editor of Guns & Ammo
Former Editor of Guns & Ammo magazine; Principal of Cook/Collins & Associates, a marketing and communications firm and expert consultant on advanced handgun and ammunition design for the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment
The Constitutional Right to Gun Ownership The US Supreme Court has settled an issue as old as the Bill of Rights: individuals must be allowed to own guns . But Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority, also said, "Since this case represents this court's first in-depth examination of the Second Amendment, one should not expect it to clarify the entire field." Both sides have predicted a flood of lawsuits to seek "clarification," and sure enough, they're already being filed. If they can't ban guns, what kinds of regulations can governments impose? We ask about background checks, registration, assault weapons, trigger locks and carrying concealed weapons. What about gun crime and public safety? How long will it take to sort it all out, city by city and state by state?
The Deadliest Shooting Rampage in American History At least 33 people, including one gunman, are dead after a shooting rampage on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. There were two incidents--the first in a dormitory at 7:15am, the second in a classroom building two hours later. Police say they still don't know if the two incidents were related. If the same gunman was involved, some angry students say they don't understand how he was able to strike twice. We hear from Virginia, talk with the chief of campus security at UCLA and ask if California's gun laws would prevent a similar tragedy.
Buying, Selling and Using Assault Weapons in the US The International Association of Police Chiefs reports that high-caliber automatic weapons are increasingly common on the streets of American cities. Local police departments are fighting back with military-style armament of their officers. But there's dispute about whether the arms race started when the federal Assault Weapons Ban expired three years ago or long before that. Was the ban really all that effective? Are there other reasons both cops and criminals are more heavily armed? How come so many US assault weapons are turning up in Mexico? We hear from journalists, industry and policy and gun-safety experts.
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.