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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    Piracy on the High Seas and Gun Control in America

    Despite a rash of mass killings, calls for increased gun control are falling on deaf ears.  Has the NRA prevailed in Washington and state capitols?  Will American guns continue to flow to Mexican drug cartels?  Also, the US resolves to do what's necessary to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean.

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    By Warren Olney • Apr 13, 2009 • 1h 0m Listen

    After Navy marksmen killed three Somali pirates, American sea captain Richard Phillips is alive and well. President Obama says the US will work with other nations to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean. Can they be defeated in an area too large for effective naval patrol? What are the risks of a land invasion to eliminate their safe haven? Also, recent mass shootings have renewed calls for gun control. But the issue is dead on arrival at state legislatures, Capitol Hill and the Obama White House. Has the NRA won the battle? What about American guns used to arm Mexican drug cartels?


    Banner image: View of pirates and hostages on the Tanit, that was seized by Somali pirates on April 4, 2009. Photo: ECPAD/AFP/Getty Images

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      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

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      Frances Anderton

      architecture critic and author

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      Andrea Brody

      Senior Producer, KCRW's Life Examined and To the Point podcast

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      Sonya Geis

      Senior Managing Editor

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