What can be owned?

Who can own it?

Where can they have it?

Big Questions What should happen in response to the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School? How should the nation try to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future? Adapted from: teaching-about-gun-control-after-newtown/#comments teaching-about-gun-control-after-newtown/#comments

What happened at Sandy Hook Elementary? By now you have all heard about the school shootings in Newtown, Conn. Twenty-eight people, including 20 children, were killed by a man carrying four of his mother’s guns.

What happens next? And President Obama said he was determined to introduce new laws to make sure this cannot happen again. But what exactly does that mean? What changes to the law could prevent such a terrible thing from happening?

Brainstorming Possible SolutionsPossible Obstacles

How is Newtown, CT responding to the Sandy Hook massacre? 1.Does most of this article take place before or after the school shootings in Newtown? 2.Which groups are coming into conflict in this article, and what are they arguing about? 3.What do the gun enthusiasts want, and what do town leaders want? 4.What sort of local ordinance (law) is being considered? 5.From what you can tell, have opinions changed in Newtown since the school shootings? 6.What does this tell us about the challenges of changing gun laws across America? And does this seem like a typical town? n/in-newtown-conn-a-stiff-resistance-to-gun- restrictions.html?_r=0

Gun Control Activity Over the next few days we are going to look at these issues and see if we might be able to predict the sort of law that the president might introduce and Congress might be able to pass. Research the issues: Questions to Consider Worksheet Questions to Consider Worksheet

Gun Control Activity We will then write a simple legislative bill containing those predicted elements of a new gun control law. We may also choose to write a competing bill introduced by opponents of gun control.

Gun Reform Bill Finally, students will create a bill that contains the following elements, using a format similar to the Princeton Model Congress program:Princeton Model Congress – Preamble of at least one paragraph that provides detailed reasons on why a new law is needed. – Body containing sections and subsections – one for each new requirement, element or change in the law. – Enactment clause explaining when the new law would go into effect. Princeton Model CongressPrinceton Model Congress program