+ Israel's political crisis; gerrymandering's overrated effect US Edition - Today's top story: Nashville attack renews calls for assault weapons ban â data shows there were fewer mass shooting deaths during an earlier 10-year prohibition [View in browser]( US Edition | 30 March 2023 [The Conversation]
[The Conversation]( This has been a typical week in the United States, one punctuated by yet another mass shooting. The latest shooting occurred in a Nashville, Tennessee, Christian elementary school. Three 9-year-olds and three adults, as well as the assailant, died. Sadly, the location of the shooting and the ages of the victims are not new. We have seen elementary school mass shootings before. âWhy in Godâs name do we allow these weapons of war on our streets and at our schools?â President Joe Biden asked as he called on Congress to pass a new assault weapons ban. This week, Michael J. Klein, who belongs to a group of injury epidemiologists and trauma surgeons who studied [the impact of the countryâs previous assault weapons ban on mass shooting deaths](, writes: âIn the years after the assault weapons ban went into effect, the number of deaths from mass shootings fell, and the increase in the annual number of incidents slowed down.â Klein also explains how mass shootings changed after the assault weapons ban expired in 2004. Lorna Grisby Senior Politics & Society Editor
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Gun control activists rally in Nashville, Tenn. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
[Nashville attack renews calls for assault weapons ban â data shows there were fewer mass shooting deaths during an earlier 10-year prohibition]( Michael J. Klein, New York University Analysis of the 10 years in which the US banned sales of assault weapons shows that it correlates with a drop in mass shooting deaths â a trend that reversed as soon as the ban expired.
A member of Israelâs military reserves takes part in a protest on March 16, 2023 in Bnei Brak, a city east of Tel Aviv. Photo by Eyal Warshavsky/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
[Israelâs military reservists are joining protests â potentially transforming a political crisis into a security crisis]( Dan Arbell, American University Israelâs leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, has fired the countryâs defense minister. That deepened the countryâs crisis over proposed judicial reforms that even military reservists have protested.
A voter casts his ballot at an early voting location in Alexandria, Va., Sept. 26, 2022. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
[When it comes to explaining elections in Congress, gerrymandering is overrated]( Charles R. Hunt, Boise State University A loud chorus of Democrats â and some Republicans, too â has for years claimed gerrymandering is costing their party seats in Congress. Is it true? [As the global musical phenomenon turns 50, a hip-hop professor explains what the word âdopeâ means to him]( A.D. Carson, University of Virginia As the world celebrates the 50th anniversary of the birth of hip-hop, a scholar of the culture and its musical genres explores the meaning of the word âdope.â [Presidential hopefuls are considering these 5 practical factors before launching their 2024 campaigns]( Robbin Mellen Jr., University of South Florida Senators, governors, representatives and past presidents have to weigh multiple factors before declaring their 2024 run for president. Campaign financing is one of them. [Reaction to bronze sculpture of Coretta and Martin Luther King Jr. in Boston hasnât been good â and thatâs not bad for art that shatters conventions]( Kristin Ann Hass, University of Michigan A memorial to Coretta Scott and Martin Luther King Jr. has received stinging criticisms, but time will tell whether âThe Embraceâ will endure as a cherished work of public art. [Whatâs at stake as protests rock Israel: 3 essential reads on democracy, security and human rights]( Naomi Schalit, The Conversation Three scholars examine the implications of the crisis roiling Israel as hundreds of thousands of people protest across country. [This course uses science fiction to understand politics]( Nicole Pankiewicz, College of Coastal Georgia Science fiction does more than entertain â it can also be used to better understand the political forces that shape the societies in which we live. [Why the growing number of foreign agent laws around the world is bad for democracy]( Maxim Krupskiy, Tufts University Foreign agent laws claimed as a tool to fight back against foreign interference can also be used to silence critics and repress law-abiding NGOs, independent media and individuals. -
[As longterm partnership with US fades, Saudi Arabia seeks to diversify its diplomacy â and recent deals with China, Iran and Russia fit this strategy]( Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Rice University Saudi Arabiaâs choice of China to broker its deal with Iran surprised many, but is consistent with its foreign policy agenda. -
[In Turkey, women are feeling the worst aftershocks of the earthquake disaster â this disparity may lead to dwindling trust in government]( Willow Kreutzer, University of Iowa; Stephen Bagwell, University of Missouri-St. Louis When government responses to a natural disaster do not address the specific needs and vulnerabilities of women and girls, women tend to lose trust in the institutions. -
[Pilgrimage and revolution: How Cesar Chavez married faith and ideology in landmark farmworkersâ march]( Lloyd Daniel Barba, Amherst College A scholar of religion looks at how faith helped guide the labor rights icon in his organizing endeavors. -
[Can this former CEO fix the World Bank and solve the worldâs climate finance and debt crises as the institutionâs next president?]( Rachel Kyte, Tufts University Ajay Banga is expected to be the next World Bank president. Itâs a crucial time, with calls for reform and sky-high expectations of what one leader needs to do. A former World Bank official explains. Like this newsletter? You might be interested in our other weekly emails:
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