GUNS IN AMERICA
An unprecedented exploration of America’s enduring relationship with firearms. From the first European settlements in the New World to frontier justice; from 19th-century immigrant riots to gangland violence in the Roaring Twenties; from the Civil War to civil rights, guns have been at center of our national narrative. Americans have relied on guns to sustain communities, challenge authority and keep the peace. Efforts to curtail their distribution and ownership have triggered epic political battles. This program traces the evolution of guns in America, their frequent link to violence and the clash of cultures that reflect competing visions of our national identity.
Watch Guns in America Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 8pm.
FRONTLINE: Raising Adam Lanza
In the wake of the mass killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, FRONTLINE investigates a young man and the town he changed forever. Adam Lanza’s motives, and his life, remain largely a mystery. With The Hartford Courant, FRONTLINE looks for answers to the central — and so far elusive — question: Who was Adam Lanza? Also this hour: In the aftermath of the tragedy, President Obama called for a national conversation about guns. Nowhere is that conversation more intense than in Newtown, where FRONTLINE finds a town divided and explores how those closest to the tragedy are wrestling with our nation’s gun culture and laws.
Watch FRONTLINE: Raising Adam Lanza Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 9pm.
NOVA: Mind of a Rampage Killer
What makes a person walk into a theater or church or classroom and open fire? What combination of circumstances compels a human being to commit the most inhuman of crimes? As the nation tries to comprehend the tragic events in Newtown, NOVA correspondent Miles O’Brien investigates theories that rampage killers are driven most of all by the wish to die, not the urge to kill. Could suicide — and the desire to go out in a media-fueled blaze of glory — be their main motivation? How much can science tell us about a brain at risk for violence? Most important, can we recognize dangerous minds in time to stop the next Newtown?
Watch NOVA: Mind of a Rampage Killer Wednesday, February 20, 2013 at 8pm.
The Path to Violence
Psychologists, working with law enforcement officers, have devised tools to prevent violent attacks. THE PATH TO VIOLENCE details a powerfully effective Secret Service program — the Safe School Initiative — that’s helped schools detect problem behavior. However, shooters like Adam Lanza, Jared Loughner and allegedly James Holmes all executed their attacks after they’d left school. Can the gains made by psychologists and law enforcement be extended to encompass parents — terrified of their own children and inadequately helped by mental health and legal systems — and families of violent individuals? Is the country ready for a national conversation about the balance between school safety and civil liberties that interventions, including gun control, require?
Watch The Path to Violence Wednesday, February 20, 2013 at 9pm.
