+ why booster shots are recommended for 5- to 11-year-olds US Edition - Today's top story: How the NRA evolved from backing a 1934 ban on machine guns to blocking nearly all firearm restrictions today [View in browser]( US Edition | 26 May 2022 [The Conversation]( Mass shootings, like the two that occurred just 10 days apart in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, are becoming more frequent â and traumatic. And yet efforts to restrict access to guns and control gun violence somehow seem to go nowhere. The National Rifle Association can take much of the credit for this political paralysis, political scientist Robert Spitzer explains while [tracing the NRAâs long history](. The group formed shortly after the Civil War, with an emphasis on marksmanship. For much of its existence, the group was more open to basic limits on gun ownership than it is today. In the 1930s, for example, the NRA supported a waiting period for gun purchases. It was only in the 1970s that the NRA became âever more political and strident in its defense of so-called âgun rights,â which it increasingly defined as nearly absolute under the Second Amendment,â Spitzer writes. Also today: - [Legislation does happen after shootings, but only at the state level](
- [How â-gateâ blossomed into the suffix of scandals](
- [AI can improve weather forecasting but thereâs still a role for skilled people]( Emily Schwartz Greco Philanthropy + Nonprofits Editor
NRA conventiongoers, like these at the gun groupâs 2018 big meeting, browse firearms exhibits. Loren Elliott/AFP via Getty Images
[How the NRA evolved from backing a 1934 ban on machine guns to blocking nearly all firearm restrictions today]( Robert Spitzer, State University of New York College at Cortland The group, founded in 1871, didnât try to smother virtually all gun control efforts until the mid-1970s. Health + Medicine -
[How important is the COVID-19 booster shot for 5-to-11-year-olds? 5 questions answered]( Debbie-Ann Shirley, University of Virginia The COVID-19 vaccines continue to be effective against severe illness leading to hospitalization and death in all age groups, including children ages 5 to 11. Politics + Society -
[After mass shootings like Uvalde, national gun control fails â but states often loosen gun laws]( Christopher Poliquin, University of California, Los Angeles After mass shootings, politicians in Washington have failed to pass new gun control legislation, despite public pressure. But laws are being passed at the state level, largely to loosen restrictions. -
[How college students can help save local news]( Lara Salahi, Endicott College; Christina Smith, Georgia College and State University Partnerships between universities and local media outlets are key ways to sustain local news where coverage is diminishing. -
[A quest for significance gone horribly wrong â how mass shooters pervert a universal desire to make a difference in the world]( Arie Kruglanski, University of Maryland There is a mental and psychological dimension to what leads people to commit mass killings. But it is not mental illness or pathology. Arts + Culture -
[How âgateâ became the syllable of scandal]( Roger J. Kreuz, University of Memphis Many of the coinages fail to differentiate the mundane from the momentous. Has the suffixâs overuse rendered it essentially meaningless? Science + Technology -
[Genetic mutations can be benign or cancerous â a new method to differentiate between them could lead to better treatments]( Ryan Layer, University of Colorado Boulder Tumors contain thousands of genetic changes, but only a few are actually cancer-causing. A quicker way to identify these driver mutations could lead to more targeted cancer treatments. Education -
[Want to expand computer science education? Educate more teachers]( Aman Yadav, Michigan State University; Michael Lachney Without university-level programs to provide teacher training for advanced computer science, states will not be able to offer high-quality computer science education to all students. Economy + Business -
[3 in 4 fundraisers have experienced sexual harassment on the job â often because of inappropriate behavior from donors]( Erynn Beaton, The Ohio State University; Megan LePere-Schloop, The Ohio State University After studying this #MeToo problem for years, two researchers have drafted a toolkit to help nonprofits address it. Environment + Energy -
[AI and machine learning are improving weather forecasts, but they wonât replace human experts]( Russ Schumacher, Colorado State University; Aaron Hill, Colorado State University Would you trust a weather forecast made by a machine that had learned how weather systems behaved by reviewing thousands of past weather maps? Trending on site -
[What is monkeypox? A microbiologist explains whatâs known about this smallpox cousin]( -
[Could people breathe the air on Mars?]( -
[Putinâs key mistake? Not understanding Ukraineâs blossoming national identity - even in the Russian-friendly southeast]( Today's graphic [A map of the United States color coded according to whether the state has a plan to teach computer science in K-12, does not have a plan or has a plan in progress.]( From the story, [Want to expand computer science education? Educate more teachers]( - More from The Conversation US - Like this newsletter? You might be interested in our weekly emails: [Politics Weekly]( ⢠[Science Editors' Picks]( ⢠[This Week in Religion]( ⢠[Weekly Highlights]( ⢠[Global Economy & Business]( -
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