In light of the latest issues concerning gun control, sexual assault, and healthcare in America, we’re offering a list of resources for you to look through.

The Las Vegas shooting that killed fifty-nine people and injured more than five hundred has us talking about gun control again. Even though, just a couple of weeks later, the media seem to have moved on to other topics, we need to keep the conversation going.

Every day, there seems to be new cases of individuals from different professions speaking up about their experiences with sexual assault. Allegations against USA gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, film producer Harvey Weinstein, and others highlight, again, how rape culture is still pervasive in all industries. As more and more women come forward to say, “Me Too,” now is the time for us to say, “I believe you.”

And access to the healthcare services we need is in a precarious state. The Trump administration has issued a healthcare executive order to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and rolled back the Obama-era birth control mandate. What’s more, the Senate budget bill is proposing cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. So much is especially at stake for vulnerable populations who don’t have healthcare.

We hope you find these resources helpful.

Resources

Gun Control:

• “Guns Don’t Kill People, People Kill People” by Dennis A. Henigan debunks the lethal logic behind the pervasive myths that have framed the gun control debate
• Jonathan M. Metzl’s Washington Post piece When the Shooter Is White examines the racial motivations behind the “lone wolf” label
• Dennis A. Henigan’s Daily Beast piece The 3 Worst Arguments Against Gun Control explains why Congress should reject three main arguments against stronger gun laws
• Stand Your Ground by Caroline Light exposes the hidden history of how violent self-defense has been legalized for the most privileged
• Dennis A. Henigan’s Huffington Post piece The Las Vegas Horror: The Issue is Firepower shows us why our current policy on machine guns should be extended to all high-firepower products
• Poetry anthology Bullets into Bells, edited by Brian Clements, Alexandra Teague, and Dean Rader, is a passionate call to end American gun violence
• Caroline Light’s New York Times op-ed A ‘Stand Your Ground’ Expansion that Expands Inequality exposes the inherent racial biases in our Stand Your Ground laws
• Facing History and Ourselves’s Help Your Students Reflect on the Tragic Las Vegas Shooting provides teachers with strategies to help their students understand the Las Vegas Shooting
• Dennis A. Henigan’s Beacon Broadside blog post Guns Make Killing Easy explains that gun crimes persist due to the weaknesses of US gun laws
• Caroline Light’s Beacon Broadside blog post When Police Stand Their Ground explains the robust legal immunities that “Stand Your Ground” laws grant to law enforcement professionals
• Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT) reads Sandy Hook teacher Abbey Clements’s response piece from Bullets into Bells on the floor of the House

Sexual Assault:

• Caged Eyes by Lynn Hall gives us her insider’s account of misogyny and rape in the US military
• Anita Hill’s Variety piece Anita Hill on Harvey Weinstein Scandal: Sexual Harassment Knows No Politics shows how educated, liberal, high-achieving men can be harassers too
• On Being Raped by Raymond Douglas recounts the personal trauma of a crime we still don’t openly discuss: the rape of adult men by men
• Lynn Hall’s Beacon Broadside blog post A Climb of Mt. Aconcagua Emboldened Me in the Eleventh Hour talks about how mountain climbing helped her prepare for the publication of her memoir Caged Eyes
• Amanda Terkel’s Huffington Post piece 26 Years Ago, America Started Talking About Sexual Harassment Thanks to Anita Hill looks at the legacy of Anita Hill’s testimony against Clarence Thomas
• Lived Through This by Anne K. Ream brings together the voices of rape and sexual violence survivors who are shaped but not defined by their histories of violence 
• Raymond Douglas’s VICE piece The Story of My Rape as a Young Man is an excerpt from his book On Being Raped
• Lynn Hall’s New York Times piece What Happens When a Rape Goes Unreported calls on strong military leaders to counter the normalization of sexual violence

Healthcare in America:

• Danielle Ofri’s Slate.com piece Big Money’s Sway over Doctors examines how medical conflicts of interest harm patients 
• Dispatches from the Abortion Wars by Carole Joffe gives us firsthand accounts of the hurdles in the ongoing abortion wars
• Her Body, Our Laws  by Michelle Oberman explores various legal climates to show us how the war over abortion is being fought
• Carole Joffe’s Beacon Broadside blog post Why Did Contraception Stop Being Common Ground in the Abortion Wars looks at how the rise of the religious right led to increased opposition to abortion
• Medicine in Translation by Danielle Ofri reports from the front lines of medicine to give us portraits of patients living and dying in the foreign country we call home
• Carole Joffe’s Rewire article When Hurricane Harvey Hit, Texas Abortion Providers Stepped Up highlights the Texas abortion clinics that stayed open during Hurricane Harvey to provide abortion services