An AP enterprise team of Adam Geller, Matt Sedensky, Claire Galofaro, Maryclaire Dale, David Goldman, Allen Breed, Brittany Peterson, Sharon Johnson and Robert Bumsted talked to people across the United States to see what nearly unfettered gun rights mean to the rest of their freedoms. Many of the people whose lives and views formed the basis for the all-formats narratives were themselves conflicted. Some hated the gun that took their loved one from them yet carry a gun themselves and believe people should have the right to bear arms. The result was a nuanced look at a nation grappling with the desire to protect what many see as a fundamental right, while also staunching the flow of gun deaths. Four video packages told the story of people’s pain and the struggle to resolve these issues in their own minds. A photo essay brought light to the beauty and pain in many victims’ and their families’ lives.
AP journalists tackle gun rights in deeply reported package
Rev. Jimmie Hardaway Jr. shows the gun he carries on him during services at Trinity Baptist Church Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023, in Niagara Falls, N.Y. One time, when he wasn’t carrying a gun, “I had a guy beat his wife in my office and I couldn’t do anything. He was too big for me. All I could do was say: ‘Stop! Stop!,” he recalls.
AP PHOTO / DAVID GOLDMAN