Bob Levin

On April 20, 1999, in Littleton, Colorado, two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, killed thirteen and wounded twenty-one at Columbine High School using two shotguns, a rifle, and a nine-millimeter pistol. While many argue that the boys would have found some other way to harm the students they resented, others argue that the tragedy could not have occurred without the ready access they had to guns. In the following viewpoint, Bob Levin makes this argument, claiming that although the Second Amendment protects America’s right to bear arms, it also puts dangerous weapons in the hands of immature, confused teenagers. Levin is a contributing editor at Maclean’s, a weekly Canadian newsmagazine.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. Where does the author feel that the National Rifle Association (NRA) goes wrong...