If you have been affected by gun violence, please raise your hand to honor those you have lost.

Hi everybody and welcome to Intelligent Squared.

I'm John Don Van and that recording you just heard captured by ABC News back in 2018

was of a student at a DC Charter School standing in a crowded auditorium.

It went viral after he asked for that show of hands a sea of hands promptly shot up.

That was three years ago. The situation is worse now.

Gun violence is surging across the US despite lockdowns and social distancing.

2020 ended up as one of America's most violent years and decades.

2021 is following a similar path.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has laid out a strategy.

Well, there's no one size at all approach. We know there are some things that work.

Biden's plan involves things like targeting illicit gun dealers and upping police budgets and

bolstering community prevention efforts.

Well, all this got us thinking here at Intelligent Squared where we've done a series of debates over the years

centered on guns and many of the questions we debated over the years are still relevant right now.

And in light of that, we thought we would bring you something a little different today.

Instead of just one debate, we are bringing you three or at least parts of three.

The first one takes aim at the Second Amendment and whether it has outlived its usefulness.

The Second Debate focuses on the controversial position of whether firearms in a particular the ability to carry a concealed handgun

can actually reduce crime.

Finally, we take a more recent look at the police, the guns they use, and whether police departments have become too militarized.

So let's kick off this program on guns in three acts with Act One.

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