In the wake of last week’s elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two adults were murdered by a teenager with a semi-automatic rifle, a familiar pattern of response unfolded. Horror, anguish and then, on America’s gun-supporting political right, denial. In Houston, the gun industry enjoyed its annual celebration of weapons with barely a nod to events just a few hours’ drive away, with Donald Trump berating “virtue-signalling” Democratic gun law reformers.
A widespread belief seems to exist that America’s gun culture is simply too deep-rooted to change. But is it? Guardian US writer Chris McGreal considers what kind of pressure it would take to force the weapons lobby into action. Then, in Opinion, Jonathan Freedland asks for how long America will keep sacrificing the lives of its young.
Earlier this year, the French fashion agent Jean-Luc Brunel took his own life while awaiting trial for rape, thus mirroring the fate of his close associate, the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Now, in a special investigation by Lucy Osborne, former models speak out about how the fashion industry turned a blind eye to his crimes.
Wasps have something of an image problem, suffering from the kind of bad press normally only reserved for fiends of nature and British prime ministers. But, argues Prof Seirian Sumner, they are sophisticated, socially complex and play a vital role in the environment. Will Coldwell puts on protective gear and investigates.
Californian lo-fi rockers Pavement earned no shortage of critical admiration in their 1990s heyday, but mainstream fame and fortune largely escaped them. As they take their wistfully melodic sound back on the road again, Stephen Malkmus and the band tell Gabriel Szatan how time has brought them to a greater appreciation of their own talents.
