After Newtown: Guns in America
Tuesday, February 19 at 9 p.m.

“After Newtown: Guns in America” is an unprecedented exploration of America's enduring relationship with firearms.  From the first European settlements in the New World to frontier justice; from 19th Century immigrant riots to gangland violence in the Roaring Twenties; from the Civil War to Civil Rights, guns have been at center of our national narrative for four hundred years.  Americans have relied on guns to sustain communities, challenge authority, and keep the peace. Efforts to curtail their distribution and ownership have triggered epic political battles. On one side, the cry for gun control gets louder after each mass shooting.  And on the other, Charlton Heston's 2002 rallying cry, "From my cold, dead hands," still resonates across the land.


“After Newtown: Guns in America” will trace the evolution of guns in America, their inextricable link to violence, and the clash of cultures that reflect competing visions of our national identity.

Frontline: "Raising Adam Lanza"
Tuesday, February 19 at 10 p.m.
and Thursday, February 21 at 9 p.m.

Adam Lanza left behind a trail of death and destruction, but little else. The mass killer had no known friends, no diary. He destroyed his computer and any evidence it might have provided. His motives, and his life, remain largely a mystery. In partnership with The Hartford Courant, FRONTLINE will look for answers to the central, and so far elusive, question: "Who was Adam Lanza?"

In the aftermath of the tragedy, President Obama called for a national conversation about guns in America. Nowhere is that conversation more intense than in Newtown itself. In a second story, FRONTLINE visits Newtown, Connecticut to explore how those closest to the tragedy are now wrestling with our nation's gun culture and laws.

NOVA "Mind of a Rampage Killer" 
Wednesday, February 20 at 9 p.m.

What makes a person walk into a theater or a church or a classroom full of students and open fire? What combination of circumstances compels a human being to commit the most inhuman of crimes? Can science in any way help us understand these horrific events and provide clues as to how to prevent them in the future? 

The Path to Violence 
Wednesday, February 20 at 10 p.m.

Remarkably, more than 120 school assaults have been thwarted in the past ten years.   But, while security hardware and physical barriers can play a deterrent role, it's been psychologists - working hand in hand with law enforcement officers - who have come up with the most helpful tools to prevent violent attacks. 

The Path to Violence tells the story of a powerfully effective Secret Service program - the Safe School Initiative - that's helped schools detect problem behavior in advance. 

Yet, despite the progress made, recent attacks reveal a gaping hole in our safety net.  Shooters like Adam Lanza, Jared Loughner and James Holmes all executed their attacks after they'd left their respective schools.   In such cases, parents may be the first and only line of defense--parents who are terrified of their own children and who receive inadequate help from the mental health and legal systems.

Can the hard-won gains made by social psychologists and law enforcement be extended to encompass the parents and families of some of the nation's most violent individuals?  

Further, is the country ready to have a national conversation about the balance between school safety and civil liberties that any such interventions, including gun control, require?