That would have been used in lexington. Guns offer window into our history the view hasnt always been crystal clear. Guns are viewed more as a tool and that more in the 20th century you see convergence of gun laws and large number of guns. How americas love affair with firearms may have started is as only a cool crush. For more and more american women these days a concealed handgun is the weapon of choice. As our tracy smith saw for herself. Its no secret that more women are carrying guns. But where they carry them might surprise you. Are there bra holsters . There are. Normally i have a few. Youre sold out . Doesnt that figure. Ahead this sunday morning, female fire power. Cowan when unsupervised child picks up an unsecured gun, i thought of it like any other toy gun because it looked very similar. At age ten, sean smith accidentally killed his little sister. Shes dead . Yes. Please get my mom and dad. Unlikely tragedy not according to a landmark study of boys and guns. How hard is it to pull the trig they were. Ahead this sunday morning a powerful urge to play. Cowan were not the only country struggling over gunrelated issues. 20 years ago in australia a mass shooting was the action that caused a sweeping decree action. Seth doane takes you there. A lone gunman killed 35 people. It rattled a country and then Prime Minister. You knew right away that you had it happened when a madman got hold of rapid firing weapons. Ahead on sunday morning australias dramatic response to its worst ever mass shooting. Mike in parts of the American West are a way of life. Shared by young and old alike. Ted koppel will be showing us. This town was founded by and named after william f. Cody. Known to the world as buffalo bill. There are more guns here on per capita basis in wyoming than anywhere else in the country. And the passion for firearms is ingrained at a young age. Good job. A very young age. Families and their guns. Here in the town that buffalo bill cody built. Cowan weve asked still more of our cbs news colleagues to help with this explore rakes. But here are the headlines the 113th of march, 2016. More pro tests this weekend disrupting Campaign Rallies for republican president ial candidate, donald trump. Hope they arrest these people they are really violating all of us, okay . Cowan both republicans and democrats face key primaries in florida and ohio this tuesday. In alaska a 6yearold man is accused of crashing his snowmobile into two iditerod teams after a night of drinking. The mushers were not hurt, but one dog was killed, three others hurt. In the unlikely event you need reminding, Daylight Saving time took effect early this morning meaning our weekend got one hour and another sign of spring, Team Selection for College Basketballs march madness. Here is the weather. Thunderstorms could bring flooding to the already soaked Lower Mississippi river valley. Its wet in the southeast as well and in the west, a new storm will mean rain for San Francisco all the wear to seattle. Seven more days of winter to go. Cowan no other developed country embraces firearms the way ours does. The more we argue about them the more it seems that are mystique grows. But just how guns became part of our cultural d. N. A. Has been a long journey. Thats where we begin. Of all the artifacts that were aboard the good ship mayflower. But would probably there. Accompanying the pilgrims to plymouth rock. Guns are so woven into the fabric of our founding that on the fourth floor of the Smithsonians National museum of American History they have their very own vault. Yeah, i get lots of visitors who are just astounded and dont david miller is the curator here. He has got guns of all shapes and sizes and calibers and everyone has a historic reason for being here. This is the type of weapon that would have been used in lexington or concord. Its not the gun that kicked off the revolution with that shot heard round the world but its similar. The musket is now in ever history book come to symbolize freedom and independence and even celebrated an broadway in the smash hit hamilton. Guns are just part of our every day language going off half cocked, flash in the pan, bite the bullet, all rooted in firearms lore. Historian pamela haag says not necessarily. Listen to how many sentences begin with Something Like americans have always they have always loved guns. The meanings of guns has changed. In her soon to be released book the gunning of america. Haag says most settlers viewed the gun as a tool as necessary, and yet as ordinary, as a plow or an ax. We think we have a gun culture because of this special exception systemsal status with guns, but really they are unexceptional. Very much treated like any other commodity. At the start of the revolutionary war we didnt have arms to outfit the continental army. Today however, its estimated we have more guns than people. How did we get from there to here. And here. The gun industry is not the only reason that we got here, however it is the reason that never gets talked about. Its not just a matter of salesman ship but gun industrialists like Oliver Winchester and samuel colt did market for their wares. They would soon produce firearms with the same speed and efficiency as henry ford would later do with the automobiles. Best known, the winchester 73 and the Colt Single Action Army revolver. Two of the guns that won the west. But as the frontier disappeared so did the desire of Many Americans to own a gun. These guns were not just selling themselves they werent just flying off the shelf. So by the 0th century gun makers started to market their guns not just as a tool but a feeling. What was once needed now had to be loved. There was a strong appeal to the young, too, and the notion of the gun as a rite of passage. One of the more interesting ads said, you know your boy wants a gun you just dont know how much. He cant tell you. Its beyond words. For parents worried about real guns there were catalogs a must have. Immortalized in the christmas classic. The red ryder 200 shot range model air rifle. I resembled the iconic rifles of the wild west. And nothing romanticized the gun better than the cowboy. For real life legends like wild bill hickok, wyatt earp. Guns came to represent the rugged individualism. As good guys and bad guys changed so did the gun. Friend. Some became as famous as the stars who fired them. Go ahead. Make my day. Seriously. Right. But weve also tried to legislate how to control them. Americans have always had so for as much as the gun slingers are part of our heritage so, too, is disquiet and discomfort. In the wild west, towns like tombstone and dodge city prohibited people from carrying guns in public. Fdr signed the First Federal gun control legislation hoping to reduce the number of gangsters. Fast forward. President kennedy died at 1 00 p. M. Central standard time. John f. Kennedy, along with Robert Kennedy and the reverend Martin Luther king, junior led president Lyndon Johnson to push through the gun control act of 1968. We have been through a great deal of anguish these last few months and these last few years. Too much anguish to forget. Too much anguish back then but what about now . Sameness to our gun violence f. Columbine high school to tucson parking lot. To a Movie Theater in aurora and a grade school in newtown. These incidents dont decrease gun sales instead gun sales tend to go up. In fact, u. S. Gun makers produced nearly 11 million firearms in the year after sandy hook. Not far from there in hartford, connecticut, its a church built by samuel colts widow. Stands unique symbol of just today. Mixed in with the cherubs and saints youll find her husbands firearms as art on the walls mingling with the ivy hidden at the top of the churchs columns. Maybe thats the place guns will always occupy, worshipped by many, their presence carved in so, i dream cowan i killed him. Cowan good guys with guns. An idea whose time has come. Then those places change every few months. Please. Its time you got the quicksilver card from capital one. Quicksilver earns you unlimited 1. 5 cash back on every purchase, everywhere. Doesnt get much simpler than that. Whats in your wallet . Want great whitening without the mess . Think outside the box. Colgate optic white toothbrush plus whitening pen for 5 shades whiter teeth. Brush, whiten, go no mess, no waiting, no rinsing. Colgate optic white toothbrush plus whitening pen. A leading consumer testing publication recently tested the top laundry detergents. It beat every single detergent tested. Boom. Switch to Persil Proclean 2 in 1. 1 rated. I try hard to get a great shape. This. I can do easily. Benefiber healthy shape helps curb cravings. Its a clear, tastefree daily supplement. Thats clinically proven to help keep me fuller longer. Benefiber healthy shape. This, i can do. Find us in the fiber aisle. Whats going on here . Im val, the orange money retirement squirrel from voya. Were putting away acorns. You know, to show the importance of saving for the future. So youre sort of like a Spokes Person . More of a spokes metaphor. Get organized at voya. Com. Cowan good guys with guns are the best defense against bad guys with guns, are so goes one argument how does that stand up in practice. The Video Surveillance from an Albuquerque Motel shows it clearly. A man paces the corridor. A woman exits her room to get something from her car and then returns. And from out of no where this guy came back around the corner, and this time he had a gun and he was pointing it right at my abdomen. At that very moment, lynn russells husband, chuck decaro emerged from the shower. And he then moved the gun from pointing at my wife to pointing at me. And he said, i need your money. But the gunman did in the know that russella former cnn anchor and decaroa former cnn reporter who trained as a special forces soldier, habitually travel with guns that they are licensed and trained to use. Move your gun through the nightstand into your purse . I slipped one of the guns into the purse and handed it to chuck and said take good look inside here see if there is anything you can find that we want to give the man. And chuck looked he said, yes, there is. And they say, as the suspect started to shoot i drew. Decaro fired back. You killed this man . I killed him. But you got shot yourself . Well, thats the nature of the game. Its called combat. You might call them good guys with guns. An idea touted by some republican president ial candidates. 130 people killed. Many people in the hospital. Take donald trump on last paris. If they had guns on the other side of the room, with the bullets going in the opposite direction you would not have had and its become a rallying cry for wayne la pierrz the nra will go the distance. Ceo of the National Rifle association, the nations most prominent gun rights group. The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. We asked to speak with him millions of americans share the nra instead the nra provided former president and current board member sandy froman of tucson. Could a good guy with a gun really stop a terrorist attack . I think a good guy with a gun could protect himself or herself. If you have a choice of using your gun to save your life or having your life taken. Then, yes, i think you should have that choice. Basically the thought is the are trained to use guns is the safer well all be . Exactly. This is also a personal issue for froman who purchased her first gun at 32, after an attempted break in at her home. I think that we all need to be prepared in case something really evil happens to us. And gun sales are up. With background checks on buyers hitting a record high of more than 23 million last year. Even some School Personnel like these in ohio are preparing for the worst. While many gun rights advocates say its time to end most bans on guns in public places. Known as gundegree zones. Somebody intent on rape or robbery or murder is not going to obey that little circle with the line through it. Why sitting ducks, thats exactly right. We heard this bang, bang, bang, the succession of noises. Colin goddard sees it differently. He was in french class at Virginia Tech on that day in 2007. You could hear it was getting louder then all of a sudden you could see what was coming in the front of the classroom. He was lucky. Recovered. 32 people were killed. Yes he rejects the idea that good guys with guns could have saved the day. That was never really a thought that came in my mind during the course of the event. I was much more concerned with how can we do a better job of stopping the one gun from coming into that classroom than trying to put a gun in every single classroom of my school. Would be a much more dangerous situation. Goddard now works for every town for gun safety advocating stronger gun control laws that he says would keep guns away from bad guys in the first place. But the nra insists we dont need more laws. Every time you pass a new law instead of enforcing the existing laws you further burden lawabiding citizens. None of that was there before. For chuck decaro hes now undergone six surgeries. He and his wife, lynn russell, believe that their right to bear arms saved their lives. But they say being a good guy with a gun is not a political decision, its a personal one. I dont tell anybody, go out but if youre going to, you should should be very well trained and understand that even if you have to use that gun to defend yourself, that life is never going to be the same again. Can you show us where you carry us. Coming up. In this holster right here in the front pocket. Weapon of choice. Its pink. R im a girl. Get complete protection with the purple pill. The new leader in frequent heartburn. Thats nexium level protection. When you think about success, what does it look like . Is it becoming a better professor by being a more adventurous student . Is it one day giving your daughter the opportunity she deserves . Is it finally witnessing all the artistic wonders of the Natural World . Helping you pursue it, is ours. Tiaa. One crest 3d white smile. Is all it takes. To turn the tables. Crest 3d white toothpaste. Than the red box. For a smile like that, crest 3d white. Tt2watx `i4 p bt m\e, tt2watx `i4 p a mlih tt2watx `i4 p bm mgbd tt4watx `i4 r dzhq 0wl when youre told you have cancer start with a specialist. Start with a team of experts who treat only cancer. Every stage. The evolution of cancer care is here. Learn more at cancercenter. Com experts. Appointments available now. Cowan any discussion on the right to bear arms has to take note of the Second Amendment. Any discussion of just who is bearing arms has to take note of the growing ranks of women. Two reports now, tracy smith will be along shortly but first, heres anthony mason. At the heart of the debate over guns in america is a single inscrutable sentence, the Second Amendment of the bill of rights. Isnt it . Its unusual. Its short. Its clogged with commas. Michael waldman who heads the New York University law school is the author of a biography of the Second Amendment. Wellregulated malaysia, comma, being necessary to the security of free state, comma, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, comma, shall not be infringed. What does that mean. The most disputed clause in the constitution is the phrase about militias which were a great concern when the bill of rights was written in 179. The Constitutional Convention in philadelphia there was a very big controversy over how allocate military power. Nelson lund, professor of constitutional law at george mason university, says the states feared the new government militias, which required every white male over 16 to own a musket. The an file federalists were very worried that the states were being deprived of their power to resist federal tyranny. The militia, sirs our ultimate safety. Patrick henry argued. We can have no security without it. While the guns were common place then, so were gun regulations. New york and boston prohibited the firing of guns within city limits. And in the notes for the Constitutional Convention, waldman says theres literally not a word about it protecting an individual right for gun hunting or any of the other things we think about now. Theres one side that believes that this amendment refers specifically and only to militias. Well, i know people say that but it just cant be true. It says the right of the people to keep and bear arms. It does not say the right of the state or the right of the militias, it says the right of the people. The debate over the Second Amendment came to a head here at the Supreme Court in 2008 in a case filed over the capitals gun laws called, District Of Columbia versus heller. In a 54 vote the cord affirmed an individuals right to keep and bear arms. Striking down dcs ban on handguns in the home. The inherent right of self defense, justice an toe anyone scalia wrote in the majority opinion has been central to the Second Amendment right. But was added, the right is not unlimited. Also leaving room for gun regulation. Is that a continuing grey area . It is absolutely a continuing grey area. Absolutely a continuing grey area. Another grey area is how the Second Amendment issues after the sudden death of judge scalia in february. So, you know, a lot depends on who replaces justice scalia. This is tracy smith. You might call it girl power. Women are the Fastest Growing group of gun owners in the u. S. According to the National Shooting sports foundation. And this is typically