In December 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza entered Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut and killed 26 children and adults with a Bushmaster rifle before taking his own life with a handgun.
The tragedy shocked the United States, sparking an outpouring of grief and widespread calls from the public for politicians to ‘do something’ about guns.
The moment, it seemed, was ready for gun control advocates to seize, but like many times before, they ran into intense opposition from a powerful political force: the National Rifle Association (NRA).
Drawing on interviews with leading voices on both sides of the gun regulation debate, Gunned Down goes inside one of the country’s greatest divides to illuminate how the NRA reinvented itself from a group of gun enthusiasts and sportsmen with minimal political focus, to a powerful lobbying force opposing any perceived infringement of the constitutional right to bear arms.
It traces the emergence of one of the NRA’s top leaders, Wayne LaPierre, and explores how he has activated the group’s influential base in the wake of mass shootings.
And with firsthand accounts of school killings in Newtown and Columbine, as well as the shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, Gunned Down examines why Washington hasn’t acted.
Could Nepal have done more to prepare for the predicted earthquake? Dateline hears the personal stories amid the devastation and looks at the political faultlines that the disaster has opened up.
sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/nepals-nightmare-tales-grief-and-survival
The subject of whether children should be vaccinated is controversial in Australia and around the world, but in Pakistan health workers are being killed for carrying out immunisations.
sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/vaccination-vigilantes-fighting-polio-and-taliban
Cora Bailey ventures into some of South Africa’s most deprived townships to treat people’s animals, but she also has to confront the even more urgent needs of their owners.
sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/coras-pet-project-healing-south-africa-one-animal-time
Separated by genocide, reunited by reality TV. Dateline meets the determined young TV producer finding answers the Cambodian government struggles to.
sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/khmer-rouge-reality-tv
Shunned by their home Myanmar, and facing an increasingly hostile reception elsewhere, Dateline hears the personal stories of the outcast Rohingya Muslims.
sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/unwelcome-everywhere-rohingya-story
Is the secret to living forever about to be found? Dateline explores the secretive research centres trying to cheat death and asks what is the real price of this possibility.
sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/death-ageing-will-we-soon-be-living-forever
It’s called Dirty Gold, because it’s not just shoppers who are paying a high price for it. Dateline gets rare access to film the children forced underground and even underwater to mine the precious metal.
sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/children-dirty-gold
These women were so appalled by the mutilation and killing of rhinos that they decided to fight back - they call themselves the Black Mambas.
sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/rhino-angels-worlds-first-female-anti-poaching-unit
Can New Zealand’s notorious gangs be a positive force in their communities? From making sandwiches for needy children to having an older and wiser view of life, Dateline asks if they’re now coming of age.
sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/shades-bad-changing-face-nz-gang-culture
As Greece reaches a crucial point in deciding its economic future, Dateline meets three generations of its people to ask what it means for them.
sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/deal-or-no-deal-greeces-impossible-choice
Ten years ago, having an African cycling team was just a dream. Now, they’ve reached their first ever Tour de France. Dateline follows the trials and triumphs on their remarkable journey.
sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/lycra-africa-cycling-dream-come-true
In part one of Dateline's Meet the Terrorists special, three people who lost loved ones in Bali face the man who trained the bombers, Nasir Abbas.
sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/meet-terrorists-bali-bereaved-search-answers
Bali bomber Ali Imron says sorry during his first ever meeting with the victims’ loved ones and offers to come to Australia, in the concluding part of Dateline’s Meet the Terrorists special.
sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/meet-terrorists-bali-bomber-says-sorry-and-offers-come-australia
From the sea of faces arriving on boats in Italy, Dateline hears the refugees’ personal stories, as they realise their journey to a new life in Europe has only just begun.
sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/italys-human-tide-where-next
Patrick Otema was born deaf in remote Uganda and at 15-years-old has never had a conversation. Can a determined group of sign language teachers help youngsters like him break their silence?
sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/15-and-learning-speak
Australian journalist Alan Morison and his Thai colleague Chutima Sidasathian exposed the plight of the Rohingya, so why are they now on trial and facing seven years in a Thai jail for reporting the truth?
sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/thailands-moment-truth
Every day in the US, at least three women are murdered by their partners - most are shot. Dateline examines the domestic violence epidemic and asks if weak laws are putting lives at risk.
sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/death-plain-sight
Cuba is undergoing a new revolution, but what does it mean for its people? Dateline explores a country on the cusp of great political change through one of its greatest exports – music.
sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/cubas-key-change
Imagine choosing to die when you don’t have a terminal illness. Is it a choice we should have? A powerful Dateline special gets rare access to film the journeys of two people in Belgium – going behind the most liberal euthanasia laws in the world.
http://sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/allow-me-die
Imagine giving birth, then relaxing while someone else does all the hard work. Staying indoors for the first month is a tradition for Chinese mums, but now hiring supermums is big business and taking it to a whole new level.
sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/chinas-supermums
Meet South Korea's binge eating broadcasters, who share meals with hundreds of fans over webcam. But is the country’s new food obsession just a recipe for modern loneliness?