The Second Amendment to the Constitution reads:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The Library of Congress writes, “The meaning of this sentence is not self-evident, and has given rise to much commentary but relatively few Supreme Court decisions.”

What do you think the words of the Second Amendment mean? What relevance should they have for the national debate about gun laws?

Then read these four excerpts from Opinion pieces published this month in The Times — or follow the links to read the complete Op-Ed — and decide: What do you think lawmakers should do about guns and gun violence?

Excerpt 1: In “John Paul Stevens: Repeal the Second Amendment,” John Paul Stevens, a retired associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, writes:

Rarely in my lifetime have I seen the type of civic engagement schoolchildren and their supporters demonstrated in Washington and other major cities throughout the country this past Saturday. These demonstrations demand our respect. They reveal the broad public support for legislation to minimize the risk of mass killings of schoolchildren and others in our society. That support is a clear sign to lawmakers to enact legislation prohibiting civilian ownership of semiautomatic weapons, increasing the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21 years old, and establishing more comprehensive background checks on all purchasers of firearms. But the demonstrators should seek more effective and more lasting reform. They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment.

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Excerpt 2: In “After the March, Follow This Gun Reform Battle Plan,” Steve Israel, a Democratic representative from Long Island from 2001 to 2017, writes:

It has been 38 days since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.; 174 days since the shooting at a concert in Las Vegas; 1,011 days since the killings at a church in Charleston, S.C.; and 1,926 since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Ten days ago, students organized a nationwide school walkout to demonstrate their outrage about these and other shootings. On Saturday they plan to amass in Washington to pressure a Congress that has done nothing meaningful to protect American children in classrooms, movie theaters, churches, malls — because, thanks to the National Rifle Association, many of their elected representatives are too busy protecting their re-election. My advice to the students? When you finish marching on the mall, march into the specific congressional districts where you can actually make a difference.

He continues:

You can stage marches and school walkouts, but then walk into the swing congressional districts that matter. In the end it’s not about standing up to be heard. It’s about changing who sits in Congress.

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Excerpt 3: In “Stop Shielding Gun Makers,” Brad S. Karp, the chairman of the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and H. Christopher Boehning, a partner there, write:

Senator Charles Schumer has proposed three measures to reduce gun violence: expanded background checks, protective orders to disarm individuals at risk of violence or self-harm, and an assault weapons ban. These proposals are critically important. But there is another effective response that has been largely ignored: repeal of a law that prevents suits against the gun industry. A bedrock principle of the American legal system is accountability for wrongdoing. Businesses that cause harm may be held legally responsible in a court of law. Through the imposition of financial liability, our legal system encourages businesses to reduce harm to consumers by making their products safer and disclosing the risks associated with their use. Thanks in part to the accountability imposed by lawsuits, society knows more about the dangers of smoking, and tobacco companies market their products more responsibly. Automakers continually develop and install new safety features, and these innovations deliver results: From 1975 to 2016, the rate of motor vehicle deaths decreased by nearly half. While motor vehicle deaths have declined over the last two decades, firearm deaths have not: According to the most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more people now die from firearms than motor vehicle accidents.

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Excerpt 4: In “Why Gun Culture Is So Strong in Rural America,” Robert Leonard, the news director for the radio stations KNIA and KRLS, writes:

It’s been many years since I hunted squirrels and rabbits with my Grandpa Leonard. I grew up around guns and remember the pride I had when I completed my N.R.A.-sponsored gun safety training in Boy Scouts, back when the N.R.A. was a group primarily known for teaching gun appreciation and safety rather than lobbying. I have come to understand and appreciate arguments for more gun control. But guns are important to the culture in my conservative community in Iowa, and people around here reject most gun control legislation. So I do my best to understand where they are coming from. One morning after the mass shootings in Parkland, Fla., I spoke about them with a police-officer friend. He has led active-shooter trainings in our schools. He believes that better background checks might help prevent some gun violence, and that people need to do a better job securing their firearms (especially from suicidal teenagers). But he doesn’t believe that significant gun control measures will ever meet approval in rural America, including a ban on AR-15-style semiautomatic rifles. He confided that many conservative police officers do not want more gun control and that other officers have told him that should they ever have to start taking guns away from people, they will quit their jobs. Like most rural conservatives, he truly believes that taking guns away from law-abiding citizens will never solve America’s gun problems, including mass shootings. He says gun control has never stopped criminals from getting guns, and never will.

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Students: After reading the four excerpts above, tell us:

— Why does this topic interest you? How have your own experiences shaped your opinions? What questions or concerns does this topic raise for you?

— Do you believe the government is currently striking the right balance between public safety and protecting people’s individual rights? Why or why not?

— Would you rather the government err on the side of protecting an individual’s right to own a gun, or on the public’s health and safety? Or do you feel this is a false choice? Why?

— After mass shootings or renewed fears that the government will ban gun ownership, many people go out to buy guns — perhaps to feel safer in times of insecurity. Americans now own more than 300 million guns. Do you think people buying more guns will prevent gun deaths?

— How should we try to reduce the number of gun deaths and injuries in the United States? Do you think lawmakers should pursue any of the options discussed in the Opinion pieces above? If so, which ones, and why?

— What other options or possible solutions exist, in your view, and why?