Teacher's edition.

• Author: Rebhun, Elliott
• Position: Upfront - Gun laws, college choice, economic rival - Editorial

With 89 guns for every 100 Americans, the U.S. may be the most gun-centric nation on earth. Our cover story examines why the national debate over guns in America is heating up again, following the assassination attempt last month on Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and how the Second Amendment applies to life in the 21 st century.

Like many 19-year-olds, Aaron Greco is trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life. But as a member of a fishing community on Louisiana's Gulf Coast, Aaron is struggling with a particularly wrenching decision: whether to go to college or follow in his father's footsteps as a shrimp fisherman in the wake of last year's disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Two decades ago, Japan, not China, was America's fiercest economic rival, with Japan expected to push the U.S. aside as the world's...