Lesson Plan: Why Waco is Still a Battleground in the Second Amendment Debate

Subjects:

• Civics/Government, AP U.S. Government and Politics, and U.S. History
• This video and lesson can be used to teach about Federalism, the federal bureaucracy or 2nd Amendment rights.

Lesson Duration:

• Two 50-minute class periods. Each module should take 20 to 30 minutes.
• Select “File>Make a Copy” to eliminate, edit or reorder any of the modular sections on the activity handout.

Essential Questions:

• What are the powers and limitations of the federal government and bureaucratic agencies?
• What provisions in the Constitution have implications for individual rights versus the powers of the federal government?
• How has the episode in Waco, Texas, affected relations between American citizens and the federal government?

Lesson Objectives:

Students will:

• Identify and define powers of the federal government.
• Summarize and sequence key events in siege in Waco, Texas.
• Categorize arguments for and against protections of individual gun rights versus arguments for further regulation.

Materials:

• Retro Report film “Why Waco Is Still a Battleground in the Second Amendment Debate” (Transcript)
• Student Activity handout
• Full Text of US Constitution from National Constitution Center
• Oklahoma City Bombing | Oklahoma Historical Society
• Oklahoma City Bombing | Clinton Digital Library

Procedure:

1. In the first module, students will examine key vocabulary related to bureaucratic agencies and federalism. This section will likely take students around 20 to 30 minutes.
2. For each of the groups or organizations listed below, students will complete the left-hand column before watching the video, define or describe them in their own words.
3. Show the Retro Report film Why Waco Is Still a Battleground in the Second Amendment Debate (Transcript).
4. Students will consider how each group is portrayed as they watch the video, and adapt their definition for the right-hand column, including an example of how each group is directly involved in the standoff at the Mount Carmel Center.
5. The next section asks students to analyze some causes and effects related to the siege at the Mount Carmel Center and the effects of this moment in history.
6. The teacher may want to have students view the film a second time, or the teacher can explain both of the first two modules, and have students discuss potential causes and effects together.
7. As they watch, students will look for four causes, three effects, two surprises and one unresolved issue.
8. After they complete this chart, invite the class to share their responses and resolve any misconceptions or conflicting interpretations of the events presented in the video.
9. Next, students will compare and contrast the Waco siege to the bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City. This event is referenced in the film, but students may need additional context.
10. Consult the following sources:
    1. Oklahoma City Bombing | Oklahoma Historical Society
    2. Oklahoma City Bombing | Clinton Digital Library
11. Students will identify three to five similarities and differences between the federal siege at Waco and the Oklahoma City bombing.
12. The next portion of the activity asks students to analyze segments of the U.S. Constitution and make connections between the text and the rights of individuals and the powers of the national government.
13. Under each excerpt of text from the Constitution, students will underline or highlight the specific phrase(s) that are directly related to the episode in Waco.
14. Students will indicate the accurate description (either a power or a right) in the left-hand column and write at least one sentence for each excerpt, identifying who is exercising the power or right, and how it is displayed in this particular situation.
15. In the last segment of the activity, students will analyze arguments related to the Second Amendment and firearm regulation.
16. For each of the arguments listed, students will match them with the interpretation of the Second Amendment with which they best align. These arguments are inspired by a variety of sources and are philosophically aligned and extended from those presented in the video.
17. Share and Discuss: Students will share their selections with the class and compare with the rest of the class to see which arguments align to each perspective.
18. Key: FLE, FLE, MM, MM, FLE, MM, MM, MM, FLE, MM, FLE, FLE, MM, FLE, MM, FLE

Extension Activities:

1. Compare the gun laws applied to justify the initial siege on the Waco compound to the recent Supreme Court ruling on bump stocks (Garland v. Cargill 2024).
2. Extend the “Find the Power or Right” activity by having students each take an excerpt and use the tool Writing Rights from the National Constitution Center to identify the origins of the excerpts given in the document.
3. Use additional resources like this to select 8 to 10 pivotal events in the standoff and design a timeline to show the rapid escalation of events and major actions taken by the parties involved in the raid in Waco.
   1. Students could use Canva, Padlet or Post-it notes along a wall in the classroom.
4. Using the list of opinion statements in the “Categorize the Arguments” activity, establish a line through the middle of the classroom and ask students to move to one side or the other based on whether they agree with a particular statement read out loud.
   1. This activity should be done in silence, and include a reflective group debrief afterwards. Students could also be asked to work in groups to rank the statements from most to least persuasive and defend their rankings to the rest of the class.

Supplemental Materials:

• Annotated Constitution | Constitution Annotated
• Clips in the Constitution | C-SPAN
• Origins of the Second Amendment | The Heritage Foundation
• Sometimes a Good Guy with a Gun | The Heritage Foundation
• Testimony before Congress, Gun Violence: A Public Health Crisis | The Heritage Foundation
• Responsible Gun Ownership | Everytown
• What I Saw Treating the Victims from Parkland Should Change the Debate on Guns | The Atlantic
• Debunking the Myth of a Good Guy with a Gun | Center for American Progress

About the Author:

Trish Everett, an educational designer in South Florida, has been a museum educator, instructional coach, and classroom teacher of Government and Psychology for 18 years. She is a member of civic education organizations including Retro Report, the National Constitution Center and the Center for Civic Education).

Standards

Common Core Literacy Standards

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.3: Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.8: Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text support the author’s claims.

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies

• D1.5.9-12. Determine the kinds of sources that will be helpful in answering compelling and supporting questions, taking into consideration multiple points of view represented in the sources, the types of sources available, and the potential uses of the sources.
• D2.Civ.1.9-12. Distinguish the powers and responsibilities of local, state, tribal, national, and international civic and political institutions.
• D2.Civ.2.9-12. Analyze the role of citizens in the U.S. political system, with attention to various theories of democracy, changes in Americans’ participation over time, and alternative models from other countries, past and present.
• D2.Civ.3.9-12. Analyze the impact of constitutions, laws, treaties, and international agreements on the maintenance of national and international order.
• D2.Civ.4.9-12. Explain how the U.S. Constitution establishes a system of government that has powers, responsibilities, and limits that have changed over time and that are still contested.
• D2.Civ.5.9-12. Evaluate citizens’ and institutions’ effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international level.
• D2.Civ.10.9-12. Analyze the impact and the appropriate roles of personal interests and perspectives on the application of civic virtues, democratic principles, constitutional rights, and human rights.
• D2.Civ.12.9-12. Analyze how people use and challenge local, state, national, and international laws to address a variety of public issues.
• D2.Civ.13.9-12. Evaluate public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes, and related consequences
• D2.His.1.9-12. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
• D2.His.5.9-12. Analyze how historical contexts shaped and continue to shape people’s perspectives.

AP Government and Politics

• BIG IDEA 2: LIBERTY AND ORDER (LOR) DEMOCRACY (PRD)
• Governmental laws and policies balancing order and liberty are based on the U.S. Constitution and have been interpreted differently over time.
• BIG IDEA 3: CIVIC PARTICIPATION IN A REPRESENTATIVE
• Popular sovereignty, individualism, and republicanism are important considerations of U.S. laws and policy making and assume citizens will engage and participate.