Terry Gross

Executive director Richard Feldman of the American Shooting Sports Council which represents gun manufacturers.

Last year New Orleans became the first city to file suit against the gun industry. Chicago followed. And now many other cities (including Philadelphia, Boston, Miami, San Francisco and L.A.) are considering similar actions. Journalist Fox Butterfield writes about crime and criminal justice for The New York Times. He'll discuss these suits as well as one filed in New York by a group of individuals who lost family members from gun violence. Butterfield was a member of the Times writing staff that won a Pulitzer Prize for its publication of The Pentagon Papers.

Senior policy analyst Tom Diaz at the Violence Policy Center, a non-partisan non-profit public policy institute working to reduce gun violence. He's the author of the new book, "Making a Killing: The Business of Guns in America" (The New Press). In the book, Diaz writes how in an attempt to increase profits, the gun industry has introduced more aggressive and lethal guns to the public. DIAZ says they do this free from regulation and under a cloak of secrecy.

Actor Sean Penn. He's currently starring in the new films "Hurly Burly," and "The Thin Red Line." Penn previously starred in "Dead Man Walking." Penn also wrote and directed the film "The Indian Runner" which he wrote based on a Bruce Springsteen song, and "The Crossing Guard.

Country music singer Ray Price He was a close friend and protege of Hank Williams. Price's hits include "Talk to Your Heart," "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes," "I'll be There," "Crazy Arms," "For the Good Times," and more. In 1996 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. His latest album is "Ray Price: The Other Woman" (Koch).

Historian Taylor Branch. He won the Pulitzer Prize for the first book of his planned trilogy of the Civil Rights movement: "Parting the Waters: America In the King Years 1954-63" His most recent book "Pillars of Fire: America In the King Years 1963-65" has just come out on paperback. (Simon & Schuster) It begins where the other book ended, and covers what he considers the peak years in the movement. At the center of the book are Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Robert Kennedy, LBJ, and J. Edgar Hoover. This originally aired 1/19/98.

Legendary Broadway dancer Gwen Verdon. She starred in "Damn Yankees," "Sweet Charity." "Redhead," and "Chicago." Verdon won four Tony awards and a lifetime achievement award from the New Dramatists playwrights workshop. (REBROADCAST from 5/5/93)

We remember Jamie Hammerstein, Broadway producer, director and son of composer Oscar Hammerstein. He died last week at the age of 67 from a heart attack. (REBROADCAST from 3/14/95)

Journalist Mark Hertsgaard. He traveled around the world examining environmentally-damaged places. His new book about it is, "Earth Odyssey: Around the world in Search of Our Environmental Future" (Broadway Books). Hertsgaard also writes for the New York times, The New Yorker, the Atlantic Monthly, and the Nation.