Guns 101 Analysis

In the column “Guns do kill People,” Phillip Caputo draws the attention of people who disagree in gun shootings by trying to make them understand that guns are to blame for all of the deaths related to shootings. In order to rebute, her states that libertarians and gun-rights lobbyists state that, “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” In the beginning, Caputo wants to support his argument on how guns are the problem, but he then switches the topic of his discussion to how people are the problem. He gives reasons and explanations for both sides of the topic so that he seems more reliable and makes more people understand and agree with him. Caputo compares how one would react to an animal in danger and a child in danger. He claims that,

"First, there's the shooting." On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School and took 26 lives, most of them belonging to children. Sadly, too many situations similar to this have occurred prior to and since. In January 2013, Stephen King published an extended essay called Guns exploring the issue of gun violence in the United States.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott sought consensus on firearms in a second round of talks on preventing gun violence on campus on Wednesday and may look at “red flag laws” to keep guns out of the hands of people deemed by a judge to be danger to themselves or others.

ProCon.org recently featured an article that studied gun control. “Stricter state gun laws associated with fewer gun deaths, study finds.” The article discussed gun control laws in states with stricter laws tend to have lower rates of gun related homicides, and a suicide (ProCon para. 1) Gun control in the United States is becoming a wide spread issue and is becoming a problem everywhere. Although I am living in a city with uprising crime that has been skyrocketing over the years, I wasn’t aware of this being an issue all over the United States. I decided to do some research to find out whether I am in favor of Gun control laws or not. After reviewing many articles for and against gun control, I found out that I do in fact agree with

Exploring the issues in gun control is the name of the article and it sounds obvious that the article is going to be about the issue behind mass shootings. The article is written by Dan O'Brien and Betty Stanton, who are both professional writers with great amount of knowledge about the issues in gun control. Dan O'Brien is a currently a Director of Safety and Environmental Health for San Antonio Water System, Certified Safety Professional, and Certified in Homeland Security. Betty Stanton is a 14-year veteran of U.S. Navy who is currently a currently a graduate student from Texas A&M University pursuing in Master of Public Service and Administration degree from George Bush School of Government and Public Service. Based on the name of their article, it seems like the article is going to talk about the connection between gun uses and the shooting incidents; however, guns are not the case. The gun control is not the real issue in mass shooting. Many people believe that guns are the main reason that there are more killing and shooting, especially mass shooting, but their facts usually fail to support their argument. Gun-free zones sounds like a safe place to be at and not have to worry about any mass shootings, but it always turns out wrong. In the article, Richard Mark, the former Arizona sheriff, says that guns are already banned in schools and that is why the shootings happen in schools. There haven't been any real evidence that gun laws decrease amount of mass shootings

The author of “Confessions of a Liberal Gun Owner” is both anti-gun and pro-gun. He argues that it is too easy for someone to obtain a gun and that there should be tighter regulations on gun ownership. But at the same time, he also believes that owning guns can be useful especially when they are needed to protect yourself or your family.

In the article, “Change your gun laws, America” by Fareed Zakaria, he gives his opinion on why the gun laws in America should be changed. He uses many examples to represent his own opinion and how gun laws should be changed in order to prevent more deaths. When looking at America’s high gun homicide rates compared to the small amount of mentally disturbed people, Zakaria believes that the large amount of guns possessed throughout America is the actual reason for these high rates, “We don’t have 50 times as many mentally disturbed people as Germany does- but we do have many more guns.” Zakaria argues that with this many guns being possessed, we as citizens just sit around waiting for another mass shooting to happen. Zakaria supports his argument by using many resources and statistical information. He uses June 2008, the day the Supreme court made a decision written by Justice Antonin Scalia, to represent how “an individual[s] right to gun ownership has made common-sense regulation of guns much harder.” He also uses valid statistics, such as the website shootingtracker.com, to support his argument and represent how 150,000 Americans have been killed since 9/11 due to guns. Homicide rates from different countries are also used to represent how the United States has higher levels of violence rather than other dangerous countries. However, while making this argument, Zakaria also states many invalid claims and makes many assumptions.

Journalist, and professor of higher education emeritus at the University of Maryland, College Park, Robert Birnbaum wrote the article “Ready, Fire, Aim, The College Campus Gun Fight” in which he writes about two sides which he defines as “MoreGuns” and “BanGuns” and if one sides argument holds more truth as to whether guns on campus is a positive or negative reality. The article comes from a magazine called Change Magazine. Change Magazine focuses on the modern issues that arise in higher learning. The purpose of the magazine is to inform the readers and stimulate thinking. He reaches audiences on both sides of the argument by adopting a mostly non-emotional, and logical tone that will connect with his readers using facts. Birnbaum builds trust with the reader by being respectful to both sides of the arguments and presenting facts for both sides, at first he appears to be in the middle of the issue, but then as the article continues he shows his favored stance on the legal side by referencing the constitution which increases the strength of his argument.

A question that has rang in the ears of the American public and the judicial systems for over 60 years, “Does each American citizen have the right to own firearms or not?” This question was recently restated by Paul Rosenzweig the author of “Guns: A Loaded Argument”. In this commentary Rosenzweig often refers to how awfully indecisive the U.S. Circuits have been regarding the gun situation in America. Rosenzweig Also outlines how the Second amendment have given specific rights to specific individuals which “Shall not be infringed

Medlock explains his point of view is for the gun control in the U.S. He goes on to explaining this is the only rational explanation to help reduce deaths in the U.S. by shotgun and other guns. He goes as far though to explain why people are unsure about banning guns is because of the NRA or the National Rifle Association. He goes on explaining after major events, such as 911, people are frantic to obtain guns to feel protected, but “Numerous studies show that the presence of a firearm in the home increases the likelihood of violence against family members.”(Medlock 39). The NRA though fights every known regulation against guns and persuades people to follow. The NRA also persists to manipulate the facts sent out to people about gun control.These

There have been two policy problems that I have been able to identify. For one, federal laws do not put enough limitations on gun sales. Some States have placed laws, but without adequate federal laws gun traffickers are able to purchase guns in states where laws are more lenient, and transport them to states where those guns would be illegal. States are able to put their own laws of guns because our government is step up with concurrent powers, “powers that are shared by both federal and state governments.” (Barbour and Wright 2012, 108). Also 40% of guns do not require background checks. Without laws requiring background checks on all guns, and with background checks that go into enough depth, are being allowed into the hands of potentially

Henry Giroux is a Global TV Network Chair Professorship at McMaster University in the English and Cultural Studies Department; and a scholar at Ryerson University in Canada. With his numerous successes and as a renowned scholar, he has also written many books throughout his life, including America’s Education Deficit and The War on Youth, Disposable futures, America at War with Itself, and many more. In Giroux article, “Gun Culture and the American Nightmare of Violence,” he starts off describing how mass shootings have become a routine in American culture today and that this type of violence not only shifts people’s perspective on the world but is now a way for entertainment. As Giroux takes a serious look at society today, he reveals that

In regards to Australian gun control laws in 1996, Senator David Leyonhjelm stated, “The criminals still have guns. There’s a very vigorous black market for guns, so it’s not made the slightest bit of difference” (Leyonhjelm par.2). He commented on this issue when the U.S. wanted to follow their similar way of gun control. Since school shootings and massive shootings have been more frequent, gun control has been a serious issue to be discussed. With the proposed restrictions, it would infringe on citizens right of self-defense and sense of safety, it will not prevent all shootings, and background checks on citizens purchasing guns may not show anything out of the ordinary.

The main themes espoused today by extremist right wing groups are conspiracies having to do with the New World Order, gun control laws, and white supremacy (Dempsey & Forst, 2016, p.532). Most militia members appear to be attracted to the movement because of gun control issues; Militia members generally maintain strong Christian beliefs and justify their actions by claiming to be ardent defenders of the Constitutions (Dempsey & Forst, 2016, p.534). They are people that go against the laws of the Constitution to make their Christian beliefs more relevant to others. In this day of time gun control is a major concern, because they are easily to get every where, such as the black market. They purchase these weapons without the fear of being caught

According to Ballot.fyi “63”, written by a group of people called Citizen & Citizens, proposition 63 pushes for more stricter firearms and ammunition regulations. A background check and the approval of the Department of Justice would be needed to buy ammunition. Large-capacity ammunition firearms are banned and must be properly disposed of. Majority of ammunition sales transaction must be through licensed ammunition vendors, recorded and presented to the Department of Justice. If any firearms or ammunition is stolen or missing, it must be reported to law enforcement. People, who have been found guilty of stealing firearms, are banned from owning them. The Department of Justice will take part in the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check System as well (Chion et al, “63”). Proposition 63 should be passed. If it is passed, it will help lessen gun violence and keep citizens safe. It will keep firearms out of convicted felons and dangerous individuals that should not be owning any firearms. Also, it continues to protect the right of law-abiding citizens to bear arm for self defense, hunting, and etc. Our communities will be safer with less gun violence with the passing of proposition 63.