The discussion revolving around firearms in the United States has been a long-debated issue. With events such as the 2017 Las Vegas mass shootings becoming frequent, the existence of a gun culture within American society has become a topic of major concern. Within his news analysis Gun Culture and the American Nightmare of Violence, Henry Giroux suggests that gun culture in the USA is highly reflective of a political atmosphere which supports the idea of violence. On the other hand, Alia Dastagir’s article The Gun Debate Isn't About What You Think seeks to demonstrate how American gun culture is a reflection of the public perception of firearms. In order to successfully argue their theories, Giroux and Dastagir utilize different strategies to convince their respective audiences. While Giroux relies heavily on logos and pathos to appeal towards an educated leftist audience, Dastagir structures her argument around ethos and pathos to persuade a more extensive audience.
Throughout his analysis, Giroux utilizes logos in order to support his argument. Such is noted when he writes “one child under 12 years old has been killed every other day by firearm” (Giroux). By utilizing statistics, Giroux is able to bring an element of validity into his argument. Furthermore, the decision to use data that evokes elements of pathos helps further emphasize the statistics impact on the reader. Logos is also demonstrated through Giroux’s usage of multiple sources which range from “data
Since 2013 there have been 268 school shootings in the United States alone (Everytown for Gun Safety, 2017). School gun violence is becoming increasingly probable. It is imperative that our government and our citizens come together to create a solution and implement a plan to prevent and stop the occurrence of school gun violence. The solution, for some, is to bring more guns into the picture by arming teachers, principals, and other school officials, or place armed police officers at school sites (LaPierre, 2015). For others, the solution is to make even stricter laws regarding gun use or to get rid of these weapons altogether. These certainly are drastic options; I must say that I do believe the true solution is to increase the focus on mental health services and by extension, mental health awareness. There is simply not enough focus on the mental health of our youth and of our students. Mental health services are the most important step to making schools safer, because this solution touches the entire problem of violence at its root level.
The relevance of gun violence has been on the rise today and often one cannot walk away from the news without hearing a story related to gun violence either being covered or displayed on the news ticker scrolling through the screen. This paper will analyze three sources: an article written by Dov Cohen, titled “Culture, Social Organization, and Patterns of Violence,”on the trends of violence based on location, a Ted Talk given by Dan Gross, titled “Why Gun Violence Cannot become America’s New Normal,”on the topic of gun violence and how it affected his life as well a proposition to ending violence in the U.S, and an article, “Analyzing Available Data Could Help Improve Background Checks Involving Domestic Violence Records,” written by the U.S. Government of Accountability Office(GAO) which covers the process of background checks within the sales of firearms. These three sources will be evaluated on the basis that they evoke a strong argument with the use of ethos, pathos, and logos within their pieces.
Gun control is a debate that has escalated dramatically in recent years. The Second Amendment states “to the United States Constitution protects the right of individuals to keep and bear arms.” , but at what point is that line crossed where it is questioned whether we are allowed to bear arms or not? Mark Follman, a writer for the LA times, wrote an article “America 's mass-shootings epidemic” that talks about how mass murders have been escalating over the past decades. This article is geared towards readers between the ages of twenty to fifty because of the use of statistics that appeals to this age group who are mainly set out to redeem fact. Heidi Yewman, a writer for USA Today, wrote an article “Don 't 'like ' Facebook 's gun solution: Column” about how Facebook does not take caution when online weapon exchanges occur. This article is geared more towards an eighteen to thirty year old audience because of the editor’s use of trying to relate to her reader. Mark Follman’s article is logos-driven because he uses facts that he has collected in order to show his reader how mass murders have escalated. Heidi Yewman’s article is more ethos-driven because her use of herself as examples to support her writing.
Gun ownership is embedded in the fabric of America. The United States has the highest gun ownership rate in the world with 88 guns per 100 people. This is a staggering amount of firearms in the U.S. which our forefathers would 've never imagined when writing the 2nd Amendment. The 2nd Amendment states that “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.” Not everyone interprets this right the same way. Regulating and restricting the use of these firearms brings up opposing sentiments from those in favor of gun control and those who oppose
Gun control should not exist at all in the United States. Mass shootings have almost become seen as normal event in the United States. What people do not understand is that gun control is not the answer; there are countries with little to no control that have fewer shootings. According to The Washington Post,Finland is ranked number 4 in countries with the most guns despite that they only had 24 homicides by firearm (“Gun homicides and ownership by countries” n.pag.) . In the article Did Gun Control Work In Australia “it is shown that gun control has reduced the problems but it still has not completely got rid of all firearm deaths”(Matthews n.pag.). The number of murders, homicides, or suicides do not go up due to people just owning more guns. Clayton Perry, a staff writer at the University of Maine, even points out “Stricter gun laws were in place during the Assault Weapons Ban between 1994 and 2004, but that didn't stop the shooters at Columbine in 1999 ”(Perry n. pag.). In Iceland, thirty out of a hundred people own a gun and they have zero homicides caused by guns a year(“Gun Homicides and ownership by country” n. pag.). In this day and age, everything is unpredictable, guns are a form of protection for everyone and there should not be restrictions on protection. The U.S. Department of Justice released a data brief that states, “ On average in 1987-92 about 83,000 crime victims per year used a firearm to defend themselves or their property”(Rand BJS Statistician n. pag.). The National Sheriffs Association released that the average police response time is at eighteen minutes while the average school shooting only last twelve minutes (“Embracing Technology To Decrease Response Time” n. pag.). Gun control should not exist because other countries do fine without it , high gun ownership has no link with increasing death rates , and guns are not harmful when instructions are followed.
Do you feel Gun violence has taken a bad effect on taxpayers? I do, because even if your family member hasn’t been shot or killed, it still hurt you in a way. When a person has been killed in a certain state, and the killer is a part of that state. The state happens to give away four Thousand dollars to help cover the funeral costs. If you didn’t know, that’s coming from our taxes. When a person have been shot and wounded, your taxes are being taking and helping paying for medication to keep that person out of pain. Even when the killer gets caught, your taxes will be still be a risk, because killers has to eat too.
What makes gun control reform even more difficult is that many Democrats themselves can’t support gun control without risking their seats. Many representatives or senators come from districts and states that vote Democrat for different reasons, such as union strength in the Midwest or rising immigration numbers in the Southwest. However, states like Wisconsin, Florida, or New Mexico also are strong supporters of guns, putting Democratic lawmakers in a precarious position (Scher 2017). This split in the party makes it nigh on impossible for bills to get anywhere. Indeed we saw this to be true after the Sandy Hook shooting. Senator Dianne Feinstein has been a passionate advocate for gun control nearly her entire tenure as a Senator, becoming one of the leading Democratic senators in the push for gun control (Friedman 2013). Feinstein represents a state where gun control measures such as assault weapons bans are extremely popular (California), so there is no constituent fear from her to back off gun control (Wheaton 2017). After the Sandy Hook shooting, Senator Feinstein introduced a new Assault Weapons bill to replace the previous one which had expired in 2004. It made the sale, manufacture, or transfer of 150 semi-automatic weapons illegal, which had features like magazine releases and thumbhole stocks, restricted large capacity magazines, and used a one feature test to determine whether or not a gun was an assault weapon (Feinstien 2013). Democratic majority leader Harry
"We are dealing with the largest mass shooting in our state's history," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (Tegna) On a peaceful November morning during a “Sunday service at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.” (Grinberg) A young man across the street from the church “was dressed in black "tactical-type gear" and wearing a ballistic vest he crossed the street in his car, got out and began firing he entered the church and continued shooting.”(Grinberg) During this time “a man who lives next door to the church grabbed his own rifle and engaged the suspect, The gunman dropped his "Ruger AR assault-type rifle" and fled. The neighbor chased after the gunman, police said. The chase ended when the shooter crashed his car about eight miles from
There have been a lot of shootings and there has to come a day where everything has to stop gun violence. Recently there has been a shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. There was recently a mass shooting on October 1, 2017. At about 10:08 p.m. a country concert was active in Las Vegas. Everybody was enjoying their day and the music, they were having so much fun but little did they know what was about to happen. A shooter came out in front of 22,000 people from the 33rd floor. Killing at least 59 people and leaving 500 wounded. It was a very sad thing to hear because there was so many people who lost their life without even having any clue that they were going to die that day. So many people as well got seriously hurt during this incident that this one man caused. There was innocent people who shouldn’t have gone through what happened that day. Now there will be more security to make sure things like this don’t happen anymore or to at least help gun violence decrease. They listed this as an attack but it should be counted as a terrorist attack no matter the color of skin.
An evolving and highly debated problem that continues to grow in our society, is the gun control epidemic. Gun violence in America is a national epidemic. Many people carelessly take advantage of Gun use and manipulate the tool without much thought to any repercussions. Many lives have been loss due to people legally or illegally obtaining guns and taking matters upon themselves to be executioners in holding other people's lives in their hands. Specifically, ongoing gun violence in schools have become a horrific catastrophe. It is putting student lives at risk, in a place that is supposed to facilitate a certain level of safety for the students. According to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, there was 558 gun incidents in schools
Today I saw a story on the news, about a 22-year old boy in California who went on a murder-spree and killed 6 people before taking his own life. His motive, you ask? Because he was still a virgin. Because he wanted to punish every woman for rejecting him and every sexually-active man for having a better life than he did. But the worst part is that this wasn’t the first time. This wasn’t the first time a person woke up in the morning and decided they were going to take innocent lives because they weren’t happy with their own. 121. That’s the number of attempted mass shootings that haven taken place in the United States this year alone. 475 people murdered and 1 870 injured in 154 days. This is what America’s gun crisis looks like, and this
Have you lost someone in a careless act of gun violence recently? Weapons, specifically firearms, has been a huge issue around Tennessee and is growing rapidly around the United States. It is also the main cause of deaths in major cities as well as smaller cities. According to Wikipedia, Gun violence can be defined as, "violence committed with the use of a gun." Guns should be harder to get hold of. As a reporter, Julie Edwards, confirmed, "through October 14, there have been 912 shootings in 2017, compared to 604 in 2016." Without being said, it seems to be getting more dangerous every year. A couple parents who have lost their daughter or son to gun violence has done interviews for multiple news channels as well as radio stations, attempting to raise awareness everywhere. Children at young ages are also victims of homicides. As reporter David Waters reported, 2-year-olds where getting caught in the crossfire from drive by, 12-year-olds where getting shot by their sister's boyfriends. Who is really concerned about these homicides? Parents, teachers, friends, brothers, sisters, the community as a whole. Laws may be becoming stricter but the general public is also becoming sneakier. We, as a community, should come together to find a safe place for teenagers, preteens, etc. Having a firearm should come with responsibilities, lessons, and sometimes major consequences.
With the wake following the San Bernardino attack and an apparent increase in domestic gun violence and terrorism, the fear of guns and violence associated with them has skyrocketed in recent years. To many, a promising solution to this problem is gun control, essentially placing restrictions and regulations on guns. In some cases this has been proven effective, and instances such as exceptionally dangerous weapons or automatic weapons it seems a given to ban. However, a ban on conventional weapons is not as easy as many would like to believe, and even if they were banned, there does not seem to be much evidence to support the notion that it would end violence or mass shootings, or criminals gaining access to weapons. Regulations rather
In 2015 there was 64 school shootings and over 13 thousands of people was killed by guns in general. As we all know gun violence in america has skyrocketed in the last couple years,thousands of people lost their lives to Mass Shootings to School shootings. To control guns and how they are used in america is a very controversial topic. I believe that to have better control of guns is to have better and more through background checks , to make major changes to gun laws and to help prevent deaths in the united states
Guns are used all over the world and are controlled in some countries but in others people are allowed to have any type of gun ranging from automatic assault rifles to big rocket launches. Should it also be controlled in our country the United States of America? Many say no yes and many others say NO! In my opinion it should be controlled.