Pillow Method Paper
The pillow method is a five-step process used to resolve a disagreement or enable two people to gain understanding from a disagreement. The process involves each individual to look at the problem through five different perspectives. These steps or perspectives include: “I’m right you’re wrong”, “You’re right I’m wrong”, “both right both wrong”, “this issue isn’t important”, and “the truth is in all perspectives” (Alder & Proctor, p. 104). The purpose of the pillow method is for each person to gain insight from each step in the process. By looking at the problem from multiple perspectives each person gets the chance to enhance their cognitive complexity (Alder & Proctor, p. 104). In this paper I
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Guns are a major problem in our society and the numbers of these gun-related murders are continuing to rise. On top of the murders you also have people losing their lives through misfire and gun-related suicides. The total death toll of all gun-related deaths averages over 30,000 per year in the U.S. (http://blogs.kqed.org/lowdown/2013/03/07/u-s-gun-deaths-visualizing-the-numbers/). I believe that enforcing stricter gun laws will contribute to getting these numbers lower. The numbers do not lie, we as a society have a problem with gun-violence and we need to do something to fix it.
“You’re right I’m wrong”: This step in the pillow method requires me to look at the problem from my co-workers point of view while trying to find the flaws in my own argument (Alder & Proctor, p. 104). Switching perspectives, I can see my coworker’s point on how introducing new gun laws can lead to a slippery slope. There is always the chance that the enforcement of new gun laws could not have a significant affect on the rate of gun-related deaths in our country. This also could lead to tougher laws being put in place until we reach the point were guns are banned all together. If guns were to be banned all together, it would put law-abiding citizens at risk of criminals who disregard the law. It would put Americans citizens at risk of martial law
Gun Control Laws have been proven ineffective. Cities like Chicago and Detroit have very strict gun control laws, yet they have some of the highest crime rates, whereas cities with more guns have lower crime rates. Places that have a higher rate of gun ownership, have less murders. Gun control laws do not prevent criminals from breaking the law. Criminals will still obtain firearms, or
Gun violence has been a hot topic these past years. Guns are being used for crime rather than for safety. Every person holds a different opinion on how guns should be managed. Some say that gun laws should be stricter: others say that the laws already in place have enough control over the people. With the rise of gun violence people are wondering what the future will hold. On average, 90 people die from gun violence every single day (Brady Campaign). That means that in a year, at least 32,850 people die from acts of gun violence. Whatever our government has done to stop gun violence is not working. Gun related crimes have reached an all- time high. The nation is waiting for a solution to this ongoing phenomenon. Now is the time for new or upgraded gun policies
In today’s society the majority of the crimes are still being committed by people who have possessed a firearm that has been obtained illegally or without proper permits. That being said there has been a strong push for gun control because of the rise of shootings involving a large group of people such as the Columbine massacre, Virginia Tech shooting and latest Aurora movie theater shooting involving people who have purchased firearms legally. Gun control laws in the United States have been established for many years but to maintain a civilized society with limited crime stronger control laws need to be enforced in which will help reduce crime in our country. Establishing stronger gun control laws will educate
One of the main topics concerning gun control is crime rate. Crime rate could increase if guns are banned. It is so easy for criminals to get their hands on guns, whether they are illegal or not. Guns are not the problem in the country, it is the person with the weapon. It does not matter how much the government regulates gun control, they cannot regulate the people. Banning guns will not stop crime rate from going up. The U.S. has an estimated amount of 220+ million guns and machine tools, so criminals can easily make their own weapons (“Will You Be”). The United States will only be in more trouble if guns are banned. Banning guns does not mean criminals will automatically stop what they are doing. Most criminals illegally make and buy their own weapons, anyway. Most of the crimes committed are not with the use of a gun. Many are used with different types of weapons or tools. “Getting rid of guns does not get rid of violence. Some people think that
If gun control is regulated, then we will have less crime. Access to firearms makes killing easy, efficient, and impersonal, which increases the lethality of crime. Josh Sugarmann, the Executive Director of the Violence Policy Center has once said, "We recoil in horror and search for explanations, but we never face up to the obvious preventive measure: a ban on the handy killing machines that make crimes so easy.”Allowing untrained people to carry guns puts others at risk and it can result in self-inflicting injuries both by suicide and unintentional incidents. Gun violence in America kills more than 30,000 and injures almost 70,000 each year. Guns can be misused and abused, which is why gun
More gun laws would have a negative effect on shootings and crime rates. Stricter gun laws would not prevent people from getting guns, would not prevent killings, and would not fare well with the people of the United States. Strict gun laws would only prevent law-abiding citizens from getting guns, and criminals would still be able to get them. Crime and shooting rates do not go down after increase in gun-restrictive laws are passed. People in the United States have the right to defend themselves from harm, and the 2nd Amendment right to own firearms.
Gun control laws would reduce gun deaths, but gun control laws do not determine crime gun owners determines crime. On the Pro side there were four hundred and sixty-four thousand thirty-three total gun deaths between 1999 to 2013. If we enforced the gun law more then it can drop the death rate with guns down since deaths with guns is the 12th leading cause of deaths. Children at the age of 15 or younger were more likely die from a gun accident then children in wealthy countries. If we did background checks on people when they buy ammunition purchases the deaths could reduce by eighty percent. As the saying goes “guns don’t kill people, people with guns kill people”. In 1980 to 2009 assault weapons bans have not affected murder rates at the state level. If people could just not get so mad and want to kill somebody for no reason, then we would not have to deal with this problem all the time. States with the largest increases in gun owners have the largest drops in violent crimes. Eighty four percent shooting victims have declined when the state passed the laws. When people have weapons on them it makes it much easier for a criminal to hurt them because it makes the criminals job much easier to harm you or threat you if the criminal sneaks up on you and gets your weapon then you are screwed then. I think that it kind of be both because if we have the law enforced then less people will die but on the other end what is the law going to do to people who will go against the law.
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.
The majority of anti-gun advocates voice their opinion that more guns would produce more crimes unfortunately for them there is little to no truth in that claim. In reality, when gun ownership increased the amount of murders diminished as well. When states passed concealed weapons laws there was significant drops in the number of multiple victim shootings occurring, the number of deaths, and the number of injuries at these shootings. In 1997 both Wales and England banned handguns and the instantaneous effect was a 50% increase according to crime research. They never saw a day lower than after the year they decided to ban handguns. It has been proven by many surveys that the banning of guns increases crime rate which in turn proves that gun control is not the answer.
Anyone who believes strengthening the gun control laws would reduce gun violence is correct. However, if someone wants to kill someone, not having a gun is unfortunately not going to stop him or her. If a gun is not accessible, a person who wishes to kill someone will use another weapon that is accessible, such as a knife or bludgeon of sorts. Banning guns will lessen gun violence, but will bring up a rise in violence with other weapons.
Gun violence in the United States is higher than ever, and criminals with guns will “…kill as many as 1000 people each day” (Alpers&Wilson). Taking this into perspective, it is only right to fight fire with fire or, in this case, use a gun to protect yourself and those around you. Gun control does not only decrease the ability for protection, it also decreases our rights as U.S citizens. The constitution clearly states that we are given the right to bear arms, meaning we may carry fire arms. Even if we have stricter laws for guns, it will not stop killers from shooting innocent people. These men and women causing damage to the lives of numerous individuals do not care if there is a law banning guns, because all they truly want to do is
The only way to reduce the gun involved deaths would be to do background checks and test the mental health of the people who are purchasing guns. Taking guns away as a whole is simply not an option because that is when our freedom becomes endangered. This leads into my next point about guns being a main type of protection. Guns are only as bad as the people whose hands they are in, that being said, wouldn't you want the good people to have guns too? If someone breaks into your house and is attempting to hurt you or your family, then a gun would be efficient at that time. It is important to remember that banning guns will not stop criminals from obtaining them. They are called criminals for a reason; if they want guns, then they will get guns. That leaves the good defenseless to the bad. We do not want to give the criminals an upper hand.
Recent mass shootings have forced these laws under the spotlight and allowed citizens of both sides to be critical of them. The United States has become one of the most hostile developed countries in the world. “The U.S. has many more guns—and gun deaths—than any other developed country. In 2014, there were more than 33,000 such deaths in this country (Junior 13).” This has given many citizens the inkling that stricter laws for guns would reduce these deaths. But in my opinion restricting the sale of firearms will not affect the deaths as much as many are predicting. For instance, there is the gun show loophole and other private sellers of firearms that the government will have a hard time restricting or monitoring. President Obama tried
I think it is good idea to have stricter gun law on the country; it will reduce the gun violence. Gunshot which included: suicide, homicide, accident. According to article, Should More Gun Control Laws Be Enacted? shows that “the United States has 88.8 guns per 100 people, or about 270,000,000 guns, which is the highest total and per capita number in the world” (http://gun-control.procon.org/). In the second amendment of United States, people have right to buy a gun to protect themselves if they take certain class and pass the test. The main problem is that do people really use the gun for self-protection or they use for gun violence? In the CCN article, Death and guns in the USA: The story in six graphs points out that “In the U.S., guns
James Mallon once said that “Gun control is like the annoying family member you hate to see. No matter how much you disdain seeing them or talking to them, eventually a climatic event, family reunion, or holiday forces you to have interaction with them.” Gun control may be that elephant in the room given all the recent tragic events involving firearm use, but ignoring that elephant is no solution. Stricter gun laws, as well as other forms of gun control may be the final viable resort to ending the onslaught that are mass shootings.