Mady Fancher

Block 7
2/17/16
Should Gun Laws Be Stricter?
A topic talked about constantly today in the media and is a major issue dividing the
country is gun control. This has become a popular issue due to terror attacks, mass shootings,
hate crimes, and other violence that would provoke some to think stricter gun laws should be in
place. Both sides have reasonable arguments that are expressed in many directions. Gun laws
should not become stricter due to no increase in crime, no risks when people are properly
educated about guns, and people could actually reduce the awful crimes, but that stricter gun
laws regarding background controversy with background checks could benefit the people.
The common thought would be that more guns carried equal more shootings which
equal more danger. Guns cannot kill people, people kill people. It is not what is at the hand of a
person that makes them a murderer; it is the heart (Wright,). There is evidence to supports that
gun control will not save lives. Most of the guns are bought by a person who has no intention to
use them on a human and has gone through a background check. Guns have and always will be
sold illegally to people on the street. There are always rebellions against restrictions, similar to a
speakeasy. Just because of this select few who dont use guns in a safe way shouldnt ruin the
second amendment for the rest of The People. There are different views on violence and
concealed carry. An expert on gun control who is a professor at UCLA states that the ban on
openly carrying guns affected relatively few people because most gun owners dont want the
attention and questions that guns in public attract. He says that many more people might start

applying to carry concealed weapons. If you dont want many guns on the street, the answer is
open carry, Winkler says (Dolan and Perry),
Concealed carry of guns is a right exercised by millions of people in the United States,
and there has been no boom or bust of the shootings (Wright). Guns are used for self-defense in
critical situations. Some religious centers and schools have guns in the hands of certain people in
order to protect everyone in case of an emergency. This would prevent the hate crime if the
holder of the gun was properly trained and could stop the shooter. It takes a madmen and a group
of contained people with no way of defending themselves for someone to commit a mass murder
(Wright). Shooters usually get guns illegally, so if this were the case and guns were illegal to
carry for self-defense by background checked, trained individuals, it is almost inevitable that the
shooter will kill and injure a large percentage of the people in that building. If you were in a
situation where you were facing a shooter, wouldnt you want to be armed? (Seitz-Wald). The 2nd
Amendment of the Constitution gives the people the right to bear arms, and taking this privilege
away from the people who are legally allowed to have possession or carry guns who are educated
and trained is unjust; punishing The People when it is a small percentage who break the law.
It is true that if there were no guns there would be no shootings, mass murders, or gunaccidents. There has not been a dramatic increase in these since gun ownership has increased. In
fact, fatal gun accidents have reduced in number much faster than gun ownership has increased
(Wright). This is due to the education of gun use provided. Background checks that are tighter
could even further prevent the number of guns used in awful scenarios. Background checks have
stopped more than 2.4 million gun sales keeping firearms out of the hands of felons, fugitives,
drug users, and people that judges have found mentally ill, etc. since they started in 1994.
Congress had the chance to create deeper background checks after an example exposing these

gaps in the case of the Sandy Hook shooting. (Shootings Expose Gaps in Background Systems).
Background checks that are stricter will prevent unfortunate events like Sandy Hook and other
cases. It could prevent more deaths from shooting and keep guns out of the hands of people who
are potentially mentally unstable people or problems in an individuals life that could make their
heart or mind the one of a murderer.
Fear is a strong emotion that is credible for debate over gun control. It is disappointing
that in the land of the free people have to worry about terror attacks, hate crimes for practicing
religion, going to school, and fear the small fraction of the United States that has the heart to use
guns to murder groups of people in cases like Columbine, Sandy Hook, at the Jewish
Community Center in Overland Park, etc. But since humans are driven by fear, there is also a
part that to protect ourselves in situations where there could be danger. There is definitely a gray
area present in each social issue. The background check system has prevented many people who
are not stable enough to have possession of a gun to gain it, but there are still some gaps that
could be tightened. When it comes to gun control as a whole, the laws should not be tightened
due to the dangers that would come from taking away guns from trained and educated people,
and leaving them in the hands of people who get them through a loophole or illegally. There will
never be no guns left in America, so it is better for safety too arm ourselves in a safe way.

Works Cited

"Shootings Expose Gaps in Background Check System." USA TODAY. 28 Jul. 2015: A.7. SIRS
Issues Researcher. Web. 19 Feb. 2016.

Dolan, Maura, and Tony Perry. "Court Rules Against State Gun Limits." Los Angeles Times. 14
Feb. 2014: p. AA.1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 19 Feb. 2016.

Seitz-Wald, Alex. "Increased Civilian Gun Ownership Will Not Reduce Crime." Guns and
Crime. Ed. Nol Merino. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2015. At Issue. Rpt. from
"The Answer Is Not More Guns." Salon. 2012. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 19 Feb.
2016.

Wright, Stephen E. "Gun Control Laws Will Not Save Lives." Guns and Crime. Ed. Christine
Watkins. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt. from "Anti-Gun Group Common Sense
Gun Laws and Real Common Sense." StephenEWright.com. 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in
Context. Web. 19 Feb. 2016.

Grading

Criteria
Content
and Ideas

Organization

Description
Clear argument about social issue
Support uses
- ethos
- logos
- pathos
4 or more credible sources used
Antithesis addressed and refuted

Effective introduction and

conclusion include hook, thesis, and

Points
0 10

20

30

40

35/40 Lauren Lenson there doesnt seem

to be a clear stance that you took on the
topic
38/40 PEER 2 JacobW - Agree with
Lauren, explain why you are in the middle.
Rhetoric
/40 Self grade
0 10 20
30
=

Diction/
Syntax/
Convention
s

Publication
/
Appearanc
e

final statement
3 organized paragraphs include
claims, explanations, and transitions
Sequence is logical
Writing is all in 3rd person
Quotations are embedded and
properly cited within the essay
0-3 Errors in grammatical structure

Creative title/rough draft ready on

editing day 2/16-17
Proper MLA formatting; heading
that includes student name,
instructors name, class, and date
Works cited page is appended.

27/30 Lauren Lenson sequence is logical

and good and beginning is effective
28/30 PEER 2 Jacob - Organization is
effective, easy to follow
/30 Self grade
0 5 10
15
=
15/15 Lauren Lenson no errors
15/15 PEER 2 Jacob - Grammatically
correct
/15 Self grade
0

10

15

15/15 Lauren Lenson good MLA

15/15 PEER 2 Jacob - Used MLA
correctly
/15 Self grade