Abhinav Iyer

Ms. Angela Satterfield

AP English Language and Composition

09 August 2019

Current Events Article: El Paso Shooting and Texas’s Gun Laws

The article “Texas, reeling after El Paso shooting, is about to loosen gun laws” published

by the Washington Post, talks about how Texas is most likely going to pass laws on September

1st that will loosen the gun control laws that are in place. Specifics of some of these laws include

“prevent[ing] homeowners and landlords from forbidding residents to have firearms on their

property” and “[letting] people… carry firearms at a place of worship…”. The author, Hannah

Knowles, wants to inform people about what may happen in Texas and probably also wants to

incite actions against the laws that may pass. To get her point across, and she also uses specific

words, although not many, to have a specific connotation.

Knowles uses direct quotes from various lawmakers, professors, and others to build her

credibility. Throughout the article, she cites various different people, specifically a Republican

lawmaker from Texas, a professor at the University of Texas, and a volunteer with a group that is

for gun control. The quotes from the lawmaker and the volunteer show both sides of the

argument: the side that is against gun control and the side that is for gun control. With the

addition of a professor’s educated judgment, it further cements her credibility as a source that is

trying to be as unbiased as possible. Therefore, the article is accessible to more people, especially

people that want to learn about the issue and pick a side that way. Although the article is slightly

biased towards harsher gun control, the use of quotes from various different sources with
conflicting opinions show both sides of the argument, which, as stated above, builds Knowles’s

credibility throughout the article.

In the article, Knowles also uses specific examples to present the case of both sides. In

light of the El Paso shooting, the gun control debate has had a resurgence. According to the

article, people against gun control cite the mass shooting in Sutherland Springs and say “‘The

only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.’ They say that the

Sutherland Springs shooter… could have been stopped earlier if someone in the church had a

weapon.” People for gun control, however, say that bad people can still do lots of bad. Even

though the Dayton shooter was incapacitated within 30 seconds of firing the first bullet, he “used

at least 41 rounds to shoot dozens of people…” Using specific examples from both sides makes

it so that everyone that reads the article can see both sides, even if they do not agree with a

particular side. This, in turn, will educate more people and let them make a decision on which

side they agree with.