In the article, “The Problem Is Guns” by Ryan Cooper, he discusses the recent mass shooting during the musical festival in Las Vegas. Throughout “The Problem Is Guns”, Ryan Cooper uses imagery, logos, and ethos to present the idea that gun regulation is the real problem in America. For example Stephen Paddock opened fire on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel across the music festival. Stephen Paddock killed a total of 59 people and injuring over 500, it was labeled the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.
The general arguments made by Paul Waldman in his work, “The Case For Banning Guns,” and by Shikha Dalmia in her work, “The Case Against Banning Guns,” is that there have been numerous issues arising in America due to a national debate about gun control. Both authors state their personal opinions about whether or not guns should be permanently banned, regulated, or even if the problem is not the gun, but the person who pulls the trigger. They each provide various examples and briefly mention a few past mass shootings to support their beliefs on this tragic topic. Beginning with Waldman’s argument, he believes that almost all guns should be banned. Although he knows that this task is impossible, he thinks that America would be a far better society without them.
Even though gun violence has always plagued humanity, authorities still fail to remove the dangerous equipment at hand. Of course, in the article “The solution to gun violence is clear” published in December 12, 2012, issue of The Washington post, opinionated writer Fareed Zakaria makes his claim on why guns should be banned in the United States. Although this is an interesting subject Zakaria is not very authoritative on his claim. He argues that there are too many guns, too easy to obtain, and the country’s “permissive laws” are making it worst for Americans. Zakaria writes about how much of a better difference the lack of access to guns, have in other countries to make his point.
The sociological concepts behind the majority of all gun control arguments theorize that with stricter laws and regulations criminals and emotionally unstable individuals might be intercepted. Macrosociology, concerning the processes used to distinguish America as a gun culture, holds that constraints on Americans gun usage limits personal options at the micro level. Laws, the legal rules for functioning in society provided by a governing body that is capable of reprimanding those who do not comply, function to prevent gun violence to a degree. The second amendment guarantees protection of rights to keep and bear arms. In America, 37 states abide by the ‘Shall Issue’ providing that, upon completion of specified requirements, a law-abiding person
Sternheimer begins with introducing us to a “first person shooter” game called “Doom”(214). With this multi-billion dollar game industry rising, she points out that there are three school shooting cases that the press emphasizes the shooters being “video-game experts” (215) to the game Doom, only making the “critics’ predictions” (214) about video games come true. Sternheimer begins by explaining how video game violence has become “folk devils” (214). This term allows media and politicians to “channel the blame and fear to remedy what many believe to be a growing problem” (214). Politicians are one of the main factors in targeting video games as the leading cause of violent behavior in teens, according to Sternheimer.
When applying Constitutional law to current criminal cases, the Supreme Court will often cite the Founding Father’s intentions for Amendments. In 1776, the major concern to safety was a tyrannical, overarching government. Thus, the 1st amendment protects your freedom to any ideas and the open expression of them. To protect this idea of free expression, the Founding Fathers followed the first amendment with a law that gives citizens the Constitution right to protect their opinions. Some might be quick to say, “A lot has changed since the Second Amendment was ratified.
Application of Conflict Theory to the Gun Control Debate Being a debate, the conflict theory is a very applicable theory that can be applied to guns/gun control laws and their roles in society. A debate is something that is associated with conflict, so by observing how deep and exactly in what directions this conflict extends, one might be able to understand this topic in a new light. In other words, by analyzing the very nature of this argument, this sociological perspective can be used to generate a deepened understanding of the debate on the extent of gun control laws. The Conflict Theory
Considering the increase in gun violence there has been no media response where there should be. Nowaday almost about anybody can obtain a gun; even kid are obtaining them. Incidents ranging from minors being shot and killed, law enforcement being shot and kill, and much more. But if there was a public response, in present day America where gun violence is at its max, there is sure to be a lot of negative controversy surrounding it.
Gun violence accounts for a significant portion of deaths each year, approximately 30,000 people in the United States (American Public Health Association, 2017). Gun deaths affects everyone; the victims, families, society, as well as healthcare. Within the last decade, roughly 700,000 emergency department visits were related to gunshot wounds, these cost hospitals on average, $25 billion dollars (Johnson, 2017). Health Affairs released a study showing that from 2006 to 2014 cost associated with gunshot wounds totaled $2.9 billion in emergency department charges alone, and $22 billion for inpatient care (Johnson, 2017). Those numbers do not include follow-up and rehabilitative care.
In the beginning, the author believes that playing with guns is not harmful to children. With the development of the society, he changes his mind. Nowadays, some TV programs are full of violence. Children will easily to learn and imitate violence from watching these programs. Watching violence can lower children’s standards of behavior.
One article online states that gun related violence accounts for about 30,000 to 40,000 deaths every year in America. More than half of these deaths occur due to self infliction (Keidan 48). This makes it obvious that there should be a certain amount of gun laws in place to stop people from hurting each other. However, people commonly have to use guns for self defense. One such example of this happened when four masked men went into a smoke shop.
On April 20, 1999, twelve students and one teacher were shot and murdered at Columbine High School. The reason? Two students wanted to impact the country. This incident opened the minds of the American people to the issue of gun abuse. However, despite this event and others similar to it, a number of citizens still uphold their “Second Amendment Rights”, and will not budge for the betterment of our American society.
Even though there are many people argue “the guns do not kill people but people do”. However, Evan DeFilippis states, in his article “Debunking the Guns Don’t Kill People, People Kill People Myth”, that the gun itself is not able to harm, and guns become harmful when people hold them. He highlights that when people hold a gun, they tend to kill more often and more efficiency than those who do not have a gun. He illustrates this is because the environment may affect people’s behaviors. If the surrounding environment is that everyone has a gun, people become more fractious and they may not able to control themselves under extreme emotions.
American families are suffering from violence more than ever before. “The CDC and the World Health Organization already consider violence a public health threat, whether a firearm is involved or not.” (Leaonard) More than 30,000 deaths are caused each year by the use of a firearm in the United States. Gun violence is a problem, not only in Houston but in the all country.
Media violence has become a controversial topic in the world today. Owing to the rising technology, children are beginning to show increasing violent behaviors. The debates on the effects of media ranging from screen media, video games, and books have a long history. Due to this, there is a speculation over what is the leading cause of the increasing violence in children. Some people argue that there is a relationship between media violence and real-life violence.
