Big Money-Gun Debate Analysis

The AP “Gov.” class at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is familiar with the debate; before they were even born, the big money - gun debate had already been in full swing. Discussions leading to debates on the local, county, state and federal level about gun control, highlighting the influence wrought by big money had many voices, but little impact on either issue. One voice can engage the public and bring forth change; that voice is Emma Gonzalez.

On a day reserved for flowers, candy, sentiments of love and affection, the actions of one person changed lives and the day forever; from those actions were born a resolve and a voice. Emma Gonzalez, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, found her voice

If your money was as threatened as us, would your first thought be, how is this going to reflect on my campaign? Which should I choose? Or would you choose us, and if you answered us, will you act like it for once? You know what would be a good way to act like it? I have an example of how to not act like it. In February of 2017, one year ago, President Trump repealed an Obama-era regulation that would have made it easier to block the sale of firearms to people with certain mental illnesses. (Gonzalez) Referring to the rollback of the Obama era regulation for mental health, Gonzalez squarely lays the responsibility at the feet of Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, quoting, “’ ’Well, it’s a shame the FBI isn 't doing background checks on these mentally ill people.’” Grassley was the sole sponsor of the bill; in response, Gonzalez in a classic derogatory tone strikes at the irony of the political process: “Well, duh. You took that opportunity away last year.”

The use of ethos, pathos, and logos throughout the speech sets Gonzalez apart from any other speaker on the issues of gun legislation and big money. There is no establishment of authority as Gonzalez is a survivor. There is no analogy is required, as the public is all too familiar with the ramifications of gun violence. Gonzalez with raw emotion has built a case to call the question on the status quo and with a rising crescendo of ethos,

And us [sic] kids seem to be the only ones who notice and our parents [sic] to call BS. Companies trying to make caricatures of the teenagers these days, saying that all we are self-involved and trend-obsessed and they hush us into submission when our message doesn 't reach the ears of the nation, we are prepared to call BS. Politicians who sit in their gilded House and Senate seats funded by the NRA telling us nothing could have been done to prevent this, we call BS. They say tougher guns [sic] laws do not decrease gun violence. We call BS. They say a good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun. We call BS. They say guns are just tools like knives and are as dangerous as cars. We call BS. They say no laws could have prevented the hundreds of senseless tragedies that have occurred. We call BS. That us [sic] kids don 't know what we 're talking about, that we 're too young to understand how the government works. We call