“Gun Control for Dummies” is a comic illustrated by William Warren. The comic depicts a before and after situation. In these situations, a law-abiding citizen originally has two firearms and is standing next to a criminal who also has a gun. However, in the “after” scenario the citizen no longer has possession of firearms, but the criminal next to him does. The author’s claim in this comic is that gun control will not prevent criminals from keeping or obtaining guns but will leave law-abiding citizens without protection. With rhetorical techniques, the artist effectively convinces viewers that if firearms are banned, law-abiding citizens will be left as prey to criminals. Throughout the illustration, the author effectively implements rhetorical …show more content…
One of the major differences between the “before” and “after” photo in the illustration, is that the citizen does not change in any way. The citizen is standing in the exact position during both the “before” and “after” illustrations. However, his guns are missing in the second photo to portray the impact of gun control. By not changing his body language or movement, the citizen trusts that the gun laws enacted will keep him safe. However, the citizen is unknowing to the fact that the criminal next to him illegally possesses a hand-gun. The criminal clearly knows that the citizen has no way to protect himself, and he gladly smirks at the idea of an unfair fight. A powerful illustration like this is very relatable. The citizen is used to represent any citizen of the United States; while the criminal could be anyone looking to cause harm. This illustration makes it persuasively clear that if gun control laws are put in place, everyday citizens will be left defenseless to criminals. By appealing to pathos, Warren makes the viewer of his comic unsettled with the idea of not being able to fairly protect themselves from criminals if gun restrictions are put into