Jonathan Lowery Anthony Borrero 3/24/2013 ENGL 1102-029 Veterans make up a significant percentage of the population today.

You probably know at least one person who has served in the military to protect this country overseas, maybe even good friends with one. You also have probably heard about the recent gun violence epidemic across the nation, from Aurora, Colorado, to Sandy Hook Elementary, and the push for tighter gun control laws or even an outright ban on some kinds of rifles. There are now rumors now that the government also wants to put even more laws on both active duty and retired military personnel who own guns, saying that they are a threat to themselves with them and taking them away will save their lives. I do not believe that this is the right course of action, as I dont believe that you can tell someone who has held a rifle to protect this country in hostile, foreign lands that they cannot have guns here in America because they might have a disease they cannot control. This article starts out by talking about an Israeli policy change where troops were not allowed to take their weapons home, and it lowered the suicide rate among 18-21 year olds 40 percent. First of all, American soldiers have not been allowed to take their weapons home anyway, and secondly, where are the stats on the 18-21 year old soldiers in America? It seems like Perry Stein, the author of the article, just threw this stat in for an emotional response among the readers. Stein also gives the statistic that the suicide rate is higher in states where gun ownership is more prevalent. He says this, but then gives no indication which states, where in

the country, how much higher the rate is, no other information about how or why the rate is higher, just that it is. He then throws in a fact that more than half of the 32, 439 suicides in 2004 were with guns, but dont you think that statistic is a little outdated? This epidemic of not trusting veterans is now spreading to their benefits as well. Many veterans have reported receiving letters from the Department of Veterans Affairs saying, The evidence indicates that you are not able to handle your VA benefit payments because of a physical or mental condition. We propose to rate you incompetent for VA purposes. This means we must decide if you are able to handle your VA benefit payments. We will base our decision on all the evidence we already have including any other evidence you sent to us. To me this letter is stating that veterans are incompetent just because of their status as a veteran, and that they cannot function on their own. The letter gives them a way to prove they are mentally competent, by request[ing] a personal hearing within 30 days from the date at the top of this letter to present evidence or argument on any important point in your claim. While it is good that they are allowing veterans to disprove these assumptions, they are not going to incur the expenses of actually attending the meeting, which may mean missing work or travel expenses, so it is almost a no-win situation for veterans that are not suffering from mental problems and are leading normal lives.

1. Intro a. I do not believe that keeping firearms out of current and former military service members is the best course of action to lowering the suicide rate among them. 2. Studies a. Article starts with Israeli study where not letting service members take home guns made suicide rate drop 40 percent in 18-21 range b. American service members not allowed to take weapons home anyway c. Gives no stats on American 18-21 year olds d. Give study that says suicide rate is higher in states where gun ownership more common, and more than half of suicides are with guns 3. Veterans mentally incompetent a. Many veterans receiving letters declaring them mentally incompetent i. From dept of vet affairs, saying based on evidence they cannot handle own benefits from VA b. Gives recourse to prove competent, but could be potentially expensive and definitely unnecessary i. Can request hearing to prove otherwise, but VA will not incur costs of attending hearings 4. Conclusion a. This article is saying that veterans are incapable of handling guns here at home, but they can overseas when defending this country. They have also begun to be questioned on the mental competency, and the government is trying to put them under more and more care, even if it is not needed. This seems like a paradox, and I think we should trust veterans more here at home like we trust them when they are away.

http://www.newrepublic.com/blog/plank/111720/guns-military-suicide-nra http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/new-report-military-losing-the-battle-againstsuicide/ http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assault%20weapon http://www.wnd.com/2013/02/obama-threatening-veterans-gun-rights/