1 Sadra Bowie Mindis 4th hour Intermediate Composition

Guns give people a sense of power that can lead to temporary insanity, and in fact has several times. Im sure you can think of some, but in case you are having difficulties, here are a few. Columbine, Aurora, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Washington Navy Yard. Need more? Google gun violence. Im sure youll find an enormous amount of similar stories. There are literally news headlines that say gun violence is as American as apple pie. There are some ways in which guns are perfectly fine. For instance, I think that hunting to provide for oneself or ones family is a fine way to use a gun. However, having guns can be extremely dangerous. There is a history of people who have firearms on hand shooting first and asking questions later (Zimmerman case, anyone?). There are also several stories about people who are mentally unstable going to the store and easily buying a gun, then going and shooting innocent people. Many people feel that preventing people with the intention of hurting others would infringe upon their rights. Its true that the second amendment does in fact give the right to bear arms. However, guns now are quite a bit more advanced than guns at the time the second amendment was written. I think that it would be perfectly acceptable for a person to have a gun from that time period. However, a gun with which a shot can be fired every time the trigger is pulled is a gun I object to. There are places where there is little or no gun control that have very low rates of gun violence, it is true, but in these countries, there are fiercely regulated laws as to the use of bullets.

Assume: I assume that guns are generally perceived to be less dangerous than I find them. It is likely, however, that a look at the process someone has to go through to get a gun would show that it is far too simple a process to keep many dangerous people from getting their hands on a firearm. I also believe that it is probable that there have been many studies done on whether or not gun control at the moment prevents people getting their hands on them with murderous intent, likely with strong evidence to the negative.

I imagine that there are plenty of perfectly reasonable reasons to have guns. Im sure that people do feel better protected by having guns with them, and its likely that some people honestly enjoy the thrill of the sport. However, I also imagine the grief of the loved ones of those who have been brutally murdered by someone with a gun, and I think that that outweighs the indignation of someone who has had a vicious plaything taken away. To learn more about guns and how theyre related to violence, I looked at some articles about gun control and gun violence. Following is an explanation of the study and article I looked to for some explanations about guns.

Gun Ownership and Firearm-related deaths (Bangalore and Messerli, Page 8): This is a study that looked at the correlations between guns per capita per country and firearm-related deaths, guns per capita per country and crime rate, and mental illness and crime rate, and mental illness and crime rate. It was found that the more guns per capita in a country, the more firearm-related deaths. Also, it was found that the larger the mental health burden in a country, the higher rate of firearm-related deaths. However, guns per capita have a stronger effect on the number of firearm-related deaths than the size of the mental heath burden. This study proves that the phrase guns make a nation safer is false. Despite this being a dry read, it made some very interesting points, such as explaining the vicious circle caused by believing guns improve the safety of a nation can cause, which is that guns make the nation more dangerous, but more guns are bought because everyone feels less safe, but then everyone is less safe, and because they realize this, they buy more guns, and on and on and on. This is a very credible source, and quite a bit of research clearly went into this, so it provides plenty of information in one piece. It also points out that the US has extremely high levels of gun ownership and correspondingly high levels of gun violence

Data suggests Guns Do in Fact Kill People (S., Page 8):

3 This is a news article from The Economist. It explains several of the points of those who oppose gun control and then shows why those points are invalid. This article explains that homicide is not legally a violent crime, so statistics about violent crime in America versus in other countries is being misleading when applied to homicide. It then talks about how carrying around more guns would not solve the problem of homicide using guns, due to the fact that guns are a large part of the problem. This article is very useful as a model for what I should make my essay like. It flows and takes into account the opinion of the opposing side while quickly dismissing it. However, this doesnt provide a fantastic source for when Im looking for facts. I think that the occasional idea in this piece would be very useful for my essay, but this is perhaps not as meaty a source as the above piece.

After writing this, I realized that my thinking had greatly progressed, becoming more complex and more interesting. Following is an explanation of the ways my thinking changed.

4 Problem I originally thought that the problem I was writing to address with this essay was that people overuse guns and that they needed to be controlled so that fewer tragedies such as the ones at Sandy Hook Elementary School and the Aurora Theatre Shooting would happen. Now, I still think that Americans own too many guns (88.8 guns per capita is a bit too much, in my opinion), but the bigger problem is that guns increase the likelihood of gun-related violence. People say that guns make the nation safer, but this is actually a false statement, proved so by my article from The American Journal of Medicine where the statistics of several different countries have been compared and shown that more guns mean more people will die from being shot. After talking to a few people who are as against gun control as I am for it, my biggest problem with addressing this issue will be that my audience is a bunch of people, and people rarely listen to reason if it differs with the way they think. However, I have enough proof that if I stay professionally on the subject, I should be able to at least make them think. One thing that I really need to focus on is the clear correlation shown between guns per 100 people and total firearm related deaths per 100,000, which is one of my strongest points.

Solution: Since my idea of the problem was originally so simplistic, my idea of the solution was vague at best. Take away all guns, I thought, not realizing that small steps were the key. The main aim of my piece just needs to be causing awareness without closing anyone who is even the least bit open to the idea of gun control completely. Theres a big difference between saying, This thing you do is bad, and saying, Sometimes this thing you use for good is used by bad people to do bad things and we need to find a way to stop this from happening. This is going to make writing my piece a lot more difficult, though, because it means Ill have to censor myself and be very careful to both have tact and get my point across. One thing that I do want to incorporate into this, though, is that I want to begin to make people feel slightly uncomfortable about shooting a gun. I dont want to say

5 anything in a super strong way, but I may want to have something in there that points out that the safety of a kindergartner is more important than you going out having fun playing a sport. I dont know how I can get that across without being rude, though, and like I said, this is just a gateway piece.

6 How I Felt When I First Heard You Owned Guns: Sometimes I look at you, shooting your gun, And I feelNot horrified, not really, but Disappointed. Because you say that Those guns (Instruments of death, more like) Are a good idea. That people kill people, not guns, (Which is ridiculous, because people with guns kill people) You say That they arent bad, That you have never hurt anyone with a gun And its true, You just use them for good, But not everyone does. And it freezes me inside, the way you think that The certainty of Your pleasure Is more important than the Possibility Of a baby crying in the arms of her dead mother, Or a first date ending with a bullet in a leg, Or the stiffening body of an old man on the way to visit a good friend Or the mounting worry of a mother and father while looking for their daughter who they may never see again, Or a blood stain on the collar of the prom dress of a high school senior with promising aspects, Or any number of horrific happenings that are more common than you think, While you sit there,

7 Methodically shooting Target After Target, Not realizing that Despite the fact that you arent hurting anyone, It still Stings To see you refusing to consider the welfare of the world So, Sometimes I look at you, shooting your gun, And I Feel Like Crying. -Sadra Marie Bowie

8 Works Cited

Bangalore, Sripal, NMD, MHA, and Franz H. Messerli, MD. "Gun Ownership and Firearm-related Deaths." American Journal of Medicine 126.10 (2013): 87376. Print.

S, M. "Gun Control: Data Suggest Guns Do in Fact Kill People." Editorial. Www.economist.com. The Economist, 30 Sept. 2013. Web. 7 Oct. 2013. <http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2013/09/gun-control>.