Holden Sumner English 1102 Carrie Sippy 3/25/13 Academic Conversation

I was on a train ride from Charlotte North Carolina to New York City going to visit a friend. About an hour into the ride the train attendant turned on CNN to entertain the riders. One of the first topics that came up on the headlines was gun control and violence. Not too long after there was several people a couple rows up from me having a conversation about this current event. The people talking included Denise Bissler an author of the book The Harms of Crime Media on the Perpetuation of Racism, Sexism, and class stereotypes, Karen Evans the author of Crime Prevention Critical Introduction, David Lester who wrote Gun Control Issues and Answers, Jeff Negligan who wrote the article Gun Control: Opportunities to Close Loopholes in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and Mohammad Shafii who cowrote School Violence: Assessment, Management, Prevention with his wife. While they were all introducing themselves, I found it very odd that all of them were on the same train with such similar interests. So I introduced myself.

Me: Hello my name is Holden Sumner. I could not help but hear what you all are talking about. How is it that you all accidentally boarded the same train? Denise: This was no accident; you see we are going to a gun awareness convention in New York City. Karen: We are just sharing our opinions to each other about Gun Control. Would you like to join? Me: Sure I would love too; I actually have a very strong opinion about guns and the rights we have to use them. Could I ask a few questions to get your opinions? Everyone: Sure!

Me: Okay great! My first question and most important in my opinion is should there be any restrictions on the guns people buy or the people who buy the guns? Denise: I believe that there should be stronger restrictions on the people who can buy the guns. I notice in the media most gun violence is caused by an unstable person. Karen: I agree with Denise because I do not think criminals or unstable people should be allowed to own guns. I still think there are guns that should be illegal. Me: I disagree with that some guns should be illegal it is the second amendment for us to have the right to bear arms and I believe that its unsafe for the criminals and military to have these automatic weapons and the honest citizen not have access. That amendment was made for a reason to give the population a way to protect themselves from foreign and domestic enemies. David: I can see what you are saying and I to believe that the citizens should be able to bear arms but is it safe for schools if anyone can just go buy military grade weapons? Mohammad: It would not be safe it is already hard to get hold of a machine gun and people still do imagine the crime if every criminal could just go buy one. Jeff: Mohammad if the government would have a stricter background check for people who could own any kind of gun then it would be easy for a good person to buy one and anyone with any record could not. Me: Now we are getting somewhere. I guess what America needs to figure out is how to safely and constitutionally control guns. Have you thought about how to make schools safer? Denise: Mohammad since you have researched this topic what do you think should be done about school gun violence? Mohammad: There are many ways to try and prevent firearm violence at schools but most people point straight to the dangers from the outside. What they do not know is 10% of high school students have guns on campus. To try and stop this from happening parents should be educated about guns so they can educate their children. Me: This is something I strongly believe in. I was raised around guns and I look at them with respect and would never abuse them. There are thousands of kids like me but there are more that are afraid of guns and have no knowledge. Education would be a great start to help prevent. Karen: But like anything you will have to have the parents cooperation. For example, parents who use drugs and tell their kids not too thinks that will be enough. Its not enough to just educate the kids of today they need to learn by their parents actions. Everyone: agrees

Me: Okay so open question for anyone. Would it be a waste of tax money to have an armed police officer on every school campus from kindergarten to college? Karen: I do think there is a possibility that it would create more cost for the state but it would open more opportunities for jobs and help deter crime. Mohammad: Have policemen on campus is very helpful in school violence and shootings. But is there ever really enough safety? Jeff: That is a very good point that makes me think if the government outlaws certain guns and ammo and has multiple officers on every school campus will it make a huge difference? Its like the prohibition taking away something doesnt always help. Denise: Jeff you are right it could be worse but the worse thing we can do as a country is noting because as long as we are doing something the population will be satisfied that progress is trying to be made. Me: I would like to share my solution if you all do not mind The first item of business for gun control is to stop making guns seem like an evil thing. It is not the guns that kill people it is the crazy people. So the first thing that needs to be done is make a very strict background check for anyone who is looking to buy a gun. Also it should be illegal to own a gun that is not registered to you. This way anyone can own a gun that deserves one and the people who want the gun control will get it. It makes no sense to outlaw any weapon because a hunting rifle can be made into an automatic very easily so outlaw the guns will only stop the honest people. The next thing that should be done is to get the police across the United States to seize more weapons that are illegally owned. I believe this will make most of the population happy. David: It is not all about making America happy gun control is about safety but I do agree that when people get along there tends to be less of an argument. Denise: and there will always be a topic that people are going to disagree about and it will be all over the media like gun control. So just taking the necessary measures is all anyone can do. Mohammad: The safety of children should be taken more serious that the people who want to own guns for their own enjoyment. Its more about the safety of America than some persons wants. Me: Agreed it is about the safety of America. This is why Americans need to be able to arm ourselves to protect ourselves and each other. We are one of the few countries were the majority of the population has at least one gun in the house. This simple fact is a good deterrent to keep any enemy from attacking us. Denise: I can see where that would be true because all of the fighting on the media over the gun laws has showed other countries just how many Americans are armed. Karen: That is good crime prevention as long as the people who are armed are the good people.

Me: Now that we all agree that there should be control on the people who own the guns. How can we keep the people from putting our schools in danger? (All of a sudden while we all were in this deep conversation the news aired a story about the Sandy Hook shooting in Connecticut. We were all glued to the television and were paying close attention. This two minute clip about the Sandy Hook shooting sparked Mohammad into posing a question himself.) Mohammad: I have already stated that the parents need to play a role in keeping the kids from bringing the guns in schools, and there should be policemen on duty on every campus. Other than that I am not sure how to keep outsiders from bringing guns in like they did in Connecticut. What can the general population do? Me: The answer is not to control guns because that will start further fighting. The answer and I strongly believe this is to educate our children about them. Have a class on firearms as an elective. Im sure that with knowledge will come respect. -