Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
CJ 1010
21 June 2017
Gun rights is a hotly debated topic. On one hand, we have the gun toting Americans that
would sooner go to war than sacrifice their rights to bear arms, and on the other we have the ones
that feel guns in the hands of the public poses an enormous threat to safety. According to polls
done by the Pew Research Center, most Americans believe guns deter more violence than they
cause. A popular quote in opposition to gun control is that guns dont kill people, people kill
people. The most recent poll taken on August 26, 2016, suggests that 52% of Americans are in
favor of gun rights, and thus opposed to gun control. This poll was conducted by the Pew
Research Center, which seems to be the leading knowledge in public stance on the issue. Though
the majority of Americans are opposed to gun control, most (about 80% according to Pew
Research Center polls) agree that certain steps should be taken to limit the availability of
firearms to the public, such as wider background checks, and prohibiting sales to the mentally
disabled.
1) What are the sources of information you used to evaluate the topic?
information?
When looking for information regarding the topic of gun control laws and gun rights, I stuck
to reputable .org websites. These websites used citation, and often referred to the findings of the
Pew Research Center. I like to cross check many websites when conducting research to make
sure that my findings are valid and accurate. The information I have gathered on the topic is
accurate and I feel the sources used were the best ones.
As I said, I feel that it is best to cross check multiple websites when conducting research to
ensure accurate and up-to-date information. When researching, I feel it is best to stick to
reputable articles and websites, including those of .gov and .org domains. It is also well known
that scholarly articles on the subject are the best source of accurate and truthful information
when conducting research. On a topic such as this, I found it best to stick with information that
was covered in several different articles and seemed statistically accurate when cross examining
the different sources. Adding to that, a site such as The Washington Post, stays relevant and in
4) What assumptions have you made (outside of the research information evaluated)?
I assumed that gun control would play an obvious role in decreasing violence and preventing
mass shootings, which is not completely accurate. I also assumed that most Americans were
opposed to gun control, and Republicans were the majority of those Americans, which stands to
be true. I thought that taking away guns from citizens would help to decrease gun violence in
America, but it is suggested that only law-abiding citizens would be left without firearms, and
the criminals would still be able to get them, leaving those law-abiding citizens defenseless. This
seemed like an obvious argument to me, in that guns should be taken away, but after reading the
articles, I can see why many Americans are afraid of losing that right.
When I first researched the topic, it was mainly to see what all the fuss was about, and why
gun control hadnt been implemented. This involved several studies and polls. Though I was still
curious as to why something like a wider background check was not implemented in if has such
a huge approval rating. My initial research was thorough, but all my questions were not
completely answered, so I did a little more digging. I always think it is possible to gain more
information on a subject, but as of right now, I am happy with what I have learned pertaining to
the issue.
The conclusion I have come to is that gun control is not something we will see in the near
future, especially with a republican president, but I think that it is something that is worth giving
a chance. I do think that if gun control were to be implemented, it would have to be much more
thorough than just asking people to turn over their fire arms. I do not think that America will
ever get to the point of turning over their fire arms, but I do think that we will eventually make
getting guns a bit more difficult. It surprises me that America can be so afraid of foreign threats
coming to our country, but domestic threats seem to be less concerning. We have implemented a
very difficult process for foreigners to be able to immigrate to our country, in hopes that we can
weed out the bad ones, but for some reason we arent willing to try and make it more difficult for
7) Does the information researched and your assumptions support the conclusion?
The information I have researched supports my conclusion that we are not likely to see any
form of strict gun control in the near future, or maybe ever. The evidence also supports that we
are likely to see more strict purchasing rights, but it may take some time for this to be
implemented. It would seem that those voting need a bit more pressure from the American
I do believe that I asked the right questions. My goal was to understand where America stood
on the matter, and what was being done, whether in favor of gun control or opposed. I wanted to
know why certain laws had not been passed, and why people felt it was so important to uphold
their right to bear arms. I also wanted to know what sort of arguments each side had, and in truth,
I am not so set on gun control as I was before conducting my research, though I still think that it
I dont think that you can ever ask enough questions. I think that ability to obtain knowledge
is infinite and you can only reach a point at which you are comfortable with the knowledge you
have gained. We can always ask more questions, but at the time, I am happy with what I have
learned.
control or not, or maybe one may have had a different takeaway regarding whether or not gun
control laws of any sort will be passed. I think that, with the information, my conclusion was
correct in that we will see some gun control laws implemented, but it will take some time.
Sources
Fingerhut, Hannah. "Opinions on Gun Policy and the 2016 Campaign." Pew Research Center for
the People and the Press. N.p., 26 Aug. 2016. Web. 21 June 2017.
Gurciullo, Brianna, and Viveca Novak. "Gun Rights vs Gun Control." OpenSecrets. N.p., 01
Phillips, Amber. "The Senate voted on 4 popular gun control proposals Monday. Heres why
none of them passed." The Washington Post. WP Company, 20 June 2016. Web. 21 June 2017.
"Gun Control - ProCon.org." Should More Gun Control Laws Be Enacted in the United States?
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