TOPIC: The Gun Debate
BACKGROUND INFO: Wanye LaPierre, Executive Vice-President and CEO of the National Rifle Association, said in an October 2005 speech in New Orleans that ‘an armed society is a safe and peaceful society’ and that all Americans should exercise their 2nd Amendment right to bear arms.
TOPIC QUESTION ASSIGNMENTS: (1) In your response, discuss your views on an armed society.
(2) NEXT, when writing your sentence/paragraph response address the following: (a) Is there any credibility to Wayne LaPierre's statement? (b) In what ways do guns make society safer or more peaceful? Be specific. (c) Could this statement be applied to all areas of society, or only specific areas? (d) How are politics involved in this issue?
(3) NEXT, when you have written your response, please write two bulleted ‘quotables’ beneath the last sentence. These quotables should be clear and concise, and stating the overall gist (meaning) of your response, opinion, argument, etc.
FORUM STYLE RULES: These are general (and specific) forum style rules to follow:
I. NO RANTS…this is not a platform to assert a personal agenda so to speak. It is an opportunity for you to present your views on a topic of your choice. You must use facts that to support your response. If you assert a political, secular, or non-secular view…you must SUPPORT with facts. This response is an argument. Remember, arguments are based on logical info…not emotions!!!!
II. You may use real examples and examples from an article to bolster your views. Use real examples from an assigned text or from current events to bolster your position. Then offer possible suggestions and alternatives.
III. Keep your response to 100 words.
IV. You may want to consider your audience; it may be a group of teens or adults that you are trying to reach. You also may want to think about the overall purpose of your piece. Are you seeking to convince, indoctrinate, inform, etc.?
V. You MUST use the column format, rhetorical devices and modes of developments (i.e. examples, rhetorical questions, description, cause and effect, etc.) within your response.
VI. DO NOT USE REAL NAMES. Under no circumstance are you to use this as a forum to criticize a person. This is NOT an opportunity for you to launch an open attack on one of your friends or acquaintances. Remember the rule of ‘right of reply.’ If that person is not here to defend himself or herself then your comments of criticism are not permitted.
VII. Your writing should be publishable…you are not writing down random thoughts and ideas…they MUST be organized, easy to understand, logical, relevant to some degree, timely, etc.
POINT VALUE: A WELL WRITTEN RESPONSE TO THIS FORUM TOPIC IS WORTH 25 POINTS. YOU MUST PUBLISH YOUR RESPONSE ON THIS SITE IN THE CORRECT FORMAT.
FORUM RESPONSE FORMAT: This is the appropriate format for a response to a question in this forum...
Your response.....remember it should be 100 words......and it should be specific and contain some facts.
First name and last name initial (i.e. Larry K.)
SUBMISSION DUE DATE: All posts must be submitted on or before 10/25/07 @10: 00 AM
13 comments:
Wayne LaPierre makes a good point. I agree with most of his statement. You also need to think of the people who are not responsible enough to bear arms. This could cause many people to be in danger. Guns can also make society safer; they can do this because people have a way of protecting themselves. This statement may only pertain to certain people because as I stated some people will make the world a dangerous place.
"this statement is to broad to include the whole society."
"some people could make the world more dangerous than ot allready is"
Taylor S.
I have neither given nor received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment.
I don't agree with Wayne LaPierre that it is ok to possess weapons no matter who you are. Weapons make people more dangerous to others. So many people already die each year from accidental gun cases; if everyone possessed guns it would make this figure even higher. Possessing a wire weapon makes more excuses for more dangerous accidents to occur which we don't need. I wouldn't trust my teenager running around with a weapon so why would I trust anyone else? If it affects my safety then I definitely have a problem with it. This world is dangerous enough without society carrying around guns.
- I wouldn't trust my teenager possessing a firearm, so why would I trust anyone else?
- People die each year from gun related accidents, so why would we let everyone possess one?
Caroline S.
I have neither given nor received unauthorized assistance on this assignment.
I see what Wanye LaPierre is saying, but the right to bear arms does not pertain to everyone. If one is responsible to bear arms and only uses it for their safety; let it be. But if the 2nd Ammendment is abused and is used as an excuse when an 'accidental' shot of a gun occurs, then it is not okay. I can not see how a society can be safer when every person owns a gun. It might be a bit more scarier; like going out on a walk and seeing people with guns in their hands for 'safety.' Politics can be involved in this issue because if people in government start to believe that carrying guns is necessary to keep 'peace and safety,' it can possibly become a law. That may not happen, but in today's society, we may never know.
-"If the 2nd Ammendment is abused and is used as an excuse when an 'accidental' shot of a gun occurs, then it is not okay."
-"Politics can be involved in this issue because if people in government start to believe that carrying guns is necessary to keep 'peace and safety,' it can possibly become a law."
I see what Wanye LaPierre is saying, but the right to bear arms does not pertain to everyone. If one is responsible to bear arms and only uses it for their safety; let it be. But if the 2nd Ammendment is abused and is used as an excuse when an 'accidental' shot of a gun occurs, then it is not okay. I can not see how a society can be safer when every person owns a gun. It might be a bit more scarier; like going out on a walk and seeing people with guns in their hands for 'safety.' Politics can be involved in this issue because if people in government start to believe that carrying guns is necessary to keep 'peace and safety,' it can possibly become a law. That may not happen, but in today's society, we may never know.
-"If the 2nd Ammendment is abused and is used as an excuse when an 'accidental' shot of a gun occurs, then it is not okay."
-"Politics can be involved in this issue because if people in government start to believe that carrying guns is necessary to keep 'peace and safety,' it can possibly become a law."
-Nicole D
*Forgot my name on the other one, sorry.
Of COURSE the chief executive officer of the National Rifle Association believes guns contribute to a peaceful society! It would be bad for business if he told the truth: That guns, as an instrument of damage and death, enable, and by their presence, encourage, the exact opposite. How strange his claim was made before an audience in New Orleans, which in the wake of Katrina has seen increased acts of horrifying violence and manslaughter. The destruction and terror reigning there and in other parts of the globe are sufficient testament to the immorality of gun ownership and use. Try telling a person in New Orleans guns make for security and calm. The sad truth is that love of profit drives this country’s love affair with gun production, not the desire for peace.
-Can we expect the leader of the NRA to admit the manifold problems brought on by gun use?
-When it comes to guns, profit, not protection, drives decisions.
Alyssa S.
Guns does not make things more safe, nor does it make it even more dangerous. One of Spiderman's fine quote is "With great power comes great responsibility." Its the holder that decides how the firearm would be put to use, for the good of society or the worse. Firearms in the hands of officers helps pertain peace because it was meant to only be used when it is necessary. But those who will carry around a gun to cast fear and provide him or her a sense of security would just cause not a safe community, but a frighten and cautious community; what is to say that one might 'accidentally' go off. Having the right to bear arms should only apply to certain situations for someone ---hopefully those responsible, but can we judge each individual who is responsible? Let us not abuse the 2nd amendment and 'accidentally' let one go off.
-Only the holder decides if the gun turns into a safety measure or a killing instrument
-Safe society or a fearful society?
-Isacc Y.
I have neither given nor received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment.
Wayne Lapierre's statement is a very bold statement that, for the most part, will have to disagree with. I, personally do not understand how an armed society is a safe one. If the society was safe why are the guns needed? And how could guns make it safe? The only way I can see that guns can possibly be a safety precausion for anyone is if they lived in a high crime rate area and felt unsafe. But then again if no one had guns in the first place this problem might not exist. But ofcourse there will always be guns due to our second amendment. I agree with the law that all people over 18 have right to bear arms but I think there should be a little more restriction on who is allowed to have guns. Anyone who has any type of criminal or violent record should not be sold guns.
"LaPierre's statement is a very bold one that I do not agree with."
"How do guns make a society safe? Isn't it the opposite?"
Matt S.
I don’t agree with Wayne LaPierre. The statement he made, “An armed society is a peaceful society” is actually quite ironic. How can a society filled with weapons be considered peaceful? I don’t see any credibility for LaPierre’s statement and find it rather contradictory. Although every American has the right to exercise the second amendment, many people take advantage of that and many people have guns that should not have guns. I don’t see the purpose of a gun in making a society more peaceful, unless used as an outside force to protect ones country, not use it against fellow citizens.
~ “How can a society filled with weapons be considered peaceful?”
~ “Although every American has the right to exercise the second amendment, many people take advantage of that and many people have guns that should not have guns.”
Sophia Venditti
I have neither given nor received any unauthorized info on this assignment.
I understand what LaPierre is saying, but I don't think he took every person into consideration. Like many things, guns can be used for both good (safety) and bad (harm). But without the bad, there is no need for the good. Wayne La Pierre's statement contradicts itself, how could a society full of potentionally dangerous weapons be considered "peaceful"? Putting a gun (or any weapon for that matter) into the hands of anyone who chooses to take advantage of the 2nd Amendment could be unbelieveably hazardous to everyone else. Only those who know how to handle any sort of weapon should have to right to use it or have it in their possesion.
-A peaceful society does not need weapons, a society full of weapons can not obtain peace.
-Someone will always abuse any right given to them, even the most dangerous.
Cayla T.
I can understand why LaPierre would say that guns make for a safer society because if he said anything otherwise it would probably draw away from the gun selling business. I however disagree with his opinion because though guns can be used as protection they have brought death, bloodshed, and many injuries to countless people. I also think that him saying this in New Orleans during their process of rebuilding is inappropriate especially due to the increase of crime in the area since Hurricane Katrina.
-They have brought death, bloodshed, and in juries to countless numbers of people.
-Guns equal destruction and death so why put them in the hands of a violent society?
Michael M.
I have neither given nor received any unauthorized information on this assignment.
Wayne LaPierre is obviously way too optimistic. Yes, it would be nice to believe that everyone in the world is capable of having a gun, but the truth is, that's never going to happen. There will always be those people who are far more dangerous with guns than without. A majority of the murder in our society is a result of shootings- does that not prove that there is something wrong with LaPierre's thinking? If it was possible to ensure that guns were only being used for safety then there would be some validity to his statement, but the intent of the person who buys the gun is obviously impossible to determine.
Wayne LaPierre is obviously way too optimistic. Yes, it would be nice to believe that everyone in the world is capable of having a gun, but the truth is, that's never going to happen. There will always be those people who are far more dangerous with guns than without. A majority of the murder in our society is a result of shootings- does that not prove that there is something wrong with LaPierre's thinking? If it was possible to ensure that guns were only being used for safety then there would be some validity to his statement, but the intent of the person who buys the gun is obviously impossible to determine.
-There will always be those people who are far more dangerous with guns than without.
-If it was possible to ensure that guns were only being used for safety then there would be some validity to his statement, but the intent of the person who buys the gun is obviously impossible to determine.
Emily R.
I have neither given nor received unauthorized assistance on this assignment.
There are some people that are responsible enough to posses weapons. Then there are those who cannot. People with weapons that aren't responsible are dangerous to themselves and others around them. Guys can make a society safer, but there is the chance of them making it worse. You never know how a person will use a weapon. Our society could become corrupt if we used our right to bear arms to the fullest extent.
"Can we really trust strangers with guns to make our society safer?"
"The thought that guns and weapons will make our society safer and that anybody is allowed to posses one is like setting somebody up for murder."
Betsy Dailo
I have neither given nor received unauthorized assistance on this assignment.
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