1. Katie Caswell
FYS
Gun Control
With the first question on what are the issues that are being debated, they all had a one
similarity in two of the essays and the rest were differences. The similarity included whether the
Second Amendment is a good thing to have or not. The differences varied with the different type
of essay that it was. In the first essay, the differing issues were what exactly counts as an assault
weapon and should there be background checks on those who try to buy guns in the store. In the
second essay, the issue was that it isn’t the guns killing people, but the people killing people.
The third essay had the most issues in it. Those issues include the nicer newer guns that cause
more violence, is someone unfit to own a gun, and does gun control lower or raise violence.
These were all the main issues that I could pick out from all three essays.
Those who support more gun control came up with a few advantages they think will
happen if we end up with more control. There would be less shootings in which would lead to
less death. There wouldn’t be as much violence as there is now in the United States. Everyone
would be more protected because if there isn’t anyone with a gun on the street no one could just
happen to get shot on the spot.
The opposing team came up with some of the disadvantages with there being more gun
control. There could be people rioting around the country because they feel unsafe. Riots could
happen in the capitol because they want their guns back. There could end up being a black
market for illegal guns and that could produce more guns than there were before. People would

2. feel unsafe because how could they protect themselves against an oncoming threat if they have
no way of protecting themselves.
Some of the fallacies I picked out were Appeal to Emotion, Appeal to Authority, Faulty
Cause, and Appeal to Crowd. In the first essay I picked emotion because they were talking about
the history of people using guns and how they were used for protection. In the second essay I
picked Faulty Cause and Appeal to Authority because they talk about how people kill people not
guns kill people and because they use some famous actors as examples in how they used guns to
save the day. With the third essay I picked Appeal to Crowd because they appeal to the popular
opinion on the mass shootings that have happened over the years.
There weren’t any new polices or programs that were mentioned. They all brought up
examples of programs that are trying to have more gun control because of reasons that have
happened over the years. A couple of these programs are The Brady Center, The Violent Crime
Control and Law Enforcement, and the NRA. Other than those I didn’t see any signs of any new
programs.
All these essays are really just trying to show the dangers and the safeties of gun control.
Whether the families agree or disagree with any of these essays isn’t the problem. It is what they
do with the information that is the problem. If they believe there should be more gun control,
good, if not, then good. The point of these essays were to inform the people on what the gun
control debate is actually doing in our country to help us. The overall goal here is to make sure
that the people of the country are safe because we are the ones that have to keep the Earth going
and keep it populated. If we die out then there would have been no point for this at all in the first
place.

3. There doesn’t need to be anymore gun laws because there are already too many to count.
They are there to protect us, but could they also be hurting us in a certain way? If there were less
gun laws things could be better. There wouldn’t be those sneaking around getting illegal
weapons. Since there are so many gun laws, a lot of people feel the need to have to go to the
black market or even steal the weapons just because of the restrictions. If there happen to be
more laws restricting guns it could get ugly real quick. In Kates Jr.’s research, he brought up the
point that if more laws were put into place the people would just start making their own
weapons. To be that seems a lot more dangerous than just having a regular gun. If people make
their own guns, they could shoot out anything or if made the wrong way the person shooting the
gun could possibly lose a hand. The people only want what they can’t have. They strive for
things they can’t have because it makes them passionate for something, but once they get it they
think it is great for a while until it gets boring. If there were less laws on gun control, people
would get bored because they already have what they want so it would take the fun away from
achieving it. Most people who own a gun own it because they want to protect their loved one
from any unexpected danger. Danger could come at any point in time and they just want to
make sure they can be protective.
There is nothing wrong with owning a gun at all. A lot of police officers own guns in
their houses because they know of the dangers that can happen. Owning a gun isn’t a crime, but
what you do with it dictates whether a crime has been committed or not. It is not fair that a
select few who use the power of the gun for their own free will ruin it for those who genuinely
use the gun for the right purpose. The government doesn’t feel the need to talk about such issues
because I am sure they don’t want an uprising from the country, but they can’t just keep ignoring
the fact that gun debates come up all the time whether they like it or not. People get anxious

4. when they are waiting for something, especially when it is on something that means a lot to
them. By adding more laws, it doesn’t decrease the crime rates. Crime will always happen
whether there are laws or no laws, but if the laws decrease people could calm down and would
not want to fight as much as before. They would be allowed to carry what they want to carry so
there would be no more need for the violent actions.

5. Work Cited
Kates Jr., Don B. “Gun Control Versus Gun Prohibition.” American Bar Association Journal
68.9 (1982): 1052. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
Moorhouse, John C., and Brent Wanner. “Does Gun Control Reduce Crime Or Does Crime
Increase Gun Control?.” CATO Journal 26.1 (2006): 103-124. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
"Why Americans Need More Guns (and Less Gun Control)." HubPages. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb.
2014.