Tuesday, November 25, 2008

In the News (Gas Prices)

After the election , we hope that with the new year and a new president are coming to many good things for the Americans , but what do you think that is going to happen with the gas prices? Well I believe that a large margin of the gas prices will go down considering that the price of a barrel of oil has dropped drastically in the last month.

In your opinion what are the real reasons why the gas prices was almost $5 dollars a year ago? I guess I would have to say one reason was because of the war, and most of our oil resources were overseas. I also think it is because we were deciding not to drill of shore oil in the U.S. and now we have decided to.

If you were the new president of the United States what are you going to do first to make reduce the gas prices ? If I were the president I would not really know what to do and that's why I am not the president, but I think the gas prices will go down because of the failing economy. So I guess that will be the reason for a drop in gas prices.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Journal Entry # 10

For my visual argument I am going to try and create a presentation of the aphorism, "Guns don't kill people, people with guns kill people."

Act: hunting, shooting a gun, holding a gun, a robbery, a murder, shooting a gun at a shooting range, buying a gun, selling a gun, selling and buying guns illegally, wars...

Actor: hunters, robbers, murderers, police officers, men and women on the military, people that own guns legally and illegally, people who sell guns, people who purchase guns, anyone in law enforcement...

Scene: the outdoors, a gun store, a shooting range, battle field, a house, a dark alley, a hunting lodge, a school...

Agency: firearms, bullets, hunting gear, gun holsters, etc...

Purpose: to give the hunters a voice, to help people to understand that guns themselves don't shoot or kill people, but people acting with these firearms is what truly harms people...

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Project 2 (Revised Draft)

In today’s world, the aphorism, “guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” can be viewed in many ways. We see this alive in our world today, when innocent victims are killed by people with guns. Many people while arguing with their friends may like to say that guns kill people, not people kill people, but the true fact about it is that it’s a myth and a lot of people have their own ways of looking at it. The more accurate way of saying this could be,” people with guns kill people.” This myth has caused many conflicts throughout the years, and will continue causing conflicts in the future. Parts of the government have been trying to ban the ownership of certain types of firearms. This is a pretty drastic change for the United States to go through considering; we as a country have used certain types of weapons to secure or nation’s safety in the past, present, and will continue to do in the future. Guns have a certain relevance to how we became this great power of a nation in the first place. So to take away guns altogether or even to a certain degree could cause more conflicts, then may solve in the long run.
Others may look at guns as a total detriment to society, and that they should be banned for good to control all violence. If guns were banned for good then gangs, murderers, robbers, etc may not have as much power. Some believe that with this restriction violence in general would be greatly reduced. This could be the case, but this could also cause major chaos. Taking away the right for people to own guns may also cause criminal and murders to find other more unique ways to do their dirty work. The complete ban of guns could also cause a lot of illegal importing and exporting throughout our country. So many more major problems could come from such a simple thing as changing or repealing the second amendment of the constitution.
Some citizens in the United States may use guns for a different purpose, such as hunting. Now hunting in the legal sense which involves obtaining a license and permit can be considered by some to be perfectly harmless. The banning of guns would take this right away in a sense. Yes, there are many other ways for hunters to hunt and kill their game, but it seems that the use of a gun to do this is the most common way. Our nation’s citizens as well as tourists visiting our country may feel this is taking away a privilege that they have had throughout the past. This could cause an innumerable amount of issues, boycotts, and riots. Some may use hunting as a way of survival for food or a way of living which would cause more problems. So the restriction or banning of guns could and would potentially cause more conflict then peace in our own country.
Others in the United States may use guns or depend on the use of guns in their occupation. So the number of job losses due to this change in the second amendment could affect a large number of citizens. This could cause more disputes as well as lawsuits against the drastic change. Also, many people may be involved in a business where they feel it is necessary that they own some type of firearm to protect themselves and the others working around them. So a person’s sense of security could be stripped from the by taking away the ownership of the firearm they were once legally able possess.
One may also argue the fact that guns are weapons that kill and that is the bottom line. That people who own guns may take part in the accidental killing of themselves or others around them. In the news, we hear of children just playing around d with a parent’s gun that they may have found around the house. The child did not know that the gun was loaded and ends up killing themselves or someone else while they were fooling around. So with the ownership of firearms becoming a reality this could cause this problem to stop in its tracks altogether.
Others also get into disputes about those who find ways to get a deadly firearm in their possession and then end up going on a shooting spree and kill mass amounts of people. The people who are not mentally stable that decide it is their time to be heard and the only way is through violence and taking others lives before they take their own. So the banning of guns in a way would make schools, businesses, and in a sense the society a safer place.
As can be seen, the myth that, “guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” bring about strong arguments for both sides on the gun control issue in the United States. It also seems that both viewpoints are right in the case that there is need for a change in how we as a nation deal with issues involving firearm control. It just seems that the number of people that would be affected by the change in the constitution would be a lot more negative than positive. Even though one may think that the large limitation of guns in our nation would decrease violence. The amount of disgruntled citizens seems to outweigh the change at this point in time.