Assignment: Public Discussion Analysis
Due: 10th November, Start of Class
Details: In a one page analysis of your group’s topic and debate you will have four sections:
· Debate Resolution
· Background
· Arguments (both pro and con)
· Works Cited (follow MLA style and include all YouTube videos as well)
NOTE: Each member of the group must hand in their own analysis but the group may collaborate during the writing stage.
SAMPLE Public Discussion Analysis
Resolution: Resolved, that handguns should not be protected under the provisions of the Second
Amendment.
Background: The United States has the most liberal gun ownership policy in the world and the highest crime rates in the world also. The National Rifle Association has for years had a vice grip on lawmakers when even the slightest hint of a handgun control bill is introduced into Congress. One of their typical arguments is that unlimited handgun possession is a guaranteed right protected by the Second Amendment. The time has come for the Supreme Court to decide the issue once and for all: is the wording of the amendment made under conditions existing in the late 1770s when militias were part of our national defense applicable to the late 1990s when people are afraid for their lives because every petty thief or robber could easily be carrying a handgun? When South Carolina passed a law that regulated the sale of handguns experimentally for a three year period, there was 28% reduction in the number of homicides committed with handguns. The time has come for the courts to recognize that there have been abuses promulgated by the Second Amendment and that it is time for us to care more about protecting our personal lives than protecting an outmoded wording within the Second Amendment. It's time to keep to the intent of the Founding Fathers and change the wording accordingly.
Arguments: The Second Amendment should not apply to handguns—especially firearms used for illegal purposes. Because handguns are so easily concealed, they do not have any reasonable relationship to the preservation of the efficiency of a "well-regulated militia." In the Supreme Court case United States V.
Cruisckshank, it was determined that the Second Amendment only applied to the "bearing of arms for a
lawful purpose."
Interpreting the Second Amendment to apply to personally-owned handguns tends to validate the use of handguns for a variety of inappropriate behaviors. "Deadly at No Cost," in Time reports that 40% of handgun deaths were suicides, 26% were accidental deaths and that 10% were felony related (24). Over three-quarters of the remaining handgun killings were related to guns that were originally bought to protect a family but became weapons of destruction. Additionally, 65% of all homicides in the U.S. are "crimes of passion" in which the victim knows his or her killer; this is hardly an argument for a "well-regulated militia" (25).
With total protection of gun ownership afforded by the Second Amendment, it is impossible to keep guns out of the hands of the undesirable. Most provisions of the Brady Law dealing with registration have been disallowed by the courts. People with criminal records or a history of mental instability can still purchase lethal weapons. "Ready, Aim, Fire at our Youth," describes how handguns make it onto high school, junior high school and even elementary school campuses as the black market for guns caters to youth (40).
Works Cited:
South Carolina Law Review, 1975: 45. Print.
"Deadly at No Cost," Time Magazine, February 3, 1992: 24-25. Print
Congressional Quarterly, January, 1992: 218-232. Print
"Ready, Aim, Fire at our Youth," Newsweek, February 17, 1992: 40-44. Print
"One Gun Too Many," Los Angeles Times, September 1, 1995: 1. Print
