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Proposal Essay Final
Proposal Essay Final
Composition 1302
30 April 2017
In light of the devastations, such as the shooting of Sandy Hook in Connecticut, the
United States Congress should impose stronger gun control laws across the nation. On the other
hand, advocates opposing gun control prompt a conflicting debate between the two sides.
Although both sides present steady arguments, the facts stand true that acquiring stronger laws
for gun control surrounding our education system need to be enforced and implemented to
maintain a safe environment and prevent any future incidents. As a not so silent plea for justice
from the multiple shootings that have occurred over the past years, there has been many
instances where society has publicly demanded for stricter gun control laws. In the future, to
maintain a safer environment for the young elementary children, high school students, college
students, and the teachers and faculty of our nations learning institutions, we must tighten the
laws, security, and safety of not only gun control, but the effects it protrudes onto school
campuses.
The controversy surrounds one statement inside one important document, the United
States constitution. The second amendment of the U.S. constitution states that being necessary
to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be
infringed. However, the times between now and 1791 have drastically changed. The problem
being, that over the years the nation has grown surpassing the basic construction of the
constitutional amendments. With efforts to evolve our constitution, many have petitioned, rallied,
and rioted for a new law surrounding the right to bear arms. When it comes to schools,
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universities, and institutions there has been laws adopted banning the carry of guns and weapons.
There have recently been numerous instances where college students, and campus intruders, go
on shooting rampages. This not only is a fault between the shooter and the gun, but the
protection, and security the schools are provided with. Ensuring that each campus has trained and
reliable embodied security is a must for equal attainment of education. In states such as Texas,
Colorado, Tennessee, Utah, and Idaho concealed guns are allowed by law. However, in other
states such as California, New Mexico, Illinois, Wyoming, and Louisiana guns are prohibited on
school campuses. The examples are to show that the nation varies upon the issue of gun control.
In the eyes of many, gun control has not only caused plenty of controversy, but it has allotted for
a decision of many to implement stricter laws preventing the weapons from falling into the
From the ways we operate our defense systems, all the way to how far we have come
with technology, there ultimately has become unlimited ways to bypass how those without
proper qualifications attain weapons. Background checks have been one way many who should
and should not have rights to own a gun, do. A bill to strengthen the federal background-check
system for gun purchasers is gaining support on Capitol Hill, even from the powerful National
Rifle Association. But some gun advocates want states to ease weapons laws. They argue that
allowing more people to carry weapons will deter gun crimes and enable potential victims to
protect themselves (Jost). Studies have shown that when conducting the proper background
checks, there was a forty percent decrease in gun homicide deaths and almost a fifteen percent
drop in gun suicides. Furthermore, the amount of deaths concluded from unauthorized or
illegally purchased guns decreased. However, there is still the downfall of a black market and its
effects of the selling and purchasing of illegal weapons. Within a black market the selling and
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purchasing is done without any background check or proper registration of the weapons being
traded. For those in different situations, such as the shooting in the Aurora movie theater in
Colorado and the attack at the African Methodist Episcopal church shooting in South Carolina,
the guns were reported as legally purchased. On school campuses, most of the attacks or
massacres happen by surprise, which for one means the employees need proper training, but also
the campuses should be supplied with trained security to better the safety of students and faculty
(Chuck).
In recent times, the U.S. has controversially debated upon the banning of certain
weapons. For example, the shooter from the Sandy Hook elementary massacre Adam Lanza, he
was said to have a Bushmaster AR 15, which is an assault semiautomatic rifle weapon that
rapidly fires high-velocity rounds. In this case, Lanza used a weapon which should not be as easy
to attain when withholding so much power. Advocates for stricter gun control laws place
educational instances at the top of the list. For those attaining an education to become our future,
thy need the reassurance that they are being provided a safe and essentially a weapon free
environment. To fix and further prevent any future attacks the protection by the schools security
should be trained to react in those situations. As for students and teachers, drills should be set in
place and practiced to allow the utmost safety from classroom to classroom. When parents send
off their child to college, the first thing they want to know is how safe the campus, dorms, and
surrounding area is, and the last thing they should worry about is whether the campus allows
students, professors, and faculty to abide by the open carry. On college campuses, there should
always be campus police allowed to carry their gun, being that they are trained professionals
responding to the protection of their community. Research shows that when students were asked
if allowing professors to carry guns would provide a safer environment, a smaller amount of
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student responded and said that if only campus police, no students, no professors, and or building
assistants were allowed to carry, it would create a safer feeling and what seems as a total ban on
weapons across campuses (Roth and Haman). Diminishing the amount of violence campus wide
is the goal and placing a ban on the weapons has both its negatives and positives. (Birnbaum)
On the other hand, increasing the number of police and security on campuses provides
more benefits than potential downfalls. Supplying the trained police with guns will ensure the
proper training and skill to use the weapons when an emergency situation is taking place. For
example, having the trained officers and security teams available when there is an attack
decreases the number of possible killings due to gun violence opposed to having a smaller
amount of protection. At the age of eighteen, only eighteen, one is allowed to legally purchase a
gun. Being that high school students can turn eighteen their senior year, this places perspective
upon the reality that a student has the capability to place a gun in their backpack, car, or locker,
and harmfully use it on someone who was potentially a bully. In this event, or any event if an
eighteen-year-old can own a gun, mentally unstable beings, and anyone whos brain has not fully
developed, which happens around the age of twenty-five, should not be allowed to own a gun,
prompting them to act off their disadvantage and inexperience. It is one thing to be able to
purchase a gun so young, but its another when the gun is placed into the hands of a mentally
unstable being. For example, the shooter of Sandy Hook reportedly had significant
developmental challenges throughout childhood, which in one way that prompted him to act so
(Wozniak).
With test taking, studying, and a social life, it has already shown to take a toll on the
emotional status of college students. Emotional stability and maturity are two of the more
important essential to have before even thinking of being background checked to purchase a
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weapon with the power to take someones life. With the effects leading to more instability,
allowing guns to be placed on college campuses in the wrong hands takes a toll, on the amount
of violence, the campuses can and can not control. Despite the fact that many people buy guns
for protection, they are wrongfully used day to day. The certification process should be taken
more seriously, and the black market of weapons, such as guns, needs to be demolished. The
training that comes with the responsibility of owning a firearm should allow the owners to know
the liability they have granted to using their weapons. By addressing that the need for gun
control is important, many petitions and protesting takes place daily. Whether it be across the
internet through Facebook, twitter, Instagram, or in person marching down streets filled with
people who have been affected by the violence, the message has been received that enough is
enough (Wasserman). In the end, when it comes to gun control laws, they need to be stricter. The
safety of students and faculty raising the future is in jeopardy due to the attainment of harmful
weapons. To tighten the security, and establish stricter gun control laws it would create a safer
environment for campuses across the United States and prevent any further attacks.
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Works Cited
Birnbaum, Robert. Ready, Fire, Aim: The College Camous Gun Fight. Change, vol. 45, no. 5,
Chuck, Raasch. NRA to Talk about Shooting. USA Today, n.d. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=a9h&AN=J0E077628351012&site=ehots-live.
Jost, Kenneth. Gun Violence: Are Stronger Measures Needed to Protect Society?. CQ
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=119985047&site=ehost-live.
Roth, Alex and Ansley Haman. An Uphill Fight for the Right to Carry Guns on Campus. Wall
Street Journal- Easter Edition, vol. 245, no. 6, 08 July2009, p. A13. EBSCOhost.
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=4342023&site=ehost-live.
Speak Up: SHOULD Police Be Allowed to Take Guns into Schools?. Northern Territory
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspz? direct=true&db=nfh&AN=9X9NTNNTN-20131212-1-
013-321265&site=ehost-live.
Wasserman, Lewis M. Gun Control on College and University Campuses in the Wake of
Social Policy & the Law, vol. 19, no.1, Dec. 2011, pp. 1-57. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspz? direct=true&db=nfh&AN=73913847&site=ehost-live
Wozniak, Kevin H. Public Opinion about Gun Control Post- Sandy Hook. Criminal Justice
Policy Review, vol. 28, no.3, Apr. 2017, pp. 255-278. EBSCOhost,
doi:10.1177/0887403415577192.
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