To Carry or Not to Carry

Part 4: What the Future Holds

The current climate for control of guns sales in our country is heated and has two prominent sides. The supporters for less gun control on the one side while their opposition who favors more gun control. These two sides have lobbying group that will pay through the nose for their side to vote the way they want. This fuels the already blazing inferno that is the debate of gun control. This is what is wrong currently with the gun control debate. This flawed debate causes flawed legislation that causes flawed enforcements of laws. So to fix this problem we need to have the lobbying groups step back and allow our legislatures to do their jobs.

One of the problems I have mentioned are the lobbying groups that spend huge amounts of money to influence legislatures. The NRA is the largest and most influential of all of the lobbying groups- in fact it’s the most influential interest group in America.(McCarthy) As shown in the cart to on the right the NRA spent just under three and a half million dollars. This money goes straight to legislatures. This is the equivalent to legal bribery. So if we really want a fair and consistent legislation we need to stop the bribery so our congress can do what we voted them in for.

Also as I was reflecting on my other essays- especially part three- I keep thinking about how flawed our laws are and how they affect mostly the law abiders and not the illegal buyers. What is the point of having these laws if they work as much as net with holes in it. We should insist that congress pass new laws or amend their predecessors to improve safety all around for everybody. While I was researching I googled background check and found www.instantcheckmate.com. With this website you can enter a person’s basic information like where they live and their age and you can find their anything bad they could be trying to hide. With check as easy as this background checks should be a normal procedure.

So with just these simple things we can improve our current system of gun sales and laws. With these improved the violence related to guns should also start to diminish. And if gun violence starts to diminish that should be the real indicator of our new system working.

Works Cited

“NRA”. NRA. n.p. n.d. May 1, 2014 <http://home.nra.org/>

McCarthy, Joe. “Top  25 Most Influential Interest Groups In the US” Occidental Enclave. N.p. n.d. May 1, 2014. <http://www.occidentalenclave.org/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1020&p=4555>

“Annual Lobbying by Nation Rifle ASSN” Open Secrets. N.p. n.d. May 1, 2014. <http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000000082>

         

To Carry or Not to Carry In this current time, within America especially, people constantly argue about the issue of gun control. Some are for more control; some are for less. But the problem is that the issue is much more broad then more or less control. There are many different viewpoints with many different ideas. Gun control should not be increased because guns protect people and help prevent crimes.

Recently a shoplifter at the Roseville Home Depot stabbed a theft prevention agent with a contaminated syringe. The force that stopped him from harming anyone else was a man with a concealed pistol. This man had a license for this pistol, using it in a way that possibly saved a man’s life. He didn’t use it in a gang battle or a driveby. This just shows that legal gun holders can make a difference in a good way in our society. The man told the stabber to put down his syringe and to lay on the ground.

 A preacher in Detroit recently said: “We have to pray for our city.” He is referring to the crime that occurs in Detroit. A man shot two men that attempted to break into his house with his side arm. Without his side arm he would most likely have been murdered by the two robbers. In another instance in Detroit a women shot and killed a man trying to break into her home.

 The list goes on and on of people defending themselves against people trying to do harm on them. The defenders guns are the only thing saving them from the wrath of criminals. Works Cited “Police: Shoplifter Stabs Home Depot Guard with Used Syringe” Oakland Press. Mar. 25 2014. Apr. 2 2014 http://www.theoaklandpress.com/general-news/20140325/police- shoplifter-stabs-home-depot-guard-with-used-syringe “Fatal Defense Shootings on Rise in Detroit” The Detroit News. Mar. 25 2014. Apr. 2 2014 http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140325/METRO01/303250066#ixzz2xgYCAF5a

To Carry or Not to Carry part 3

To Carry or not to Carry: Who does Gun Control actually keep Guns From? As stated in article 1, section 6 of the Michigan constitution “Every person has the right to keep and bear arms for the defense of himself and the state.” But if this was actually true the law abiding citizens would be free and happy to enjoy their guns without government intervention and the criminals that should not be able to acquire obviously be without them. However through illegal trafficking and sales of guns anyone who should not, by law, have guns are able to buy them.

 Why have laws limiting the access of guns to people if they are not doing what they are intended for? That is the question that reoccurringly popped into my head as I read about the illegal sale and trafficking of weapons. That is how most criminals acquire their guns. However it is in the popular belief that most illegally obtained guns are stolen. This is a grave misconception; only about ten percent of illegally obtained weapons are stolen.(Noyes) This misconception is so prevalent that it influences local and national legislation.

 There are many ways people can illegally obtain weapons. Some people get their illegal guns from crooked licensed dealers. But this only makes up just over one percent of illegally obtained weapons.(NGVAC) So that’s definitely not the problem. Another much greater route is through private sales of guns at a gun show. This great American loophole is part of the once great tradition of private sales of weapons. But now with all the “wackos” out there this cannot continue. However this is still not the problem. So what is?

 The most common way that criminals can acquire guns is called a straw purchase. This is where a legal buyer accompanies a person that cannot legally buy a gun.(Noyes) Most of these occur in a very lowkey, sinister kind of way; the person who cannot legally buy the gun selects the gun he wants and the other person buys it for him. This bypass of the gun laws is very easy and is extremely common with illegally obtained guns. This is just one of not only flaw of gun laws but our society in general- people too often go around laws and the government and that causes problems for the ones who do follow the rules and listen to the government. This flaw in society is a sign that there might be too much government; or an inefficient one that is not approved of by the majority of the population.
Works Cited

 Noyes, Dan. “How Criminals Get Guns”. n.p. n.c. 24 April 2014. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/guns/procon/guns.html Nation Gun Victims Action Council.

“Illegal Gun Trafficking Arms and Youth”. N.p. n.c. 24 April 2014. http://gunvictimsaction.org/fact-sheet/fact-sheet-illegal-gun-trafficking-arms-criminals-and-youth/

The stories of Hamlet and Trayvon Martin are extremely similar. Both Trayvon and Hamlet were feared because of their age. Hamlet and Trayvon also has connections to Staples essay “Black Men and Public Space”. All three are connected because of their experiences with people looking down on them because of their physical differences and age.

In both Hamlet’s and Trayvon’s case, both were looked down upon because they are young and considered foolish at their young age. Both were also looked down upon because of what they wearing. “Good Hamlet, cast thy knighted color off,  … Do not forever with thy vailed lids” (I, ii, 70). The queen asks Hamlet to take off his “hood” to be less threatening. This was one of the reasons that Tryavon was killed. George Zimmerman saw Trayvon as a threat because he was young and had his hood on. If Trayvon had not of had his hood on he may still be alive today.

In Brent Staples essay “Black Men and Public Space” he pointed out how a young black man is scary to other people around him. I too have experienced this-me and my  friends have ran to the other side of a street because we saw a threatening figure coming toward us. This is how the characters in Hamlet feel after he goes crazy. “I like him not, nor stands it safe with us To let this his madness rage.”(III, iii, 1) This is how George Zimmerman also felt when he saw Trayvon. He saw Trayvon as a threat but instead of fleeing he took action and killed Trayvon.

The stories of Trayvon Martin and Hamlet have many parallels, the biggest being that physical and age differences will always intimidate the people that don’t know any better.

On Kelsy
I have a really good friend named Kelsy. She is the bee's knees, the cats meow. We have only become good friends within the past few months. She has the hair of an angel.
The top of my Christmas tree is a star with an angel within it. It is the accent of the tree that brings all focus apon it. The ornaments that are below it vary like the snowflakes falling on Royal Oak.There are snowmen, santas, and bulbs of every shape and size.
This fall my dad planted bulbs in our garden. How do plants survive in the winter? The ground freezes to concrete. All of the plants die and the leaves fall but some how the bulbs in the dirt survive the winter and grow to plants the next fall. It is a miracle of nature if you ask me.

Propaganda

Propaganda is all around us; it motivates us and uses us. This is exactly how it was in 1984 to control the population of their country. The people could not know what was really happening in the world because reality was being clouded by false factual information like the millions of boots made in certain period of time. Yet as Winston observed, most people had very worn or no shoes on their feet. In our country it may not be this extreme but there is still small and sometimes large instances of propaganda that can affect our decision. In 1984 it is blatantly described as 2+2=5. Although this meme is meant to induce a quick laugh, it makes a lot of sense if you think about it. But the problem is that we don’t think about it. We just accept whatever is told to us and believe it. This is evident in the attacks on our embassy in Libya about a year ago. At first we were told that it was an unorganized riot that got out of control and it ended up with several Americans being killed. But as we later found out that it was actually an organized attack that was sadly successful. Instead of the government taking responsibility they covered it up and then got caught. After getting caught Hillary Clinton stepped down from her position. Another big area of propaganda is with Obamacare. As this website: http://www.istook.com/tag/fuzzy/, says that Obama is spending millions to convince us that his legislations is “good”. If a law is passed by our government “good” or “bad” it should either live or die when it is implemented. Our country should not have to spend tax dollars to fund a campaign to convince us to support something that should have already been either supported or passed in Congress or not and been shot down and was denied in Congress. So what do we actually know is reality? It isn’t very clear is it? I don’t think so. Therefore, next time you see something, think before you just believe it.

My piece of art is definitely art because it influences our understanding of Rome’s history. Through my piece of art we can draw many inferences about what was happening at the time of its creation. The dog has a collar and leash so this means that people had domesticated dogs and could have been using them for the work or maybe a companion. It also is wearing a beaded collar that could be a decoration. This shows that the people had a sense of fashion and cared about how their things looked.

This Roman mosaic of a dog is definitely art because it potentially influences the history of Rome. Of course we will never be able to know every detail of the history of the world but using artifacts including art to piece together the puzzle that is history. Therefore my definition of art is anything that can influence anything from ancient to modern history. So under my definition graffiti is art because it showed and shows how people can rebel against government.

Given my definition of art it can be said that almost anything is art. This is wrong. You cannot find a rock and call it art. Yes, things like tagging may be considered art but only because of their significance. They show what was happening in that area. It could have been a bunch of kids or maybe a gang that was running the streets and selling drugs. It is very important to people of the future so they can make assumptions about our culture and local histories. That is what modern art is doing for us today. It contributes to how our history and culture is seen through the eyes of predecessors of the future.

In conclusion, art is something significant to culture and history and today's art is how we will be seen after we are absent from our world.