Rhetorical Analysis of a Controversy - Essay Example

Teacher 25th February Final Draft Essay 2: Rhetorical Analysis of a Controversy Ban on Guns and the Constitutional Rights Rhetorical Analysis of a Controversy is a very important topic for students of different disciplines. This kind of analysis can open avenues for the students who actively participle in it. This essay is second in the essay writing series. Essay one was about rhetorical analysis of one text. Now in this essay number 2, there is a need to rhetorically analyze 5 different texts on a single topic. In these five texts on a same topic, the authors have presented differing views. As per statistics of 2010, 40 to 45% households have guns. The total number of guns is estimated at between 47 - 53 million. The guns owned by households include handguns, rifles, and shotguns. There have been many crimes at gun point in the past. These crimes include the robberies, sexual assaults and other violent acts. The main purpose of possessing a gun is to defend oneself from any act of violence. But no all the gun holders use it for defense. So this essay aims at finding out the answer to the question that, is it possible to ban the guns altogether when the US constitution enfranchises the right to possess a gun for self defense? In the wake of violence involving guns, the ban on guns is a hot topic nowadays. A lot of people have been killed in college or schools shootings in the recent years. Moreover, other crimes are also happening in the US. Having a gun for self defense is a constitutional right of citizens of many countries around the world. Same is the case with the US. Every US citizen is allowed in constitution to keep an allowed model of gun for self defense. So this constitutional section is a big bar behind banning general people to have guns. So it might not be possible to ban the possession of guns altogether. However, it is possible to regulate this matter in an intelligent manner, so that no one will be able to misuse guns which are meant to defend rather than to terrorize or kill others. In the recent years, we have seen many incidents around the world where a kid took the gun of his or her parents and shot either a parent or someone else. Although there are many shooting events that have triggered the discussion about banning the guns, the occasions or situations that gave rise to the controversy are the shooting accidents in the recent years. This occasion took lives of many people. In some cases, the shooter himself committed suicide after killing a lot of people. There were plenty of shooting incidents in the year 2014. A large number of precious lives ended due to these shootings. It is not difficult to identify that who is the stakeholder. There is not denying of the fact that a person who dies cannot be gained back again. So human beings are at the receiving ends. Human beings are the only suffers in this appalling shooting game. So the human beings are the stakeholders in all horrific occasions. What Values or Principles Do They Rest Their Positions Although all authors have tried to provide logical basis to support their points, but there are weaknesses in the arguments of the authors. On the other hand, there exist strengths in the arguments of these authors. Many points of these authors are similar to each other. I have chosen a broad topic of “Guns Control” because it is related to everyone not only in the United States but also around the world. It is more specific to educational institutes in the wake of many killing incidents in the United States educational institutes in the recent years. There are many views about the ban on guns. I have chosen differing views about guns and ban on guns from famous authors. There have been a large number of shootings in the year 2014 and this topic is the most discussed topic on individual and organizational levels. Although there have been a large number of shootings around the United States of America, but in the following paragraph, the names of the educational institutions have been mentioned where shootings took place in the years 2014 and 2015. These events that kept this debate of banning guns alive are shooting incidents at Liberty Technology Magnet High School, Hillhouse High School, Berrendo Middle School, Delaware Valley Charter School, Widener University, Purdue University, South Carolina State University, Los Angeles Valley College, Rebound High School, President Theodore Roosevelt High School, Tennessee State University, Eastern Florida State College, North High School, Bend High School, Charles F. Brush High School, Salisbury High School, San Jose State University, Georgia Regents University, The Academy of Knowledge Preschool, Benjamin Banneker High School, D. H. Conley High School, Detroit East English Preparatory Academy, River Woods Elementary, University of South Carolina. Following are the five texts chosen related to the guns control and guns ban. All these texts are taken form famous and reputed source. Almost all these texts are taken from websites of famous and reputed newspaper or taken from some other organizations websites. Five Texts Chosen for Rhetoric Analysis Text 1: Article My text number one is a 2014 article, Federal judge rules DC ban on gun carry rights unconstitutional by Emily Miller, Chief investigation reporter as Fox 5 DC. This article was published on Fox News website on July 27th, 2014. This author is in favor of guns and does not favors ban on guns. The author of this article discussed the decision of a judge in Washington DC, who overturned the ban on carrying the guns outside of home. Judge Frederick Scullin Jr. wrote this landmark decree in his ruling in Palmer v. District of Columbia. The author argues that it is the constitutional right of the citizens of the United States to keep gun for self defense. The author mentions her discussion with a famous attorney who was pursuing a lawsuit against the District of Columbia administration who previously banned the carrying of guns outside of home. Apparently, this decision in that lawsuit suggests that every citizen of the US is allowd to carry gun outside home but there must be some safety measure to limit the unauthorized and wrong use of the guns. Text 2: Article The second text chosen for analysis is written by Lois Beckett in 2014: Why Do Democrats Keep Trying to Ban Guns That Look Scary, Not the Guns That Kill the Most People? This article was published on www.propublica.org and the author is a ProPublica reporter covering politics, big data and information privacy issues. She is in favor of banning the guns altogether. The author states that Americans are divided over the possession problem of guns over the last two decades. She states that a poll conducted by Obama administration showed that 59% Americans are in favor of a ban on gun. She says the law that barred the sale of weapons to public lasted from 1994 to 2004 but in these long 10 years, this ban could not make big difference as there had been many incidences of violence. The writer also presents important statistics to support her point. She wrote that annually between 5000 to 6000 black men are murdered with the help of guns. It is a big figure when blacks are only 6 percent of the US population. On the other hand, about 30 Americans in total are put to death each day. The writer has adopted a balanced approach. Text 3: Article The third text is an article written by Eugene Volokh published on www. Washingtompost.com on August 25, 2014: Ban on guns in places that sell alcohol - including supermarkets and service stations, and their parking lots — struck down on Second Amendment grounds. The author is law expert and teaches at UCLA School of Law, where he has also often taught copyright law, criminal law, and a seminar on firearms regulation policy. The author is analyzing the law related to guns. The writer explains special laws related to guns for the stores that sale alcohol. In this article the author has discussed about a case related to sale of alcohol. The author has tried to explain how carrying weapons to a place that sell alcohol can be bad. The writer is a law expert and has utilized references from laws to elaborate. Text 4: Article The fourth text is also an article written by Scot Martelle that published on www.latimes.com on May 28, 2014: You say gun control doesnt work? Fine. Lets ban guns altogether. This author is a reporter working with Los Angeles Times. The author argues that the guns should be banned altogether. The author argues that there have been a large number of killings in shooting incidences and there is a need to devise a strategy to stop there killings. The writer suggests that banning guns altogether is the best solution to stop killings. He further states that how can we determine the self defense because guns are used by angry men. A normal person always decline to shoot from gun. He says that the second constitutional amendment is too old and it was passed in some other context. Text 5: Article The fifth text is also an article written by Associated Press and published on www.theguardian.com on 16th January 2015: Sandy Hook committee to propose ban on guns that fire more than 10 rounds. The author, Associated Press, is a famous global new agency. The author is reporting the Sandy Hook committee’s stance on guns that fire more than 10 rounds. The committee was made in the wake of Sandy Hook School, Newtown, Connecticut shootings that took many precious lives. This committee proposed a gun ban but it is opposed by strong gun lobby. The commission said that it is not criticizing constitutional rights but it is suggesting some measures to avoid any future attack like Sandy Hook School Attack. The committee argued on ethical and safety grounds. But it is not possible to ban the guns altogether. Analysis of Patterns of Similarity and Difference on Each Side of the Issue Now that we have discussed the opinions of the five authors on guns control, now we can analyze the patterns of similarity and difference on each side of the issue. There are some similarities and some dissimilarity in the arguments of the authors. But it is not right to just abide by a law if that law needs to be changed in the greater interest of the country and the citizens of the country. Both sides have argued in a nice manner. Both sides presented solid proofs to support their points. In the wake of hundreds of killings in the recent years, majority of the Americans are in favor of banning the guns. So the arguments of the authors who are in favor of ban on guns are strong in the current scenario. But it is not possible to immediately ban the use and carrying of guns. It may take a supporting law or constitutional amendment to implement a ban on guns. Specific Strategies used by Authors The writers have utilized specific strategies in their writings. Some writers have utilized the moral and ethical strategies to elaborate their point. Some authors have utilized the legal points to shed light on the issue of ban on guns. Few authors have maintained a balanced approach in explaining his or her points. Moreover, authors also come up with important statistics related to general and educational institutions shootings. Statistics are very much important here because due to these statistics we get inclined to deny the constitutional right to carry guns. Conclusion After a deep discussion on all dimensions about ban on gun we are now in a position to conclude the whole discussion in a few lines. This essay is a rhetorical analysis essay. Five texts from five authors have been selected to conduct a rhetoric analysis. All these five texts are related to ban on guns in the US. All authors have tried their best to elaborate their points. After this long discussion we are now in a condition to answer the research question we asked before starting this research. The answer of the research question is that it is not possible to ban the guns altogether as long as the constitution enfranchises the citizens to carry guns anywhere. As per statistics of 2010, 40 to 45% households have guns. The total number of guns is estimated at between 47 - 53 million. The guns owned by households include handguns, rifles, and shotguns. There have been many crimes at gun point in the past. These crimes include the robberies, sexual assaults and other violent acts. May be it is possible to introduce an amendment in the constitution to limit and regulate the use and carrying of guns. In my opinion, states are able to formulate such rules that could be able to provide fool proof security to everyone so that no one needs to carry a gun. Moreover, more lethal and automatic weapons should be banned as these weapons are not mean to defend oneself from an attacker. These weapons are meant to kill many people in a few seconds. Works Cited Emily Miller (2014) “Federal judge rules DC ban on gun carry rights unconstitutional” Published July 27, 2014, www.FoxNews.com, n.d Accessed 26th February 2015 http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/07/27/emily-miller-federal-judge-rules-dc-ban-on-gun-carry-rights-unconstitutional/ Lois Beckett (2014) “Why Do Democrats Keep Trying to Ban Guns That Look Scary, Not the Guns That Kill the Most People?” published on www.ProPublica.org, Sep. 12, 2014, n.d Accessed 26th February 2015 http://www.propublica.org/article/why-do-democrats-keep-trying-to-ban-the-guns-that-look-scary Eugene Volokh (2014) “Ban on guns in places that sell alcohol - including supermarkets and service stations, and their parking lots — struck down on Second Amendment grounds” Published on www. Washingtompost.com on August 25, 2014, n.d. Accessed 26th February 2015, http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/08/25/ban-on-guns-in-places-that-sell-alcohol-including-supermarkets-and-service-stations-and-their-parking-lots-struck-down-on-second-amendment-grounds/ Scot Martelle (2014) “You say gun control doesnt work? Fine. Lets ban guns altogether” Published on www.latimes.com on May 28, 2014, n.d. http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-gun-control-ban-homicides-suicides-20140528-story.html Associated Press (2015) “Sandy Hook committee to propose ban on guns that fire more than 10 rounds” Published on www.theguardian.com on Friday 16 January 2015, n.d. http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jan/16/sandy-hook-advisory-commission-newtown-ban-guns-fire-more-than-10-rounds Read More