English SM

Writing Project 3

Proposal Form

Armed self-defense is the most suitable way of stopping gun violence

Briefly describe the topic of your argumentative research essay:

Armed self defense has been a longstanding issue for many decades which becomes more noticeable every time an incident occurs involving firearms. It is not strange to watch the news a couple of days without noticing anything about gun violence but when such incidences happen, they cause a lot of damage and pose danger to many. Gun violence is caused by different reasons. Sometimes it is guns that have ended up in the hands of criminals while other time it is a situation where someone decides to use his handgun to punish another by spraying bullets. In other cases, members of the public are caught up in situation of shooting involving criminals and citizens who are firearm owners. Many have people have suggested strict laws on gun license and use as the only way of minimizing gun violence. However, this is not the way to go. Ensuring that citizens who meet the required conditions are able to won guns is the best way of ensuring that citizens stay protected since police can not be everywhere.

What is the argument or agenda of this essay? Do you hope to change the reader’s mind about something? Do you want them to change a habit or take some kind of action?

In this essay I want to change the reader’s mind. Many people believe that gun control is a solution to gun violence but that is not the case. Making it hard for people to get guns for self-defense will simply increase the supply of illegal firearms. Many people will find illegal ways of getting firearms and gun violence will simply increase. New York has some of the strictest laws on guns but violence is still high compared to some of the cities with even lose control on guns. It is therefore not true that strict laws would lead to reduced gun laws. In my view ensuring that citizens can obtain hand guns will reduce gun violence.

What supporting points do you anticipate using?

i. People who use handguns wrongly or who are illegal owners should be prosecuted instead of making it hard for innocent citizens to acquire guns legally.

ii. According to Goodman & Perry, 2018, Americans have owned guns throughout history as stipulated in the second Amendment and therefore ending this right will not be a solution to gun violence.

iii. According to Goodman & Perry, 2018, New York city still has high number of cases of gun violence regardless of the fact that the rules on gun use and license are very strict. Therefore, imposing more control will not end gun violence.

iv. Making it hard for people to acquire guns legally will not prevent criminals from acquiring guns and therefore the issue of strict regulation will not be a solution.

What sources have you identified?

Cudworth, J. (2019). Government Challenges with Implementing Effective Gun Control Policies (Doctoral dissertation, California State University, Northridge).

Goodman, S., & Perry, B. (2018). The American Gun Control Debate: A Discursive Analysis. In Discourse, Peace, and Conflict (pp. 67-82). Springer, Cham.

Reyes, J. G. (2018). A Survey of California School Resource Officers: School Shootings, Training, Policing Experience, Military Service, Communication and Planning (Doctoral dissertation, Northcentral University).