Argument essay

Finding a Gap in the Conversation: To fill out this worksheet, write the name of each source’s author in the block labeled “participant #”. Then, in each author’s row, fill out what each author believes when it comes to the questions at the bottom of the worksheet. This then allows you to compare the different authors’ stances and points of view more directly, see what’s NOT being said, and identify where the authors agree and disagree with one another.

	Does a problem exist?	How do we define the problem?	What causes the problem?	What effects does the problem have?	Is the problem good or bad?	What should we do about the problem?
Participant 1: Wilson	Yes	Americans do participate in crime, often violent	Americans are violent as a nation.	This causes our violent crime rates to go up with and without guns.	Bad	Focus on the problem of violent ideations, not firearms.
Participant 2: Stevens	Yes	Current gun control laws are “outdated”	Modernization of weaponry with old fashioned laws regulating them	It causes poor regulation of firearms and allows crimes to occur.	Bad	Modernize the gun control law and manufacturing regulation
Participant 3: Agreseti	Yes	People misconstruing firearm facts	“anti-gunners” attempting to distort information	It causes firearms to appear more evil that they are	Bad	Present more factual and positive information about firearms
Participant 4: Enderle	Yes	The lack of middle ground between opposing parties	Extremely biased and passionate beliefs	It prevents a middle ground from being reached	Bad	Compromise
Participant 5: Lepore	Yes	Firearms are to blame for many crimes	Easy access to firearms	Loss of innocent lives	Bad	Regulate firearm sales more strictly
Participant 6:
Participant 7:

Of all the participants of my selected articles, none of them agree 100% with each other aside from the fact that there is a problem (although they do not agree on what this problem is). Many of the “anti-gunners” propose the problem to be the easy access of firearms and the loss of life that firearms are capable of whereas the “pro-gunners” seem to believe that false media reporting and distortion of evidence, combined with the simple fact that humans are violently natured paint a negative picture of firearms and their use in America. The definitions of all the authors problems are all slightly different (which I find interesting) however the all agree that the problem is seriously needing to be addressed. Solutions to problems vary from elimination and restriction of firearms sale and distribution to identifying and treating the underlying problem of violence. Most all authors, even those on the same side seem to disagree slightly with each other and naturally all against each other on opposing sides, of which they all do offer valid points mostly in the form of case studies, statistics and individual stories to represent their own personal beliefs. Of all the authors, I actually agree and disagree with most all of them in some respect except for Endearle, who provides a very strong notion of compromise to the situation which would ultimately (in my opinion) most likely allow this argument to progress and hopefully be solved. The strong statistics of the benefit of firearms in the hands of the responsible citizen by Agreseti strike my attention specifically but also to the tragic heart-string-pulling stories of victims of gun crime written by Lepore.