Social Influences Over the past few years there have been major issues to arise in our country, issues that many feel very strongly about on either side of the situation. In this paper we will examine the social situation of being gay and of gun control. These two issues have been cause of major debate and have caused much tension amongst peer groups, the government and society in general. First, let’s look at the issue of being gay in today’s society. In the last 10 years the issue of homosexuality has caused many different debates in our country and around the world. In America it has become a very controversial subject and one that causes much tension. When the issue first arose there were many people who were very adamant that being gay was abnormal behavior and was socially unacceptable. “Although sharply divided, public attitudes toward gays and lesbians are rapidly changing to reflect greater acceptance, with younger generations leading the way, research by NORC at the University of Chicago shows. The rise in support for same-sex marriage has been especially dramatic over the last two decades. It went from 11 percent approval in 1988 to 46 percent in 2010, compared to 40 percent who were opposed, producing a narrow plurality in favor for the first time. The report is based on findings of the latest General Social Survey, conducted in 2010 with a cross sample of more than 2,000 people (Harms, 2011).” People are beginning to realize that we are all different and have different belief systems and this does constitute a legitimate reason to deny humans their basic civil rights. The younger generation is bringing on this social acceptance of differences between all. There is a lot of room for improvement with the issue of prejudices. They will always exist to some degree, but if we can make the existence of prejudices minimal we are moving in a very positive direction. The social acceptance of being gay is due to the groupthink phenomenon in the younger generation The second issue is that of gun control. Due to the increase of mass shootings over the last few years, this issue has been a major one in our country. Both sides of the debate feel very strongly about the issue. Those who support having guns feel that it is their right and that the government has no business taking their rights away. Those on the other side of the issue feel that guns must be controlled at any cost and that the lives of innocent victims are extremely important and need to be protected at any cost. Not even a full year after the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school more than half of Americans no longer support stricter gun laws. “A new survey finds that nearly a year after the Sandy Hook school shooting that prompted a nationwide debate on gun control, fewer than half of Americans now support such restrictions. The survey also shows that the intensity of gun control advocates has waned as well. In the January 2013 poll, 37 percent of Americans “strongly favored” stricter gun laws in comparison to the 27 percent who “strongly opposed” restrictions. That gap has almost completely disappeared over the past year, with strong opposition and support now at the same level ("Washington.cbslocal", 2013).” The support of gun control on either side differed greatly based on the location of residence of the individuals