Anna Vaccaro
Com 101 Sec 1035
Speech 1
8 February 2015
Topic: Gun Control in the United States
General Purpose: To inform the class about gun control in the United States.
Specific Purpose: To inform the class about issues surrounding gun control.
Thesis: Gun control will always be a topic surrounded by controversy in the United States.
Introduction
I. Attention Getter: The Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy states that internationally there is a negative correlation between gun ownership and violent crimes, so more guns equal less crime.
II. Thesis: Gun control will always be a topic surrounded by controversy in the United States.
III. Preview: First I’ll look at the laws that surround gun control, then examine the people who think gun control is a good thing versus the people who do not.
[Transition: To begin I will discuss some laws about gun control.]
Body
I. There are many laws that surround gun control.
A. One law is, gun laws vary from state to state.
1. According to Laura Mehalko of the Boston College International and Comparative Law she talks about how gun laws vary from state to state and you must follow the gun laws for the state you are in not the state you reside in (Mehalko, 2012, paragraph 19).
2. Laura Mehalko of the Boston College International and Comparative Law also talks about how the second amendment (the right bear arms) comes with many limits and restrictions and each state has the right to add their own restrictions (Mehalko, 2012, paragraph 23).
B. Another important law is whether you can “open carry” or “concealed carry”.
1. According to opencarry.org and Vicksburg, MS police Chief Walter Armstrong he says “I have to admit, initially I was a bit nervous about … the [open carry] law, [b]ut to my surprise, we have not had one single incident as it relates to open-carry.” (Armstrong, 2014).
2. San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Sgt. Dave Phelps talks about how gang members will never openly walk the street showing their guns, and that open carry will never be a problem with gangs (Phelps, September 6th, 2010).
C. Due to the constant changing of gun laws people constantly have an opinion surrounding the topic. These people tend to always voice their opinion.
[Transition: Now that we discussed a few laws about guns in the United States let’s look at how people feel about these laws. ]
II. Some people feel that everyone should have the right to carry a gun.
A. These people feel that people have the right to carry guns for self-defense.
1. Harvard criminologists Don Kates and Gary Mauser were mentioned in an article by The Tech where A.J Edelman talks about how they said that stronger laws actually create more crime and this comes from not allowing people to carry guns for self-defense (Edelman, 2013).
2. Also mentioned in the article is how all the gun control is preventing lawful self-defense and if people could carry they would be able to defend themselves (Edelman, 2013).
B. People feel that it is a right as American citizens (the second amendment).
1. Ethan T. Stowell of the Regent University law review talks about how people arguing the second amendment is not a new issue in the U.S, but the Supreme Court always tries to stay silent on the topic (Stowell, 2013).
2. Stowell also talks about how many states are passing laws preventing people from storing guns in their houses, which violates the second amendment(Stowell,2013).
[Transition: Now that I have told you how people feel who support the right for people to carry I will discuss how the other side feels who do not support the right.]
III. Some people believe that not everyone should be allowed to carry guns.
A. Guns are used more for intimidation then self-defense.
1. Harvard Injury Control did a study and from their data they found that many cases where people plead self-defense came from an escalated argument that happened and it should not have been considered self-defense and that a gun should not have been