Blog Stage Seven

Handguns for 18-Year-Olds is an article that I read this morning from the New York Times.  Although the author’s name was not published in this article, I believe that this article is credible and worth to read. In summary, the author made an argument about whether the idea—allowing young people between 18 and 20 years old to buy handguns and carry them concealed in public places is rational.

In order to maximize their profits and undermine public safety, the National Rifle Association supported this law suit (the idea). Believe it or not, last week, President Obama had barely nominated a new director, Andrew Traver, to deal with this issue. Since the N.R.A. had a big power,

Traver’s  action and intended purpose—associating with a police chief’s group to reduce the use of handguns on city streets did not make any sense.  This law suit challenges and contests a Texas law—setting 21 as the minimum age for carrying a concealed weapon.

In this article, the anonymous author strongly opposed this idea. I agree with this person. Setting 18 as the minimum age for carrying a concealed handguns is not rational. In my opinion, there are 3 reasons that I strongly believe that this way is absolutely wrong: 1) Increasing crime rate, 2) becoming more unsafe places (streets) 3) destroying many youths’ prospect (future).  According to F.B.I. crime data, young people who is between 18 and 21 years old has the highest violent crimes rate, such as gun violence, murder, nonnegligent homicides and manslaughters.  If this idea were passed, we can image how danger will be near us. Also, since these young people are under age 21, they are not mature. If they have the right to carry handgun, this way could destroy not only the safety of the schools but also the streets.  For example, if they use the gun to make a revenge or kill someone because of a stupid conflict or misunderstanding, this way could totally destroy the young individual’s future. Therefore, hand guns for 18-year-olds should be prohibited.  The N.R.A. should support the gun control and protect people’s safety.

Blog Stage Six

The journal that I wrote today is a response to my classmate—Zachary Waggoner’s post on Stage 5.

I read both his article and journal this morning. He published Dont Ask in his blog—Wake Up America.

Actually it was an argument about the military policy, “don’t ask, don’t tell.” This policy prohibits gays from serving openly in the military. Most students hoped that President Obama can stand out and take action with federal government to repeal this policy. However, the critics argued that reversing the policy could hurt the effectiveness of troops during war. As a result, there is still not a solution for this issue.

I strongly agreed with my colleague—Zachary’s opinion.  The U.S. national government should hurry up and repeal this policy. Also, I liked his excellent idea—“if a person is willing to fight and put their lives on the line for our country that person’s sexual orientation shouldn’t matter.” That is the main point and important reason that I believe our federal government should repeal this unfair policy.

In my opinion, there are 3 reasons why this policy still has not been repealed: 1) many national members worry about their voting status, 2) most people care about their fame and prestige, like Zachary said, “it can have a negative effect on the way people view that person.” 

In conclusion, this tough issue should be solved. Our government needs a strong leader who has an open-minded view and sensible( wise) judgment and  effective solving way to change this policy.