Final Reflection/Position Paper American Government March 10, 2013 Final Reflection/Position Paper The purpose of this paper is intended to summarize my views on what has influenced my understanding of politics and government prior to taking this class, and how my understanding is now since completing this course. Pre Reflection/Position My understanding of politics and government prior to taking American Government came from my family and their beliefs. It was influenced by the schools I attended, which influenced my respect for this country, and my respect for our flag. They ingrained a sense of patriotism with their teachings. Television and newspapers had a big influence on me in my younger …show more content…
When I grew up and throughout my life I didn’t need to worry about this issue. Only in the last 15 years or so has the issue of gun control come about in this country. The 2nd Amendment protects our right to bear arms, “A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms”.(Volkomer, 2012. Pg. 54). Another reason why I do not want to see gun control implemented is crime will rise, as the only ones that will have guns are the criminals and the government. The honest, upstanding citizens will have no way to protect themselves, and the criminals will take advantage of that fact. Diversity in this country is becoming more apparent. I don’t see this as a bad thing until the opinions of a minority can make changes that affect the majority in a big way. One example is taking the Pledge of Allegiance out of schools because a select few find it offensive because it mentions God in it. When I went to school, if you didn’t want to say it because of your religious beliefs you didn’t have to. Belief in God was what this country was founded on, and I find it disrespectful to this country to allow a select few to be able to dictate to the rest of us what is allowed and what is not. The 1st Amendment was implemented to give us the right to what religion we want to believe in, instead of making us choose a specific religion, or none at all. “Congress
Most people are exposed to the same principals and agents of political socialization. Families spread values that support political authorities and can heavily contribute to children's initial political ideological views, or party preferences. Families influence political knowledge and identification depending on variables such as family demographics, life cycle, parenting style, parental level of political skepticism and frequency of political discussions. Demographics such as gender and age also attribute to political socialization. School is another agent of political socialization. Spending numerous years in school, children in the United States are taught and reinforced a view of the world that their text books tell them to trust. Through primary, secondary and high schools, students are taught key principles such as individual rights and property, personal responsibility and duty to their nation. Another is mass media. Mass media is not only a source of political information; it is an influence on political values and beliefs. Various media outlets, through news coverage and late-night programs, provide different partisan policy stances that are associated with political participation. Religions, beliefs, and practices play a role in political opinion formation and political participation. The perspective offered by religious institutions shape judgement regarding public policy, and political decision
Gun Control should not be enacted, Gun Control Laws have been proven ineffective in other countries, The Second Amendment allows American Citizens the right to keep and bear arms, and Gun Control laws take power from American Citizens, granted to them in the Constitution. Gun Control Laws have been proven ineffective in other countries. Gun Control Laws take power from the people. The Second Amendment grants US Citizens the right to keep and bear arms. Gun control laws would not help the United States decrease gun
Gun control is a vital necessity to the welfare of our nation. Many people out there are supporting the “anti- gun control cause” with the excuse of “self-defense”. I believe that not everyone will handle a gun for self-defense. The possession of a gun is a sign of power. One of the bigger ambitions that one has is to have power and the easier it is to obtain a gun; the faster a criminal will gain power over an innocent person. When one is in possession of a gun, that person has complete control of their actions and may act upon the weapon however the person may please even if they know that their action will cause harm to defense-less people. There are many deaths caused by guns out there that could
Gun control is a very controversial topic that has has a huge impact on the United States of America. One side believes that if guns were taken away as a whole, the country would see significantly less gun related crimes and death, while the other opposing side thinks that taking away guns is not only against the Second Amendment but would lead to an increase in crime and death because the government would take guns away from people who are legally registered to own and conceal guns. The ongoing debate will continue until the foreseeable future but their are plenty of reasons why more gun laws should be made. Taking away guns is not the answer, learning how to deal with gun violence is the key.
Gun control in the United States has been a controversial issue for some time now. So much so that the Supreme Court even refuses to address this issue directly. Gun control really boils down to the the Second Amendment of the Constitution. Many people have different interpretations of the Second Amendment and the trenches are dug in deep on this issue. The Second Amendment can not provide the right to bear all types of arms to protect the people from governmental tyranny. If the Second Amendment was absolute, then we would allow the public to possess nuclear weapons, missiles, and other such arms, because like the 9 mm handgun that is an arm, a nuclear warhead is also a type of arm. The more our government restricts our rights to own
While taking this course I benefited from learning a variety of things about the American government, as well as refreshing my memory on somethings I already knew. What didn’t work for me was my time management skills. I am used to writing papers may be two days before the due date. This did not work so well for me because the most difficult part of the paper tended to be the last part. On one of my papers I could not finish the last section of the paper because I didn’t give myself enough time. Videos that were played in during were also very helpful in this course. I did enjoy watching the clip about the Veterans. It was very shocking that many benefits that Veterans now have they weren’t automatically given. Fighting for a country is a very
Wilson Q. James. American Government, Brief Version. 11th ed. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. 2009, 2012, 2014.
Gun control is a very big issue in the United States today. Many people don't agree with the gun control laws that they have today. Gun control laws only take guns away from law-abiding citizens. Many people have their own reasons for owning a gun. Why would the government want to make it harder for people to own a gun? People that own guns are not very likely to be attacked by criminals. Owning a handgun is one of the best ways of protection. The second amendment states "the right to bear arms" does this grant everyone a right to own a gun? Gun control laws have not been proven to do anything for citizens. Gun control laws just make it harder for a good guy to own a gun. Gun control laws are not a good idea.
It is very important to be aware of what is going on in the world however sometimes reading can be a better source or information than watching bias television broadcasts. I believe that if children have to develop their own political opinion at a young age then they will attain values and beliefs that are more logical. I had structure growing up as a kid and was directed to what was right and wrong but I was not born into a political dictatorship. My parents were caring people and emphasized that treating others with respect is more important than following some indoctrinated code. I am fortunate to have been given the freedom to develop my own social and political views. Having political guidance from family is important but being told that only one particular political belief system is infallible is not the ideal way to educate. My parents have always preached equality, and that all people should have equal opportunity to pursue their goals despite their religion, race, ethnic background or sexual orientation. At a young age I was taught to recognize that all Americans have an equal opportunity to aspire to an education regardless of their economic condition. My parents were a large influence of how I view freedom of speech. They emphasized that all individuals have the right to express their opinions and advocate their personal beliefs. One of the key political concepts that I was born into was to fight for a clean environment. The environment must be protected and
Gun control has been a long debate to determine if it’s better to have stricter access to firearms. America is one of the few countries that has gun rights embedded in their constitution. But what makes the US exceptional is that it has the right to keep and bear arms, other countries do not provide the right to have access to them, but rather, the government is allowed to regulate its use. The right to bear arms has also been the cause of growing violence and crime, at least according to anti-gun lobbyists. Citizens should be aware the dangers and harm that guns present to society. Controlling the sale of firearms can greatly decrease the number of violent crimes.
Gun violence in the United States is higher than ever, and criminals with guns will “…kill as many as 1000 people each day” (Alpers&Wilson). Taking this into perspective, it is only right to fight fire with fire or, in this case, use a gun to protect yourself and those around you. Gun control does not only decrease the ability for protection, it also decreases our rights as U.S citizens. The constitution clearly states that we are given the right to bear arms, meaning we may carry fire arms. Even if we have stricter laws for guns, it will not stop killers from shooting innocent people. These men and women causing damage to the lives of numerous individuals do not care if there is a law banning guns, because all they truly want to do is
Gun Control has been an issue that has been brought to the public’s eyes in recent years. This main issue has been going on for many years, for example when John F. Kennedy was assassinated; it raised public awareness to the lack of control on sales and also possession of guns in America. Until 1968 guns were available over the counter in stores and through mail catalogs to just about any adult in America. This was an example of how loosely guns were regulated which bring us back to the issue of guns. The constitution tells us in the second amendment that we, as American Citizens, have the right to bear arms. But the government is trying to change that by regulating everything to do with owning a gun. My stance: Gun
“A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” The right of all Americans to bear arms is a right the Founding Fathers held to equal importance as the Constitution itself. Gun control laws directly violate this right and therefore should not even be under consideration. Even if that issue is overlooked, gun control advocates state that in order to reduce firearm related violence, gun control laws must be implemented to remove the violence caused by firearms. Although this may seem reasonable, the consequences of such laws are ironically counterproductive; they exacerbate the problem instead of fixing it. Besides the fact that the American
Gun control has become more of an issue ever since 1934 when they passed the National Firearms Act. Back in 1934, America was going to war with gangs because of the violence they were terrorizing other civilians around them. This has caused the national government to step in with setting laws to make sure this violence won’t occur again. The government making gun control laws so citizens aren’t able to purchase guns legally isn’t stopping them from purchasing them. It actually makes people want firearms because psychology studies have shown that when an item is not allowed some people tend to want to get it just because it is not allowed. Our founding fathers created the second amendment to grant all of its citizens the right to a firearm and now the government wants to take away that amendment by adding loopholes like they have managed with other laws.
Gun control is probably one of the most debatable concerns in the constitution. There are many scenarios in which you can see the good in pro-gun control and also other scenarios where con-gun control is good. Gun control should not be a plan the U.S government should take because there are many cases in which a firearm will determine you from death or life. And the right to carry a firearm is like the right to protect our freedom, and to self defend ourselves. Firearms are used defensively roughly 2.5 million times per year, more than four times as many as criminal uses. This amounts to 2,575 lives protected for every life lost to a gun. (SAF) The people that are most concerned by this issue are those that have lost someone close to them