Opinion

 

The Fight for Gun Control is Destroying America

The tensions between two opposing sides are the reason gun violence in America is still an issue.

By Aristotle Aung

The debate over gun ownership and distribution in America is a very controversial topic, due to the different sides of the argument supporting completely opposite views. On one side there are Americans that support gun ownership in America and on the other, those that don’t. The resentment and tensions that each side has for the other has led America down a path of continuous ineffective legislations.

 

One of the biggest problems America faces when it comes to gun control legislation is deciding whether to make effective gun laws or to make laws that satisfy a certain group of people. Groups such as the NRA have a huge impact on Congress due its large number of members and huge budget, and with the majority of the population supporting gun control, it is often difficult to come up with an effective compromise.

 

This begs the question: “If Congress truly wants to stop gun violence in America, why not just listen to the majority of the population rather than groups such as the NRA?”. The answer to this comes down to those with political power. One of the main goals of a politician is to put in effect the policies that they believe are true, and to do so they must maintain political power. Political power is often maintained by supporting the views of your community in order to gain their votes or be re-elected.

As a result, the NRA is able to directly influence their beliefs and their views onto those in government due to its large population, despite the NRA lacking the political power to put policies into effect themselves.

 

Not only does such tensions cause legislations to be made unfavorable, it also delays the process of these legislations. The slow process of legislations can be a good thing at times, as it allows the government to take time and research into seeing if the policy really is good for the country. This is not the case for our country’s gun violence issue, however. With the amount of gun violence cases that have occurred the past few years, it’s clear that something must be done quick to prevent it.

 

Every American agrees on this issue; innocent American citizens shouldn’t be dying. Yet, not much has been done to prevent mass shootings. If Americans truly want to prevent innocent deaths from gun violence, then why can’t we all agree that stricter gun control laws are needed?

 

Rhetorical Situation: Although there have been many Americans pressuring Congress to take action for gun violence, it has seems that not much has been done, as mass shootings are still a very prevalent issue in this country. This opinion editorial focuses on the problem that America faces when it comes to the gun legislation process due to tensions between gun owner supporters and gun control supporters.

Genre: The reason I had chose my essay to be an opinion editorial was because of its difference in structure compared to compositions written as a social media post or a blog. Social media posts allows for any user to post content about an issue to voice their opinion, despite their experience or knowledge on the issue. Although social media posts can be reached out towards my audience better, opinion editorials from trustworthy news sources such as the New York Times gives the article more credibility. The authors of such news sources are experienced writers with hours of research on the issue they are talking about. This allows for my audience to understand my stance better with supporting evidence.

Purpose: The purpose of the opinion editorial was to state my stance on the current social issue regarding my previous research essay and for the audience to agree with the stance. My previous research essay had lacked my stance on the issue of the gun legislation process in America. Therefore, stating my stance on this issue allows me to further educate my target audience about one of the main issues harming America right now. By using controversial statements such as “The Fight for Gun Control is Destroying America”, I am able to effectively engage my audience which in turn makes them formulate their own opinion that agrees with my stance.

Audience: My target audience for my previous essay was young Americans. The use of an opinion editorial did not seem to be a suitable medium to send my message to my target audience at first. However, I have recently seen many news articles with interesting and engaging titles (clickbait) being circulated around social media outlets, with many shares and comments on these posts. This made me realize that although news articles aren’t read too much by young Americans, a news article with a controversial title and a different perspective on the gun control issue can bring attention to my target audience.

Medium: New York Times article.

Stance: Tensions between gun supporters and gun control supporters has a negative effect on the gun control legislation.

 

Full Picture on last page.

 

Rhetorical Situation: The NRA has been faced with resentment by many Americans throughout the past few years, due to their controversial statements about gun violence in America, and their contradictory statements brought up when advocating for gun ownership in America. Many people dislike the organization also for their support of gun ownership itself, as the majority of the population believe in more gun control laws. Although the majority of Americans disapprove of the organization and their beliefs, the NRA still has an influence on government legislations regarding gun control.

Genre: The reason I had chose this composition to be a social media post was because of its ability to reach my target audience. Since the target audience of my compositions are young Americans, I knew that the best way to reach out to this demographic was through social media, as many young Americans use the internet and go on social media outlets on a daily basis. I chose my social media post to be a meme on Instagram, due to Instagram’s popularity and young American’s understandings and use of memes on the internet.

Purpose: The purpose of this social media post was to show the irony of the NRA’s arguments and how they often contradict themselves. The original meme that came from this post was from SpongeBob, in a scene where Patrick loses his wallet but when he is offered his wallet back he claims that it is not his. By using this format, I am trying to explain to my audience how the NRA will agree with certain statements regarding gun control, but when demanded to pass stricter gun control laws, the NRA will claim it to be a violation of the Second Amendment.

Audience: Since my target audience for this composition was young Americans, the most logical medium to reach towards this audience was a social media post. I think that the use of a social media post as a composition is the most effective way to send my message to my target audience. Many young Americans know about and like SpongeBob as well, so using a SpongeBob meme allowed me to engage my audience better. The use of this meme also allows the audience to better understand my message; that the NRA wants more to prevent mass shootings but won’t do anything about it.

Medium: Instagram post

Stance: The NRA should not be able to have such a big influence on government.