April 26, 2019
Dear National Rifle Association,
We are writing to your association because you are advocating for more gun rights. This is not good because a lot of universities and high school accidents happen and that is because with more gun rights schools shooting in universities and schools will go up which can be bad because some people who buy guns or other different types of guns probably can use them for something bad like killing someone because they have problems with each other or another different issue. An article on the website Reuters by Gene Emery, who has been published on different websites such as yahoo, MSN, Business insider and many more, he says, “The authors say it’s evidence that firearms – even in the hands of experienced users – are inherently dangerous and accidents don’t just happen among novices.”(Emery). Connecting to the NRA, the NRA association is making the chances of an accident even greater and easier to do.
Our issue is that a lot of students have died in school campuses due to school shootings. According to an article titled Is Arming Teachers Our Nation’s Best Response to Gun Violence? The Perspective of Public Health Students written by Melanie Rogers, RN, BSN, Ericka A. Lara Ovares, MD, Olushola Olaitan Ogunleye, MBBS, Tara Twyman, BA, Cem Akkus, PhD, MS, Kalpita Patel, MPH, and Marwa Fadlalla, BS it explains that ,”The year 2018 has seen 18 instances of gun-related injuries and fatalities at American schools in fewer than 100 days.1 We thought the outrage following the murder of 20 children in the Sandy Hook Elementary School was enough to force a national dialogue on gun violence 6 years ago, but it was not”(Melanie Rogers, RN, BSN, Ericka A. Lara Ovares, MD, Olushola Olaitan Ogunleye, MBBS, Tara Twyman, BA, Cem Akkus, PhD, MS, Kalpita Patel, MPH, and Marwa Fadlalla, BS). This article talked about if we should allow teachers to have guns. This quote explains that last year we have had 18 cases of school shootings that lead to the murder of 20 innocent children in an elementary school. Additionally, according to a study done by students at Alfred University Called Why Do School Shootings Occur? Said that 87% of the students that took the survey said that they would shoot up a school because they want to get back at those who have hurt them (alfred university). This is an issue because not only do we have to worry about a school shooting but also about bullying because according to this study school shooting often happen because of kids trying to get revenge. Because of school shootings schools are becoming a less safe space for students and making it so that kids fear school and don’t approach higher education. In this issue we are not alone, we have other organizations like The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus and many more that support us and each other on the movement to stop gun violence.
Throughout the years the issue of gun violence in school has been fought vigorously. One example is from the article titled ¨Students: 1 million expected at anti-gun-violence marches¨ by Jennifer Peltz(an author of many articles of major problems). In this article, it talks about how students respond to gun violence around them and how they decided to go against it. Peltz wrote, “They have led rallies and lobbied lawmakers in Washington and Florida’s capital, Tallahassee. Last Wednesday, tens of thousands of students around the U.S. walked out of their classrooms to demand action on gun violence and school safety”(Peltz). In this quote, there are many examples of tactics of social change such as rallies, political organizing, and strikes. These acts are extremely important because they show that students understand, see the problem that is going on around them, and want to make a change for the better of all of the community. The most important words in this quote are ¨tens of thousands¨. This is extremely important because it shows how many students want this to stop and this does not take into account those who didn’t attend the walkout but supported them. This act of social change was effective because it got people’s attention and gave those who were impacted a bigger voice. Another example of people fighting against gun violence is shown in the article “RAISING THEIR VOICES: COUNCIL PRESIDENT RALLIES SCHOOLS TO DEMAND GUN CONTROL” by Jane Kelly( a writer who writes about schools and politics a great amount). This article talks about how the University of Virginia is being inspired and fighting against gun violence. The article states, “Moved by the March 14 #Enough! National School Walkout to protest government inaction on gun violence in schools, University of Virginia Student Council President Sarah Kenny has mobilized more than 80 schools to sign a letter to President Trump demanding change”(Kelly). The main words in this quote are “80 schools”. These are the main two words because a big amount of schools have come to a consensus and see a way to respond to the problem that many communities may face if this is not stopped. The tactic of social change that is shown in this quote is community organizing and political organizing. This is true because all of those school communities came together and they targeted a major political person who holds a lot of power and is doing nothing about the problem. This action was effective because it got communities together and informed which only brought us one step closer to complete success.
Due to all of these great examples of social change, we will make our own movements around the community. We will start by publishing information on school shootings on our Instagram page. Also, we will make flyers and post them around the school to bring awareness to our topic. Besides these things, we will also make a survey that will ask about people’s opinions on school shootings. The intention of this is to get people thinking more about the subject of school shootings in school before our last movement. Our last movement will be a moment of silence during our advisory class for 2 min to remember those kids who died due to school shootings. This will be followed by another survey about what the students thought while on the moment of silence. This are the actions that we will take. Follow us on Instagram @school_shootings_arent_cool. #gunviolence #standuptoGUNS #Upstander.
Sincerely,
Roberto Guardado, Diego Rivera-Soto, and Lupita Morales Cordova
Annotated Bibliography
Kelly, Jane. “Raising Their Voices: Council President Rallies Schools to Demand Gun Control.” UVA Today, UVA Today, 19 Apr. 2018, news.virginia.edu/content/raising-their-voices-council-president-rallies-schools-demand-gun-control.
This article was about how the University of Virginia is fighting against gun violence and taking a stand. It also talks about how they are taking matters into their own hands and trying to get people of higher stature into their movement. This source is relevant because it shows students taking control and finding ways to bring the community together to make a change, This source is credible because Jane Kelly is a frequent writer of problems in their community. Also, the domain for this website is a .edu.
Peltz, Jennifer, and Associated Press. “Students: 1 Million Expected at Anti-Gun-Violence Marches.” WHYY, WHYY, 19 Mar. 2018, whyy.org/articles/students-1-million-expected-anti-gun-violence-marches/.
This article is about how students are planning to march for anti-gun violence and how many people are marching/taking action. It talks about how students are completely done with all this violence that is going on around them and how they really want to do something powerful that will finally put a stop to this. This source is relevant because it shows how youth are fighting back and showing tactics of social change. This source is credible because Jennifer Peltz, the author, is a constant reported for justice and is constantly writing about the community. Also, the domain of this website is a .org.
Rogers, Melanie, et al. “Is Arming Teachers Our Nation’s Best Response to Gun Violence? The Perspective of Public Health Students.” American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, July 2018, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5993415/.
This article was about gun violence in schools and if we should let teachers have guns in a classroom. This source is credible because it comes from the American health association and they are their to inform us about our topic. Also the source is an .gov.
Seelye, Katharine Q., and Jess Bidgood. “What Are States Doing About Gun Violence After the Florida Shooting?” The New York Times, The New York times, 27 Feb. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/02/26/us/gun-control-laws.html.
The article is about what states are doing after the accident that happen in a high school and how has change after that, we can trust the article because its showing what each state has been doing in the past years that the accident happen, we can trust Katharine Q. because she is in a part of a sociation of the moms demand action.
“Why Do Shootings Occur? | Alfred University.” Www.alfred.edu, Alfred University, www.alfred.edu/about/news/studies/lethal-school-violence/why-do-shootings.cfm.
This article was about a study done by students on alfred university on why school shootings occur. This source is credible because it comes from a university and since its a study some of the information is reliable and accurate. Also this site is an .edu and its purpose is to teach and not make money.
This topic was very interesting because I did not know their was people out their that advocate for gun rights even after everything that has happen in the U.S. The writers had very good points that they brought up on why people should not advocate for gun rights. They brought up all the school shootings that has happen in all level of schools which included elementary, middle, high schools and also university’s. The point that I thought that was really great one to use was the Sandy Hook example. The reason I say that is because it could bring out emotion in those parents that have kids in elementary or even heading into it or parents that have kids in general. I feel mad because a lot of people are for gun rights even after all the shootings that have happend. I am glad that I read this so now I know that their is people out their that really did not care what happend to those kids that were involved in the school shootings. The thing that I believe that you guys could have included was some more examples of the school shooting not just the one that happend at Sandy Hook.
I really appreciate you writing this I learned a lot after reading this
Sincerely,Sebastian Lira
The issues concerning gun violence are especially prevalent regarding school safety. Your thoughts have a lot of relevancy because this is a huge ongoing issue. A question I have for your specific audience is: Regarding gun safety, What does the word safe mean to you? This topic can mean many different things to specific individuals. By asking certain questions, one can understand the other perspectives in our society of gun violence. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Lupita, I thought your piece was very well written but I would have to disagree with you. One point is that making something illegal or “banning” it doesn’t make it disappear all together. For example several drugs are illegal to obtain but people still get them. How? The black market. If guns were to be banned people would still be able to obtain them. Just not people with good intentions. What I mean by that is people who choose to own guns for their own protection and hunting would be punished the most and the people who have bad intentions, such as carrying out a school shooting, could still obtain them. The concept of having stricter gun laws seems great in theory but it doesn’t work in practice. For instance, Chicago has some of the strictest gun laws but has some of the highest death rates from gun related violence in the country. My father is a legal gun owner and I feel safer at night knowing if someone broke into our house and had a firearm we would have some sort of protection. Taking guns away or making them harder to obtain would lead to people like me (people who use guns for protection) to be punished, not the people who commit school shootings. See, if someone really wanted to commit a shooting it wouldn’t be that hard for them to obtain a gun from the Silk roads on the dark web, the worlds largest black market. Thats ultimately why I disagree with your point.
Hi Lupita, I wanted to let you know that your post was really interesting to read. You have made some really good points about the use of guns and how dangerous it can be if people would get a hold of it. It is unfortunate that these things happen and you are right ! We should all take a stand and march for anti-gun violence. Your post is so powerful and I hope many people can read this and pass on the message.
I really enjoyed reading about this issue in particular because it is relevant among high school students today. You stated that the NRA advocating for more gun rights leads to more school shootings, but you don’t necessarily dive into how that could happen. You make a conclusion, but don’t use information to back up that claim. You say guns are bad and lead to school shootings, but you don’t refer back to your audience (the NRA) saying that, because guns are bad, you shouldn’t push for more gun rights. You also state what the government is doing to prevent school shootings. If I was the NRA I would ask, “Why would should there be gun control laws if there are other policies that can prevent school shootings?” Another question I would ask if I was the NRA is that “this issue seems to be rooted in bullying, why can’t schools focus on preventing bullying and therefore prevent school shootings?” This post was very informative and it was interesting reading up on the current issue of gun rights.
Your news article, Lupita, is very well written and informative. The amount of passion put into the article is extraordinary—an observation that many people can most likely identify. The relevance that the topic has on society is undeniable.
Gun violence in schools is a popular topic for teens these days. I liked that your blog included a lot of research based evidence. I also appreciated that you included citations for your sources so that I could read more about your topic. Sometimes I found it difficult to follow your ideas because your sentences were a bit long. In your second paragraph you referenced an article about teachers carrying guns. I’m interested to know if you think that teachers should carry guns? What do you think would be the benefits and drawbacks of teachers being armed with guns in the classroom?