Guns, Guns, Guns! The Gun ‘Debate’ is in a Rut

An appalling problem returns when the public ruminates over their safety and their liberty. Whenever the incidents occur, the debate becomes a spectacle and politics takes steps to addressing the problem. The heat of the problem is gun violence: tragic shootings occur periodically in the US, and the public is split on how to resolve the problem.

On the other hand, the Second Amendment proposes the right to bear arms and have militias. People advocate for access to guns and the right to defend themselves. Considered an inalienable right, the gun advocates support their liberty to possess firearms, from moderate supporters to gun nuts. Their ultimate civic interest is keeping a society with proper access to a means of self-defense and support for their rights.

On the other hand, the gun control advocates want to regulate or ban forms of firearms, or they want gun-free legislation. Advocates for gun control concern over the safety of their communities, rise in shootings and crime, and the accessibility of guns. What is the proper age to have a gun? Should guns be allowed? What licenses or background checks? The issue is people die and public responsibility asserts that a resolution should come to prevent further shootings from occurring. For these advocates, they take a moderate stance of a few regulatory advances or they want the guns to be banned.

Firearms have been a hot issue for a long time. The Columbine Shooting brought attention to a terrible loss of life. Shootings continue to prompt debate over licensing and background checks around guns. When another shooting occurs, the same lines re-appear about the Second Amendment or the need to have safer schools. The controversy sometimes jumps onto other platforms like violent video games or mental illness. Whichever case, the problem prolongs itself and continues with contesting voices.

A poll mentions how half of the American public wants to prioritize gun rights, and the other half wants to prioritize safety. Gun control is a contested issue, and it remains a difficult controversy to resolve in the United States. It will continue to impact the lives of Americans, whether they want a gun-free society or a gun-holding society. The hot topic will continue to press the public when shootings bring the debate to the media. Concerning justice, this issue will turn out to be a taut tug-of-war between those who think disparaging their gun rights is unjust or those who think inaction is unjust.

With recent school shootings, students themselves feel pressured to speak on behalf of guns. Events such as marches come about to bring awareness. Many students voice their worries that inaction on gun control will inevitably lead to more shootings in more schools. For other students, there is support for guns to remain.

President Donald Trump addressed the NRA and dealt with peculiar political tension. When there were student protests on gun violence, the President responded with actions to calm the public. For the NRA and their advocates, the push towards gun reform from the President made his support waver. The call for age restrictions on guns from the President had not appealed to parts of his political base.

Homeschooler in the Real World

Emma Folts, a sophomore at Wheaton College, shares her experience about her transition into college and how homeschool has both helped and hindered her.
How has your homeschool experience benefitted you, especially in your transition into college?
I think the one thing that homeschooling did that was really helpful as I entered college was that it taught me time management. As a homeschooler I had the same freedom as a college student has to put things off during the day and go see a friend instead. Since I had that experience, I knew the cost of that.
Also, personal responsibility and accountability with assignments. I feel like a lot of the other students had more expectations for gentler grading and that the professor would give them retakes or extensions, but that wasn’t something that ever happened to me in school. That learning curve wasn’t added because I never had it the other way. I think another thing was that because I was homeschooled, I was familiar with the format of teaching and then studying on my own.
Did you see any issues with your transition socially?
I think that homeschooling had two ramifications for me socially. One was helpful, one was hurtful.
It was really helpful because as a homeschooler, I had spent a lot of time realizing and developing who I was as a person and learning to recognize people who were being themselves, and those were the people I sought out as friends. Friendship as a homeschooler takes a lot more investment. I knew I was choosier with my friends which made me a lot less anxious and a lot more content.
The only real negative impact of the social bit was that I was really used to getting to choose the time I got to spend with people. As a homeschooler I spent a lot of time with people, but that time was controlled by me. As a college student, I found that you can’t really control the time you spend with people and alone time is not really available. Learning to deal with that was a lot harder than anticipated.
Any last comments on homeschool and how it has affected your college experience?
I think homeschooling is really helpful, however it does take a slightly increased amount of advocacy with your peers when you’re entering into college. I think a lot of people come in with certain assumptions about homeschool, especially students. You’re going to get a lot of, ‘oh my gosh, you don’t seem like a homeschooled person!’ [You can’t] take that too personally and explain your experience so that friends can understand it’s an important piece of you, though it might not look like the homeschooling that they’ve seen.
My encouragement to anyone who is a homeschooler transitioning into college is to realize the benefit that you have having been homeschooled, and to realize that the bit of advocacy and explaining that you need to do with your peers is totally normal and that it’s not a big deal. Once they understand your experience, it’s not something I’ve experienced being looked down on for.