Gun Control

Guns have always had an interesting place in history for Americans, whether you’re thinking of guns in combat or guns in the homes of millions of Americans it cannot be denied that guns are important to our history. In recent news there have been a multitude of school shootings, suicides and deadly assaults that have occurred all including firearms. It is truly a privilege and not a right to own a gun in my opinion, as guns can be used for protection. I am truly on the fence about gun control even with my incredibly liberal views. However in the case of the Sandy Hook shooting I will say this; there is absolutely no reason for anyone outside of the military to own or possess a machine gun or rifle. That amount of excessive capability is what can endanger the lives of a large amount of people.

If Americans weren't able to possess guns legally, then we would all probably die at the hands of illegal gun owners because the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. As with a law that states you may use excessive force on someone who is trying to harm you, especially in you home, in the TheWeek article states "Contrary to what many liberal pundits have written, Florida should not reimpose a 'duty to retreat'... on innocent people who face violent attackers.” which is basically saying that as human beings we are responsible for our own safety and if that means having to kill someone else to save our own lives then so be it. Of course our children should grow up accepting guns and integrating them into our lives so if the moment arises that they must use one they are not overwhelmed or uninformed.

No one can say for sure what would happen if we outlawed guns completely, as the South would probably attempt to secede once again. There are so many facts and pieces of information that were shown and also ones that I have looked at on my own and all I can say is that almost every piece of information I find on gun control to be incredibly biased and never in the middle. One website i found however really spoke to me (mintpressnews.com) Where it is stated “Poverty has a greater correlation to violent crime than access to firearms. Education and poverty are directly linked. In short, we don’t have a gun problem in the United States, we have a cultural problem.Home Depot. Most people in the gun control lobby know nothing about firearms or their construction. Everything you need to manufacture firearms is available at Home Depot. The materials needed to manufacture a 12 gauge shotgun cost about $20. If someone wanted to build a fully automatic Mac-10 style submachine gun, it would probably cost about $60.” I Completely Agree with this statement. I believe that we should be focusing on more productive things as a nation and to not be so divided.

Climate Change

Climate is defined as the weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period of time. The definition of change is, "To make or become different." Climate change is defined as "long-term weather patterns and trends becoming different over an extended period of time.” It all began in the times of the industrial revolution, where coal was burned to produce energy and of course with burning chemicals and heavy metals comes pollution. With the first and second world war, sacrificing the environment for the sake of keeping our troops safe seemed like a fair trade. In the 1970s our reliance on oil became so unbelievably high and people started to realize that maybe there is another way we can power mostly all of our everyday items, especially cars. Over time CO2 is depleting our Ozone and causing our environment to react in an unpleasant manner. Causing dramatic climate change all over the globe, whether that change be “warming” or “cooling” it is with no doubt in my mind that all of these pollutants are causing damage to our environment.

Many big-business oriented Republicans deny climate change and see no harm in dumping hazardous chemical waste into our lakes, rivers and streams. Deforestation is limitless and is merely just gathering supplies to help further our world is what they think, that the world will do fine with us just ruining every single shred of oxygen that exists. It's easy to deny the fact that the way  fracking is regulated currently is damaging to our environment when Exxon is donating money to fund your campaign. How can a republican be environmentally aware while the Corporation with which they own a multitude of stocks, pumps countless harmful toxins into the air while making their precious products such as Iphones and Laptops. For these Republicans, the damage does not exist, that is until they begin seeing the results for themselves, once the forests and rivers around their homes become toxic waste dumps and barren lots, then they will begin to think that maybe, just maybe all of these chemicals may not be good for the environment.

My opinion on all of this is that we need to stop killing our Earth and treating it as a dumping ground and also just as something we can just take and take from. We take everything from this Earth and almost never give anything back. We hear of miles and miles of rain forests being cut down for lumber, but how often do we hear of people planting trees to make up for that? Do any of these people even know how long it takes a tree to reach maturity? I really truly doubt it. “ As a result of our activities, these gases have significantly increased in concentration in the atmosphere (for example carbon dioxide has increased from a pre-industrial concentration of 280 ppm [parts per million] to 379 ppm in 2005).”(See Graph) Just looking at this graph makes me uncomfortable. Now onto the very controversial act of fracking, as stated in the TheWeek Article, “The biggest concern is the depletion and contamination of water supplies. Fracking a single well takes an average of 2 million gallons of water a day, much of it drawn from local aquifers. Roughly half the fracking water comes back up the well, rife with chemicals and sometimes carrying traces of radiation from underground rocks.” Now i'm pretty sure we have all seen those videos of those people pouring water out of their tap at home and then, lighting it on fire with ease as the concentration of methane inside the water is incredible. Now this to me is a cause for concern. Fracking is just not worth the risk of polluting Earth’s water and even putting our families and wildlife at risk. Climate change is very, very real and the faster that everyone finally admits they know what's going on, the faster we can all find green ways to produce energy and we could all put our heads together to help reverse some of the damage that has been done.





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