Blog Entry 1

The New York Times posted an article written by the Editorial Board on March 18th, 2014 that addresses
some concerns the National Rifle Association has based on President Obamas nomination of Dr. Vivek
Murphy as the next surgeon general of the United States. The purpose of the surgeon general is to
promote lifestyle changes that will in turn benefit a population. The N.R.A. is concerned for the well-
being of the United States as a letter was recently sent to congress, shortly after the Sandy Hook
massacre, which supports the federal ban of firearms and ammunition (Editorial).

This article comes from the New York Times, written by the Editorial Board which is composed of 18
members with a wide-ranging area of expertise. This information can be trusted because the author(s) use
credible sources such as the National Rifle Association to portray information. This article relates to my
topic because it has to do with Gun Control and the concerns of different groups of people on the topic.
This topic has been in the news lately shortly after mass shooting of Sandy Hook Elementary School, and
this article was written very recently, March 18th, 2014.

This article is the first Ive read on the topic of Gun Control. I just learned about the letter to congress that
addresses the idea of banning guns and ammunition, along with the nomination of a radically anti-gun
surgeon general, which plays a large role in this debate. Ironically, before this article I hadnt even
considered using the National Rifle Associations concerns as a point of view on this topic, so it has really
opened some doors to my research. One opinion Ive formed from this article is that it isnt fair to
nominate an anti-gun surgeon general into a country where owning, buying, selling, and using guns is
legal. Im curious to know the beliefs of the current surgeon general of the United States on Gun Control
Laws.

The, Editorial B. "The Gun Lobby's Latest Bizarre Crusade." New York Times, Late Edition (East Coast)
ed.Mar 18 2014. ProQuest. Web. 20 Mar. 2014 .

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/18/opinion/the-gun-lobbys-latest-bizarre-crusade.html?_r=0

Blog Entry 2
The article Why Libertarians Support Equal Rights for Americas Gun Owners posted by the
Libertarian Party addresses one side of a politically-driven debate, Gun Control. The article touches on
different reasons why the current Gun Laws in congress should not be passed, some of those dealing with
constitutional rights, the right of self-defense, and personal responsibility (Libertarian).

The site for this article is resourceful because it has been posted by the Libertarian Party (the 3rd largest
political party), and directly shares beliefs from a political party on Gun Control in the United States. The
article is mainly based on opinions, so it will be useful in comparing beliefs from other contributors to the
Gun Control debate.

This source has helped me get a sense of how radically different opinions of political parties can be on the
debate of gun control. This article addresses the first article I looked at because it enforces the ideas the
National Rifle Association on why new gun laws shouldnt be passed. The ideas from the Libertarian
Party has leaned my thinking against new gun control laws because logically, all the points given in the
article make sense, and I have yet to research articles and journals on why new gun control laws should be
put in place. After reading this article Im more curious than I was at the beginning of my research to find
psychologists or doctors who find the need for new gun laws necessary, and why.

"Libertarian Party." Libertarian Party. Libertarian Party, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.

http://www.lp.org/issues/gun-laws

Blog Entry 3
On behalf of the Homicide Research Working Group, criminologists James Alan Fox and Monica J.
Delateur delve into the idea of Gun Control and the affects it has, or doesnt have on society. Some of the
subjects they touch on, common myths about gun violence, are well supported by statistical evidence.
According to the authors, gun control will not stop gun violence, nor do videogames trigger mass
shootings and more extensive background checks wont stop gun violence from happening (Fox). The 22
page article posted online December of 2013 acts as the opinions of criminologists on the relevance of
Gun Control and gun violence.

This source is credible because it was written by James Alan Fox and Monica J. Delateur, professors at
Northeastern University (Boston, Massachusetts) with Ph.D.s in Criminology. They wrote the article
Mass Shootings in America: Moving Beyond Newtown for a homicide research group, which relates to
my line of inquiry because it gives one side of the Gun Control debate not only opinions, but supportive
evidence. The current statistics provided by the article is up to date with how recent the topic of gun
violence and gun control has been in the media. This article is not only credible, but spot on helps to
address my line of inquiry.

The ideas of new gun laws has been a hot topic in the media amidst recent mass shootings, some of which
are the Colorado movie theatre shooting and the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. This source
supports the idea that new Gun Control laws or the renewal of old ones will not affect the rates at which
mass shootings occur. So far in my research, Ive found many sources that do not support new gun laws,
and have provided useful evidence that is leaning my ideas of gun control laws to agree with them. Im
curious to know the opinions of anti-gun lobbyists or child psychologists that support the idea of new gun
laws that could prevent mass shootings, and why.

Fox, James Alan, and Monica J DeLateur. Mass Shooting In America: Moving Beyond Newton.
Homicide Studies 18.1 (2014): 125-145. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.

http://hsx.sagepub.com.librarylink.uncc.edu/content/18/1/125.full.pdf+html

Blog Entry 4
The article Media Violence, Gun Control, And Public Policy written by Diana Zuckerman,
Ph.D., illustrates the United States public concern for violence, especially gun violence. Focusing on the
accessibility of firearms and media violence, the article aims at the idea that such violence can be reduced
by combining gun control laws and changing peoples opinions on firearm availability, safety, and
violence. Instead of policy makers increasingly blaming video games and rap music for gun violence,
Zuckerman states that the only effective way to incorporate gun control into society is to change public
opinion first (Zuckerman).

This 12-page article discussing what can and cannot work in terms of gun control for society is a
credible source because it was written by Diana M. Zuckerman, an expert on national health policy.
Zuckerman has a Ph. D. in psychology from Ohio State University. This article was written for the
American Psychological Association and was published in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. The
studies provided in the article are fair and come from other trusted sources. This source is relevant to my
line of inquiry because it gives direct statistics of gun violence and suggests solutions to it as well. The
information from this article is from the 1990s, so it can be used as a good comparison to gun violence
rates in todays society, supporting or not supporting the ideas of gun control.

Something interesting from this article that changed my thinking on the gun control debate is the
idea that stricter gun laws will not be effective without the change of public opinions first. The reason I
say this is because most articles take one side or the other, while this one approaches with an if, and only
if, attitude, which could support either side of the arguments on gun control. With that being said, I feel
like this article speaks to all other sources on a real-life scale. Zuckerman takes real facts and evidence of
gun violence and creates potential real-life scenarios that would not only work when the article was
written, but could support gun control ideas now too.

Zuckerman, Diana M. "Media Violence, Gun Control, And Public Policy." American Journal Of
Orthopsychiatry 66.3 (1996): 378. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.

http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.librarylink.uncc.edu/ehost/detail?vid=13&sid=8b37a01a-9c52-46c4-af7a-
aac81c19aa99%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4205&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl
#db=a9h&AN=9701240661

Blog Entry 5
With the recent mass shootings in the United States, the gun control debate has been a hot topic amongst
political parties. Recently providing gun law standings of Libertarians, its important to view other
political points of view. The Republican Party shares similar and different views than other parties. A
website called ontheissues.org provides Republican views on the ideas of gun control, some of which
include the rights of citizens to buy ammunition and store it without registering it, having more land
available to hunt on publicly, and protecting the 2nd amendment. The website published these statements
between 2000 and 2012, almost a year after the Columbine High School massacre and other years that
housed mass shootings.

On The Issues is an organization that takes information directly from political parties platforms and
publishes them all in one, easily accessible place. They cover a variety of political and controversial
issues that can be found in the media. The information can be trusted because it is directly quoted from
political parties and leaders, and they are referenced. This source is relevant to my research because gun
control is not only a hot topic in the media, but is essential to political debates. The information provided
by the Republican Party is current within the last decade, amidst what seems to be an explosion of gun
violence. The voice of the Republican Party directly addresses my research of gun control because it
shows exact points of gun laws they support that can be argued against.

From my research, Ive learned about most of the information provided by the Republican Party platform,
but their political stance has helped lean my opinion in their favor. They ultimately support the ideas of
not restricting gun laws any further than what is in place now. Most of my sources do not support the
ideas of stricter gun laws in the United States, so I feel like my ideas support that idea as well. This source
along with the others provides very logical reasons for why law-abiding citizens should not be penalized
for the actions of those who commit violent acts with guns for reasons other than self-defense. Because I
havent found a source that supports stricter gun laws based on recent mass shootings, I think watching a
gun control debate will help finalize my own ideas on gun control in the United States.

"Republican Party on Gun Control." Republican Party on Gun Control. On The Issues, 13 Oct. 2000.
Web. 02 Apr. 2014.

http://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/republican_party_gun_control.htm

Blog Entry 6
The article Stricter gun control laws needed was published on August 18th, 2012 by The Tartan
student-run newspaper at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Amidst what seemed
to be a mass shooting outbreak, the article was published two months after the Aurora, Colorado massacre
and 4 months before the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. The
news article touches on gun activists views on behalf of The Center for Responsive Politics, which
ultimately states that activists arent completely against the idea of guns like many people assume, but
rather believe in ideas like child safety locks on firearms, more extensive background checks on people
attempting to buy them, and possibly raising the age limit to own one.

The Tartan Newspaper is a credible source of information because it is run and written by other college
students who provide news and event coverage of current events to the student population at Carnegie
Mellon University. The information can be trusted because the authors of the news articles get their
information from sources they research like I am currently doing for this project, and the sources they use
can also be traced back to their original sources. Some of those being The Center for Responsive Politics
and the Government Accountability Office. The information is not only current, but directly addresses my
line of inquiry. The information provided by the new article also isnt biased, but rather states direct
summaries and quotations form gun activists.

This source is extremely important to my line of inquiry and research because its the first source Ive
found that speaks against all my other blog entries. Many groups of people disagree with the idea of gun
control and stricter gun laws because they dont fully understand both sides of the story. Coming into this
research project, I assumed that those who were against gun control wanted everyone to have rights to
gun ownership, and those who supported gun control wanted to take all guns away from citizens. This
information really speaks to my other sources because the idea of gun control doesnt take on two
extremes like many presumably think, but instead agrees with many ideas of those against stricter gun
laws. Until now, my ideas of gun control were mainly based around those who are against it, but re-
evaluating my information has shown me that gun activists and anti-gun lobbyists dont want to take
away 2nd amendment rights to people, but actually want to promote gun safety and awareness based on
issues that frequently are shown in the media. Some issues that Ive noticed are the many accidental
deaths of toddlers and children by firearms due to negligent behavior by parents, and also incidents like
the Sandy Hook massacre, where citizens like Adam Lanza, the man responsible for Sandy Hook, was not
mentally evaluated before his purchase of firearms and ammunition yet suffered from extreme mental
instability. My only question now is that if U.S. citizens were more informed about both sides of the gun
control debate, would it be such a bad idea to change our current firearm laws?
"Stricter Gun Control Laws Needed." - The Tartan Online. Ed. Braden Kelner. Rachel Cohen, 18
Aug.2012. Web. 12 Apr. 2014.

http://thetartan.org/2012/8/19/forum/gun-control