America's Complex Relationship With Guns

11/6/2017

Review the article from the Pew Research Center and answer the questions below. (5pts max)
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2017/06/22/americas-complex-relationship-with-guns/

1) Identify the ties that bind gun owners to their firearms.

2) How can assessing the demographics of gun ownership help with reforming gun policy?

3) Why is gun legislation such a partisan issue, and what needs to be done to improve the communication between voter and representative?

13 Comments

Autumn Knabe

11/9/2017 09:47:25 am

1. Many households in the United States today have guns, whether it's for hunting, shooting, or just protection. On average the people have shot a gun around the age 12-17. But men and women vary. Men usually start at around age 19, while women around age 27. But the households that start at a younger age probably have had more experience with shooting guns, and the ties may be deeper. To them owning a gun is normal, and couldn't see them living without any guns

2. Maybe so they can get an idea about how many people own guns and they could pinpoint them all to try to get a better look at what the plan could be.

3. I think it is a big issue because there are so many guns in the U.S, but not all of them fall into the right hands. Also, the voters and representatives should have better communication so they can find a good solutions that involve guns.

Ava

11/9/2017 02:39:27 pm

1. One thing that ties guns and owners,is owners see having the right to a firearm as a freedom. A another thing is people who own guns live in a social environment where it's the norm to have guns. Third reason is some people have grown up in a household their whole life with a gun. They are use to having them around and using them even just for hunting.

2. Assessing the demographics of gun ownership helps with reforming gun policies because it shows the stats for who owns guns, have lived in a household with them, and why they think you should/shouldn't have a gun. There's many other stats though.This can show people where the problems stem from and what they should do.

3. There's a partisan issue because "more than four in ten republicans and republican-leaning independents are gun owners, compared with 20% of Democrats and independents who lean democratic" Both sides aren't able to agree on their views for gun laws. Expanding them and being more strict or vice versa. What needs to be done is them statistically seeing what's the problem and how to fix it. Communicate and stop arguing their point of view. It isn't on what side you're on necessarily.It's a situation that needs to be done and they have let little things effect what they've gotten done in the way.

Karyssa Endecott link

11/10/2017 08:25:08 am

1) Identify the ties that bind gun owners to their firearms.
There are obvious ties between any person and there possessions, but is that bond safe when it comes to guns. A tie that may be present in a gun owners mind is the fact that they, the gun-owner, believes that owning a firearm is his/hers right . They see it as a freedom, this is why when the anti-gun law was being present they took offense. Most individuals that own firearms have been raised around guns, this leads to a sense of home and family which one is not given up easily. Last factor that may tie a firearm to its owner is fear. Sadly, this is true people who fear for their safety in their own home may resort to purchasing a firearm to have that feeling of protection.

2) How can assessing the demographics of gun ownership help with reforming gun policy? Assessing the demographics of gun-owners is very beneficial. The statistics show who owns a gun. By knowing who has a gun officials can research if these gun-owners are fit to have a gun by further checking medical history and mental health. This information can help lower the rate of mentally unstable people owning dangerous weapons.

3) Why is gun legislation such a partisan issue, and what needs to be done to improve the communication between voter and representative? The anti-gun law is actually not a bad idea but the way that representatives are approaching such a sensitive point is making gun-owners and others grow weary. Representatives come off like every person that owns a gun is bound to shoot someone someday, there putting the blame on the guns, when in reality the blame is on the people. A way to help this communication is to explain that they understand that not every gun-owner is dangerous but that they also understand that some individuals that purchase these weapons have evil intentions and that is why they would like to start the anti-gun law. This law will not stop someone from getting a gun or shooting people but they hope that it will lower the statistics of shooting the U.S. I believe that if representatives let voters understand this side of the anti-gun law that it would put voters at ease at least a small amount and help voters understand this law more.

Madalyn Davis

11/12/2017 10:45:15 pm

Identify the ties that bind gun owners to their firearms. The number one reason to owning a gun is for protection. Two thirds of gun owners have this as their reason for owning a firearm. Along with those who own guns for the purposes of hunting, sport shooting, their jobs, or a gun collection. For some people, they have been around guns their entire life and it is now “normal” to them.
How can assessing the demographics of gun ownership help with reforming gun policy? Assessing the demographics of gun ownership can allow official to know the stats and other important stipulations such as how the gun is used, who uses the gun, and who will be around the firearm.
Why is gun legislation such a partisan issue, and what needs to be done to improve the communication between voter and representative? Gun legislation is a partisan issue due to the fact that the republican party compared to the democratic party overwhelmingly supports loosening gun laws, whether or not they own a gun themselves. Besides the fact that they have similar attitudes towards shortening the waiting periods and allowing concealed carry without a permit, they need to look at the over stats in regards to gun ownership and communicate to come to a middle ground on their viewpoints.

Mason Dunn

11/16/2017 12:11:01 am

1) Identify the ties that bind gun owners to their firearms.
- Because there are some many gun owners in America, we can expect to see some ties that bind the gun owners to their firearms. One example of this is that people simply cant not have a gun. 73% of gun owners say they could never see themselves not owning a gun. Many of these American gun owners also feel as if gun ownership is a norm, and exist in a social context where it is as well. About half of all these gun owners have friends that also own guns. Because these people have so many influences that also own guns, they may feel pressured to give up their guns at the cost of being frowned upon by those around them who still own a gun. Gun owners can feel pressured by simply being with other people who have strong gun views. People are a lot easy to influence as well when they are younger. Because of this it is very easy for a young child/teen to feel that owning a gun is normal behavior if he grows up in a home that has guns. Gun owners can also be tied to their firearms because they simply feel like it is a right for them to own a gun.
2) How can assessing the demographics of gun ownership help with reforming gun policy?
- I feel like the information found in the demographics of gun ownership is not only somewhat surprising, but also very helpful to use to see who exactly has the chance of buying a gun, and or who we need to look out for when it comes to the ownership of a gun. These stats can analyze which race, gender, age and more, of people will be likely to own a gun, and therefore help determine which group of people are most likely to act out with a gun in violence, based on how many people own a gun in that particular group.
3) Why is gun legislation such a partisan issue, and what needs to be done to improve the communication between voter and representative?

Haylee Gibbs link

11/17/2017 07:58:51 pm

1) Identify the ties that bind gun owners to their firearms.

Some of the ties that bind gun owners to their firearms is the sense of self-protection. Gun owners feel like they need a gun to protect themselves in any situation that is harming them or their family. Another tie that binds gun owners to their guns is that they need them for hunting or sport shooting. In hunting and sport shooting you need a gun just like you would need a basketball to play the sport basketball and a baseball to play baseball.

2) How can assessing the demographics of gun ownership help with reforming gun policy?

Assessing the demographics of gun ownership can help with reforming the gun policy. People can use the demographics to see who is shooting the gun why they are shooting the gun and who is with them when they are shooting the gun. They can then use this data to make the gun policy the way it needs to be to let people use it with freedom but still have some safety restraints on the use of the gun.

3) Why is gun legislation such a partisan issue, and what needs to be done to improve the communication between voter and representative?

Gun legislation is a m issue because some of the people who own a gun a people with bad intentions and will use their gun to do illegal things. Something that can be done to improve the communication between voter and representative is to have something similar to a press conference when voters can discuss topics with the representative and they can figure out ways to make our world better.

Yulisa Alcauter

11/21/2017 01:06:16 pm

1.For most gun owners it is tied to their freedom. Most feel like they need a gun to defend their families or themselves. Or other say they need a gun for hunting, which they see as their form of "sport" or pastime.
2. Assessing the demographic of gun ownership helps with reforming gun policy by knowing who owns a gun and the sellers to be able to make further background investigation to see if they are fit to have a gun , with no mental issues or a criminal background making the world a little safer.
3. Gun legislation is such a difficult issue because in average 4 in 10 republicans are gun owners and 20% of democrats are gun owners as well making it difficult for both non-gun owners & gun owners to agree on one thing. To fix this they should stop arguing and taking sides so much and rather make solutions & more strict laws about guns without completely taking the rights away.

tayah hott

12/11/2017 03:58:01 pm

1) Things that tie a gun owner to owning their gun is their rights. They know that the have a right to own a gun so they can go get one pretty easily. Another thing is for protection. Some people like in crime ridden cities and they need a gun to keep them and their families safe. Other people like to hunt and use guns for hunting so they own a gun for only that purpose.
2)Assessing the demographics of gun owners can be very beneficial because you can see who owns guns and see the age groups that mostly own guns. Once you do that then you can see how you should approach the idea of a gun reformation that will make it should appealing to all the groups of people.
3)Gun legislation is such a bad issue because although most people buy a gun with good intentions in mind, and large about of people buy guns with the intentions to hurt themselves or other people. To improve communication between the voter and representative, the representative needs to make it more clear about what they want to do.

Kaylee Ford link

12/12/2017 09:55:06 pm

1. Gun owners are tied to their firearms for many reasons. One of which is, most gun owners believe it is their right to bear arms as part of their freedom. Another reason would be, they grew up with a gun in their house. As a child it made them feel safe, so as they grow up, the same safety is wanted. The final reason would be, gun owners say that it is normal to own a gun. Their friends and neighbors own them.
2. Assessing the demographics of gun ownership would be very helpful with reforming our gun policy. These statistics help show us who is more likely to buy a gun, and why. Our policies and be reformed to better prevent people who shouldn't own guns from owning them. It would know who to target.
3. Gun legislation is such a partisan issue because people aren't willing to compromise. No one wants to listen to the other side, people just want to defend their rights and beliefs. There are many things that can be done to improve communication between the voter and the representatives. Examples of these would be to explain themselves, and show that they do understand the other side. Trust needs to be built between voters and the representatives.

Erin Osadjan

12/13/2017 08:56:14 am

1) Identify the ties that bind gun owners to their firearms.
Many gun owners are bound to their guns by reason of hunting, sport shooting, or personal protection. On top of the reasons people are connected with the importance of their guns, many gun owners also associate their guns as a crucial part of their freedoms.

2) How can assessing the demographics of gun ownership help with reforming gun policy?

When trying to reform gun policies, better understanding who owns guns makes it easier to create new policies that even these people would support, not just non-gun owning Americans. A majority of people who own a gun do so for personal protection, so they may hear talk about potential gun reform, and if they don't complete research of their own they will fall into the story on social media that liberals are trying to take away their guns, which simply isn't true.

3) Why is gun legislation such a partisan issue, and what needs to be done to improve the communication between voter and representative?

For the most part, Republicans are more supportive of a small, limited government while Democrats support a larger, more involved government which ties into their gun views. Democrats want in increase in background checks, preventing mentally ill/people on the no fly list from purchasing a gun, creating a federal database to track gun sales, and want to ban assault rifles/high-capacity magazines, wile Republicans want the opposite.

Maddie Woodcock

12/15/2017 12:51:36 pm

1) Identify the ties that bind gun owners to their firearms.
Gun owners have many different ties to their guns. Some of them may be hunting (for fun and sport) or for personal protection. Some gun owners believe that they should have a gun because it is part of their "freedom".

2) How can assessing the demographics of gun ownership help with reforming gun policy?
Determining who owns guns and why they own guns can help set policies in place that will keep everyone safe and protected. And by assessing who owns guns and for what reasons, you can apply policies that they can agree with and won't get upset about.

3) Why is gun legislation such a partisan issue, and what needs to be done to improve the communication between voter and representative?
Gun legislation is such a partisan issue because both republicans and democrats are opinionated and neither like to compromise very much. One way that voters and representatives can communicate more would be to open polls online or have some type of system where gun and non gun owners can voice their opinion on gun legislation. Another way would be conferences where people could attend and listen to representatives speak about policies, and voice their opinions on the issue.

Shannon Osadjan

12/19/2017 12:04:27 am

1) Gun owners are bound to their firearms mainly for the reasoning of hunting, personal protection, or sports shooting. However, many gun owners enjoy having a gun to justify their freedom.They feel that having a gun helps them prove their right to own one.

2) Assessing the demographics of gun ownership help with reforming gun policy by having accurate stats available of who owns a gun, what their intentions are, and if they are fit to own one. Having this information available makes it easier to make fair policies about the ownership of guns.

3) Gun legislation is such a partisan issue due mainly to the fact that no one wants to be told that their thoughts are wrong. For example, a person with strong views of guns wouldn't like to be told that guns can be bad and can be very dangerous, even just to own them. They would more than likely get angry at a comment like this rather than understanding that that is also true. To improve the communication between voter and representative there can be open discussions to people of the public along with representatives where they share all opinions about this and come up with a mutual understanding of it all. I think that if the public knew that representatives wanted to hear their opinions more they may be more accepting to hearing views from the other side.

blake crosbie

12/19/2017 10:56:56 am

1. many people own guns for protection incase of emergency or just for hunting purposes. 2 to give people a better understanding about there rights with owning guns.3 the issue isnt the guns its the owner and in order to change that we have to have better background checks on military soliders that buy guns and just anyone that buys guns.

America's Complex Relationship With Guns

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