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Essay gun control history united states mla scribd
Essay gun control history united states mla scribd
History of gun control in america essay
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In the 2002 documentary, Bowling for Columbine, produced and directed by Michael Moore, an American filmmaker, it focuses on the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Colorado and how two high school boys were able to obtain guns and shoot out their school, killing a teacher and 13 students, before committing suicide. The film uses this event to show America’s history with guns and gives an insight about the past, present and future of America. Michael Moore delivers this film by answering his own questions, such as how the increase rate of guns and homicides in America relate to one another, and why America has the largest number in crime than other countries. Using his fame as an advantage, Moore sets out on his journey to answer his questions …show more content…
He uses this method to not bore the audience and keep them engaged on the issue. For example, at the 47-minute mark of the film, Moore questions why the shooter’s of Columbine were violent, and interviews Marilyn Manson, an American rock musician, as well as Nicole Shleif and Amanda Lamontagne, who were students at Columbine High School and in the same bowling class of the Columbine shooters. Manson expresses his views by addressing that Americans want to put the blame on him for the shooters actions because, “[He] promote hate, violence, suicide, death, drug use and Columbine-like behavior…"(Moore). As for Shleif and Lamontagne, they explained that the shooters in their class were, “Not very social, just kinda kept to themselves” (Moore). Afterwards, Moore takes these interviews and to try to explain why America has a higher rate of shooters than other nations. He applies satire such as, “Why wasn't anyone blaming bowling for warping the minds of Eric and Dylan to commit their evil deeds? Wasn't that just as plausible as blaming Marilyn Manson? After all, it was apparently the last thing they did before the massacre”(Moore). Moore states this and uses satire and logos by providing irony to the situation to show how illogical it is to blame Manson for the shootings at Columbine because it would be as equivalent to blame bowling for the shootings at Columbine. He uses these devices to question the audience, as well as giving them relief of the heavy situation. The shooting at Columbine is a very serious and sensitive issue and although Moore uses satire, he makes sure he uses it with respect to not offend
In the documentary “Bowling for Columbine” directed by Michael Moore there are two scenes that share the same idea of questioning the laws they have in the U.S.A. The first documentary that captivated my attention was the Columbine High School massacre, where Michael Moore examines the culture of guns and violence in America. He used archival footage, camera techniques and sound to give authenticity and strength to the disturbing event. Michael Moore uses specific techniques enabling the audience to empathize with the survivors and their loved ones in order for the viewers to feel their emotions. Graphics are used to first establish the scene of the Columbine shooting, “one hour later” appears on the black screen with white lettering, readying
In the cases of school shootings that took place at Columbine High School, Sandy Hook Elementary, Virginia Tech University and Northern Illinois University, the media highly publicized the fact that the perpetrators were avid video gamers, but why is this important? The media want’s your attention and they are more than willing to say almost anything to get it. They reported that the perpetrators were avid gamers with the implication that there is a well establish connection between the two when there is not. They exploit the fear of parents and concerned citizens by not including relevant corresponding information in order to leave you more interested lea...
April 20th, 1999, Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, experienced a mass shooting. Thirteen people were injured and more than twenty were injured. Twelve were students and one was a teacher. Two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire on their high school for forty one minutes before turning their guns on themselves and committing suicide. School shootings are notorious for making headline news but in 1999, school shooting were not as prevalent as they are in the present day. The media blew up on the catastrophe that was Columbine and many questions were raised, who were these kids and why did they do this? Speculation arose about why they did it. Maybe they were bullied for being goth and social outcasts or maybe they
American Idiot, arguably Green Day’s most famous album, is one of the best example of and the most well-known musical protest of George W Bush. The album marked a milestone for Green Day, the benchmark where they became a political band. In the earlier albums, Armstrong wrote about anxiety, relationships, panic attacks, etc., looking inwards as a muse. However, in American Idiot, Armstrong does a complete 180, writing about politics and the “alienation and anger he felt during the presidency of George W Bush” (Orange). The album was meant to be provocative, to incite a response out of the public. Armstrong states that by being so political, it felt like we “tapped into the culture a bit” (purple). Before American Idiot, Green Day’s “social
Bowling for Columbine is a post-structural film produced by Mike Moore. It leaves a message about America and its people. Today, the world is not a safe place. However, the world is made unsafe by the people who don’t believe it is safe. This is what the film is based on: fear and guns. Bowling For Columbine is a carnivalesque to an extent as it contains many elements of a carnivalesque. These elements are shown through repetition, polyphony of voices and the creation of another world.
From this quote alone it is apparent that Moore structured Bowling For Columbine in a way that would rally the people of America behind tighter gun control. It’s because of this that it becomes even more apparent that Bowling For Columbine was structured in away to provoke emotion and from that promotes the idea that many of its scenes were structured. This is the clearest indication of Moore’s influence as a filmmaker with in the documentary. However although probably the biggest ethical issues, he certainly raises debate with his lack of empathy when interviewing people.
Crime manifests itself in various ways in society and oftentimes difficult to pinpoint what drives people to commit certain actions. The Columbine shooting was a particular incident that ended in tears and suffering which resulted in numerous research as to what was going through the minds of these young individuals at the time of the shooting. Therefore, this paper will analyze specifically the role of differential association- reinforcement as altered by Akers in propelling Dylan Klebold to commit such heinous act, while also giving credit to Edwin Sutherland for first formulating the framework of differential association.
The United States will not soon forget the rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut that came just two weeks before Christmas last year. This tragic event resulted in the death of twenty students and eight adults. Although the event shocked the nation, rampage shootings are nothing new. Over the years, many families have lost loved ones to these horrific events. As a result, these mass shootings such as the one that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary caught public attention leading to a push to find the cause of these events. Out of this research a variety of possible causes came to light consisting of arguments stating that high school bullying, availability of guns, mental illness, violent movies and video games are the cause of mass shootings. However, these researchers and debaters tend to ignore the role of massive media coverage in the increase of copycat shootings in the United States.
When 2 young men, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, went on a shooting spree in Littleton, Colorado, killing 15 people, including themselves, there was a public outcry for censorship of every type of entertainment and changes in gun laws despite Eric Harris’s journal entry titled, “Last Wishes” asking that no one be blamed, other than himself and Klebold, for the massacre (“As You Were”, par. 2). After the 1999 school shooting now simply known as Columbine, a “Newsweek” pole showed that, “about half of all Americans want to see the movie industry, the TV industry, computer game makers, Internet services and gun manufacturers and the NRA make major policy changes to help reduce teen violence” (Alter, par. 1). According to Dave Cullen in his article “Let the Litigation Begin” several lawsuits were filed against the parents of the two boys responsible for the shooting spree claiming that Harris’s and Klebold’s families, “breached their duty of care” by allowing their sons to amass a cache of illegal weapons (Cullen, par. 5). Although the boys’ parents denied such allegations, they settled out of court for $1.6 million (Cullen, par. 5)...
Family environment and the press are two major influences resulting in the recent tragic school shootings. As much as society continues to focus the killing rampages on factors such as television and music, what children are exposed to in reality contributes to the violence. The most recent school shooting in Michigan involved a six-year-old first grader who killed a classmate with a .22 caliber pistol. The news coverage had vanished after two or three days, and I was left wondering what had happened. Considering the fact that the media wore the Columbine incident out, I wanted to know why they did not pay more attention to this school shooting. As evidence did arrive, it was discovered that the child lived in a household where cocaine, heroin, and many other illegal drugs were commonplace. Also in this “home” guns were easily accessible to the child. Children growing up in this type of environment certainly are likely to be held accountable for future violence. Even though I am against the news media presenting too much school violence, Americans should have been deeply disturbed by this shooting because of the child’s young age. The Michigan shooting should have enlightened Americans to the dilemma we face in this country. Two weeks after the Columbine High School shooting, information on the mass murder was still being broadcast on television. The press was feeding young viewers ideas on how to kill their classmates. News was reported how the teenage murderers acquired information regarding building bombs, obtaining guns, smuggling guns into the school, and proceeding to kill their classmates. A mentally unstable teenager could simply watch these news reports and write a book entitled, “How to Slay Your Classmates”. This onslaught was ridiculous and the news coverage should not have been permitted to continue for countless weeks. Society has determined three reasons on which to blame the shootings. First, the nation blamed it on television’s violent programs. Following that, Americans gave the music recording companies the evil eye as well as attacking the gun manufacturers. All of these reasons involve material objects that are unable to think for themselves. Televisions and CD players do not control themselves, people control them. Finally, boundaries controlling the television programs children view should be set by the parents. The same explanation applies to firearms. How can it be a gun’s fault that a person killed another human being?
Bowling for Columbine is a very informative documentary film that showed a lot of what people didn’t want to see; the truth behind Columbine; behind gun control; and behind a violent national history that has lead to bloodshed and fear throughout our society. It asks the question that has been a debate for centuries, is it really okay to have the right to bear arms when our children are killing each other? Another issue that has also been debated for centuries is if guns should be so readily available for purchase? In Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore showed just how easy it is to get a gun by opening a checking account from a local bank. After the proper paperwork and a background check he walked out with a free hunting rifle, but before he left he asked the bank associate, “Do you think it’s a little dangerous handing out guns at a bank?” He walked out holding his new hunting rifle with no reply from the bank associate.
In American society, violence runs rampage throughout the country that cause its citizens to be afraid and discouraged about their homeland. One of the major parts of American violence is from guns. In the documentary, "Bowling for Columbine", a famous filmmaker, Michael Moore addresses the ubiquitous situation in America. He argues that the use of gun in America co-insides or correlates to the recent massacres and that America, as a whole, should have stricter gun control laws. Throughout the film, Moore uses specific references to it and employs rhetorical and persuasive devices to construct his argument in favor of changing gun laws.
This essay is going to talk about one of the deadliest school shootings that killed 13 students and injured several. On April 20, 1999 two teens went on a shooting spree killing 13 and wounded several more before turning the guns on to them killing themselves. The columbine shooting one of the worst shootings in U.S history raised a debate on the gun control and school safety. This essay is going to bring out the real cause of the shooters actions and apply two juvenile delinquency theories to them.
With the media shining so much light upon this topic, it is evident that mass murders in the United States of America are more frequent and deadly. In fact, studies have found that the USA has more mass public shootings than any other country (Christensen). These numbers have only been increasing in the past decades. This is shocking because the USA holds only 5 percent of the world’s population, but as a nation, contributes to 31 percent of mass murders (Christensen). Although these murders continue to be a rare phenomenon, weak gun laws, the need for fame, and issues with societal views are the main causes of the increase in cases.
“People are so unaware...well, Ignorance is bliss I guess… that would explain my depression.” (Klebold, Dylan). With that sentence, I divulged myself into the most horrendous, sad journal I have ever read, hoping to gain some insight into a disturbed young man’s mind. On April 20th, 1999, Dylan Klebold accompanied his friend, Eric Harris, in one of the most publicized and shocking school shootings of the modern day--The Columbine Massacre. With their sawed-off shotguns and godlike dispositions, the boys exacted their revenge not only on their peers, but on themselves. As the nightmare collapsed, and thirteen people lay dead, the questions began. How could two boys so young commit this crime? What forced them to be this way? For the Klebold family, one question remained: How had Dylan become involved in one of the crimes of the century?