ARGUMENT PAPER

Argument Paper

Argument Paper

Less than a year from now, Americans will be casting their vote in the upcoming presidential election. Numerous issues have surged to the front of the political agenda as the candidates begin their campaigns. The War in Iraq, oil prices, and the economy are several of the highly debated issues for the 2008 presidential election. However, I feel that there are more pressing issues that need to be resolved within our country, such as, homeland security and the securing of our borders to insure our own safety before we can properly address these other tribulations (Malone, 2006). The two biggest concerns that come to mind when you think of homeland security is gun control and immigration. Out of the candidates running this year one stands out to me the most and that is John McCain. He has overcome such great obstacles to get to the place he is today and I can assure you that it wasn't easy. During the Vietnam War he was shot down in his plane and was kept as a POW for nearly five and a half years, of which three and a half were spent in solitary confinement. While kept in the numerous Vietnamese prison camps, he was repeatedly beaten and tortured defending our country and what it stands for.

Gun control can be very misleading depending on the person, type of gun, and situation. A need has grown in our society to eliminate violent crimes related to firearms and assault weapons, but how can we come to a compromise when the past 15 years the NRA and Brady Law advocates have been at each other's throats. ”For years, the NRA opposed any regulations on firearms, fearing they would be a “slippery slope” to an outright ban on guns.” (Catherine, 2002) On the other hand, people who are in favor of the Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act want there to be some reasonable restrictions in purchasing a gun, such as, requiring background checks when purchasing a gun from a retailer and if the Act had been reinstated back in 2004 they would have proposed the denial of gun sales at gun shows to people convicted of violent crimes, “ballistic fingerprinting”, and smart guns. A lot of distressed citizens created havoc when the Bush Administration showed no concern in re-establishing the Brady Law and even went as far as accusing him of making it effortless for criminals and terrorists to acquire these assault weapons. John Snyder, chief lobbyist for the Citizens' Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, declared, “If a fellow is a criminal, he's not going to sign a paper and wait for a background check. It disarms the innocent.” (Catherine, 2002)“He believes the recent spate of NRA-backed state laws allowing people to carry concealed weapons has done more than anything else to combat crime. Since 1987, the number of states with so-called right-to-carry laws has jumped from 10 to 38.” (Adams, 2004)

Four out of every 10 Americans own ...