The gun control debate is very interesting to me because I have grown up with guns in my house. My dad was in law enforcement, so he always carried a gun for work, and also owns guns for recreation. On the weekends we would go shooting. Conversations about gun safety always came in our house especially before every shooting session. We talked about how to hold the gun and how to point a gun at someone, or even in the general direction of someone, was taboo. "What do you do if you are to find a gun?" was a typical question at the dinner table just to make sure that we knew the correct thing to do. My dad has now retired from law enforcement and opened a business with one of his friends called Cormac Tactical. The new company manufactures and sells fire arms. With my dad educating me since I was a toddler on guns, I think that this topic will be fun to work with. My opinion on gun control may or may not change but I am excited to further my knowledge through this paper.

For this research paper, I will be turning to many sources. The first source I will look at is an article from the New York Times by Richard Perez- Pena, titled "Gun Control Explained". The author is credible because he is writing for a very well known, prestigious publication. He is not biased because he does not seem to leaning way or the other. He is simply explaining the issues at hand by answer questions citizens are curious about. This article is an older article but the explanation of the issue is still relevant to the debate that is currently all over the news. The author takes commonly asked questions by curious citizens on the topic of gun control and answers precisely and clearly. One thing I found helpful was how he stated where different groups stand on the issue. Many people that do not own guns, people in big cities, people in the north, and Democrats tend to lean towards stricter gun control. The people who are mainly against stricter gun control are gun owners, people that live in small towns, people that live in the the south and the west, and the Conservatives. However, this is not all inclusive. There are some Conservatives that lean left and some Democrats that lean right. This information was very helpful and reminded me about the two view points. 

The second source that I will be using in my research is titled "Six Snowballs Thrown in The Gun-Control Debate". It was published by The New Yorker and written by Adam Gopnik. Adam is also credible because he is working for another well known publication. He is also not bias due to the approach of writing he uses. He mentions reason for leaving gun control the same but then refutes them therefore this shows he is knowledgeable on both sides of the issue. The article states 6 statements on why gun control should not exist but then includes an explanation refuting and giving reasons for why the gun control should be in place. One of the reasons stated that gun control is against the second amendment but then the explanation states that the second amendment was meant for military personnel and shuts down the initial statement on how gun control conflicts with the amendment. The article makes great points on how and why gun control is good. 

The third article I have used thus far in my research is written by Jack Hunter and it is titled "How Gun Control Kills". Jack Hunter is credible and a little bias. The bias comes from the source this article was found on. The American Conservative is clearly a right leaning publication. He uses man real examples that are backing up his argument for not changing gun control. It was published through The American Conservative. This article definitely leans right, however, it is a very well written article with good arguments. This article is defending guns. The points that struck me were all the examples of shootings that had been stopped due to gun carriers. The several incidences were the evidence for the claim that gun control doesn't need to be changed. In 2002, in Virginia a law school shooting was stopped by some students that had guns on them and approached the shooter. In Huston, Texas, a shooting was prevented in the work place by two coworkers who were armed legally. Lastly, more recently, in 2012 a church shooting in Colorado was stopped by a congregational member who was carrying a concealed weapon. Law abiding citizens who carry guns appropriately can stop many deaths if they are ever in a situation where there is a mass shooting. Making gun control stricter is effecting US in a negative way. 

These articles really opened my eyes to the issues on hand. I have my opinion but the articles really made me think harder on what I believe. I enjoyed researching this topic for the exploratory analysis and look forward to doing more research. I am glad I picked something I am interested in because it makes the research bearable. I know that people are always going to disagree on the issue, however, I hope that through my research I will learn more and through my paper, I will be able to help my audience learn something as well. 

