Over the past decade gun violence in America has increased drastically urging society to call on the government to produce a solution to this problem. I intend to find out what the American government can do, and is willing to do, to transformation the current gun laws without limiting citizens' rights. Both sides repeatedly debate over proposed bills and each party's argument must be taken into serious account. On one side, Conservatives believe American rights should not be restricted. The 2nd amendment in the U.S. constitution states citizens have the "right to bear arms". On the other side, Liberals believe gun violence has gotten out of control. Laws that will restrict the sale of firearms and toughen the process it takes to buy a gun is the main point being pushed for by Liberals. Also, I feel qualified to write on this topic because I have previous experience with this issue. I frequently go recreational shooting and hunting, obliging me to be knowledgeable of the process that it takes to acquire a firearm. I have similarly studied many other sources that address this issue and have obtained enough knowledge to understand both sides of this problem. 

In The Dishonest Gun Control Debate written by Kevin D. Williamson, it describes why guns are not the cause behind America's drastically high homicide numbers. Williamson argues that citizens are over reacting about gun related deaths, the majority (about 2/3) of these are suicides assisted by a firearm. This means restraining gun privileges in America will not influence the homicide rate. The major interest at stake in the article is the risk of Americans losing gun privileges. This article was written to inform citizens that guns are not the reason behind the country's extremely high homicide rate, they are just an easy target to criticize. Williamson is clearly bias toward conservative views which is the reason for the source being bias as well. Williamson is creditable because he has been in the journalism business for over 15 years and regularly writes on many controversial topics. This article came from the magazine National Review, a company that focuses on discussing debatable political topics. The Dishonest Gun Control Debate is a very strong source that will aid me in debating this topic. 

This next source is the most bias of the three sources and rightfully titled 7 Reasons Liberals Are Wrong on Gun Control. This article bestows many major claims and evidence of why Liberal gun reform laws will not work and how they will have a damaging impact on society. It expresses that future gun laws won't prevent mass shootings from occurring or stop criminals from acquiring guns. The major values discussed in this article will have the biggest impact on sportsman and hunters who will be wrongfully punished from these new restrictions: harder background checks, assault rifle ban, and laws to regulate passion of multiple firearms. Increasing gun control laws will also have an effect on people's self-defense. Guns, for example, help to equalize the threat of a break-in for woman and elderly people. This article has a major interest for the people who rightfully use guns. The creditability of the author is unknown because the article does not mention who the author is. The website where this article was published is also bias. Conservatives United.com is bias towards this issue, however there is no reason presented demonstrating why using this source would be an issue. 

Liberalism's Gun Problem written by Ross Douthat is offered from Liberal's point of view, in spite that he disagrees with many of the Liberal claims. Douthat's major claim is for the government to reduce the amount of guns in America. It's not hard for a criminal to access a firearm, and Douthat refers to the "buy-back" action used in Australia to reduce the amount of guns in their country. The major interest at stake in this article impacts the citizens who would feel the pressure to sell back their guns. The Liberals aren't going to be as directly affected as the Conservatives, who of the majority, own guns. The Conservatives will feel their rights being restricted from this "buy-back" program. This article comes from the New York Times, a respectable newspaper. Douthat the author of this article is the senior editor for the newspaper and lives in Washington dealing frequently with this controversy making him a creditable source. 

My research question is arguable because there are many methods the government can take to reform gun laws in America, yet still abiding to the constitution. Between the sources the main arguments lay between the facts that gun crimes are often not homicides, weapons ban won't impact criminal activity, and gun reduction would not solve crime. The different sources give multiple perspectives that I agree and disagree with. I lean towards the Conservative side on gun reform. Nevertheless, some portions of liberal reforms make sense to help secure the general public but many other parts of Liberal reform do not make sense. I may perhaps revise my research question from what the government plans on doing about gun control to something more specific about what the government is doing to solve the problem. This question works well towards understanding the arguments of this topic.

