In Defense of Gun Control Laws Essay Example for Free

In Defense of Gun Control Laws Essay Guns have always been associated with crimes. The use of guns may either work in the positive or the negative way. On the positive side, it could help in deterring the proliferation of crimes. The mere use or presence of it is sufficient for other criminals to stop their criminal intents. However, this is just one way of looking at gun use and ownership. If guns could be used for combating crimes and criminals, it could also be used to the proliferation of criminal acts. Many evil minded people would utilize firearms in order to compel people to do as they desire—including unlawful acts. The mere presence of a gun is sufficient to threaten an individual and to put one’s life in danger. Any wrong move in using a loaded gun might be the end for another’s life. It is due to this reason that the ownership, possession and use thereof are strictly regulated by the state. For anti-gun control advocates, they feel the need for less strict regulations on gun control and ownership. They are advocating that the laws be relaxed and for the law makers that gun ownership is essential in fighting criminals and crimes. It serves as the ordinary man’s protection against abusive individuals. In this day and age, there so many crimes that are being committed and a great number of criminals causing chaos to society, thus, the need for greater protection against them. Such advocates also invoke that it is their constitutional to own guns. However, in a case decided last June 2008 by the United States Supreme Court, it was upheld that reasonable efforts under of controlling the proliferation of firearms on the hands of private individuals is allowed. The law enforcers and makers however should be guided that there should be no outright ban on handguns (Newsbatch, 2008). This ruling of the Supreme Court would indicate that ownership of guns is not only limited to the military but it also extends to ordinary individuals so long as there is proper regulation. Indeed there is nothing wrong in the ownership and possession of guns as long as there is proper regulation thereof of the enactment and recognition of gun control laws. Blackstone, a former US District Court Judge also shares the view that the public should not be prohibited of their right to bear arms. They should be accorded this right especially in a country where there is a vast militia power. The bearing of firearms is the security of the people against abuse and their mode of defending themselves. However, this should be done in moderation and should be properly regulated (Guncite, 2007). In opposition to the claim that the ownership and possession of guns help deter criminality in the country, this cannot hold to be always true. As previously indicates, the use of guns may work positively or negatively. Instead of stopping crimes, it could even be the means of committing thereof. According to the article of Deborah White (n. d. ), the United States has the highest number of private people owning guns. There are about 80 million Americans of 50 percent of the total homes which own 223 million of guns. Attached with this figure is the fact that more than 30, 000 men and women in the United States die each year due to gun shoot wounds, this is the highest homicide rate from guns around the world. Moreover, it should be noted that among the 30, 000 deaths indicated above, only 1, 500 of which are caused by accidental killings. This is a very alarming figure since it would imply that the high percentage gun ownership and gun shot related incidents have a positive relation. The more guns there are in the streets, the greater is the number of people dying with a bullet on their bodies. Policy Almanac (n. d. ) also reported that there has been a 173 percent increase from 1985 to 1993 and 126 percent from 1993 to 1999 in the number of homicides which are annually committed with the use of a firearm by persons who are between the ages 14 to 24. The figures should serve as a wake up call for law enforcers and remind them the need to properly regulate the ownership of guns and the use thereof. There should be more restrictive laws to be imposed by the state. Stricter measures could lead to lesser crime rate as well as crime related incidents. In order the address the issue on gun control, several laws were enacted federally and locally or by state. On the federal level, the first major mandate was enacted in 1934. Based on this initiative, the sale of machine guns and other fully automatic firearms will be regulated. Four years after such legislation, another law was passed requiring gun sellers to have a license. In addition, the law also prohibits the sale of guns to those who have been convicted of violent crimes. The next law which addressed the issue on gun ownership was passed in 1968. This law is the Gun Control Act of 1968. Based on the said law, imported guns are to be regulated and gun-licensing requirements will be increased. The list of people who should not own and should not be sold with firearms was extended to individuals who have been convicted with any form of non-business related crime, those who are incompetent mentally d those who have been using illegal drugs. After the said legislation, another federal law was again passed in 1986. Such mandate indicated mandatory penalties on the use of a gun to commit federal felonies. Included in the said law is the prohibition on the use of bullets which have the capacity to penetrate bulletproof apparel. Manufacture and importation of semi-automatic assault weapons were also banned in 1990 (Newsbatch, 2008). After the said law was promulgated by the Congress, another federal gun regulation was passed in 1994, the Brady Bill. The said bill is considered as the most comprehensive federal effort on gun control. Through this law, a five day waiting period is necessary before purchasers can have their guns. Such period would give the law enforcement agencies to investigate the background of the purchaser. However, this law did not last as it was declared by the Supreme Court to be an infringement on state’s rights. The law was re-drafted and provided that the conducting of background investigation will be accomplished through a national computer system. The provision on the five day waiting period was also removed. In terms of the state or local laws, there has been variance in the enactment of the laws. However, the common provisions include Child Access Prevention law or the prohibition on leaving a loaded weapon which could be easily accessed by a minor. Another is the concealed weapon law or the need to obtain a license which would allow one to carry a concealed weapon. Others include the following: regulation of private sale to minors, regulating all secondary market sales, ban on assault weapons and the one hand gun a month laws, among others. Despite these seemingly comprehensive laws, there is a need to impose stricter measures in order to regulate the ownership, use and possession of guns. Although it is recognized that there is a need for guns in the society, the continued sale thereof to private individuals and the growing number of people who own such should be carefully studied. Guns are very dangerous. It carries with it an authority which no other object could possess. The mere presence thereof is already a cause for alarm. People who have such may use it to protect themselves or to threaten other people. Given the extraordinary authority accorded to firearms, people who are not properly oriented with the use thereof may abuse such authority. Thus, there is a need to regulate the use, possession and ownership thereof to have proper guidance and to eliminate the bad effects thereof to the society. The authority that comes with any firearm carries with it the responsibility to utilize it only to purposes to which it was intended and not to create abuse. Despite the high funding that come from anti-gun control laws, politicians should comply with their basic responsibility to uphold the common good in the society. They should not be easily swayed by the sources of their funds during the last elections.

Violence and Sexuality in Video Games Essay -- Video Games

Violence and Sexuality in Video Games Unlike popular belief, the first violent video game was not Mortal Kombat. The killing started with a game called Death Race 2000 released in 1976 by Exidy Software. It was based on a B movie by the same title and features the main theme of the movie in the game: to run people over. You control the car to run over people, and the people you have killed become a cross. Needless to say, the game was quick to draw attentions towards it. The criticism from Americans all over the nation eventually got the game pulled off the market. One would think that the game must have been pretty intense and gruesome if it attracted such a response. Nope†¦not a bit†¦in fact, this is how the game looks: Things stay quiet until the 1980’s in which the Atari 2600 debuts. Out of the flood of titles being produced, someone decided that sex sells, even in videogames (geez†¦what a concept†¦). So a company by Mystique released Custer’s Revenge. The game had the player control a man named General George Custer going after a Native American maiden named Revenge, hence the title, Custer’s Revenge. Unfortunately, this game did not involve anyone saving a Native American princess; instead, the player has to control Custer and help him cross the playing field safely, while dodging cactus and arrows from Native Americans. Awaiting Custer on the other side of the field is Revenge, and the reward was that Custer gets to have sex with Revenge, on the screen, depicted by a group of flesh colored pixels (as shown on the left). The game received heat from women’s advocate groups and the Native American communities. Custer’s Revenge was so bad that many retailers refused to car... ...t that a 9 or 10 year old can have easy access to games such as Grand Theft Auto is just scary. I found option number 3 to be too extreme. Regulations are necessary, but option 3 would leave companies very restricted in terms of creativity and set a sense of fear in the game developers. Also, option 3 will impede one’s right to purchase the game one wants, without the eyes of big brother watching. Overall, option 2 is the most balanced, it deals with the weakest part of the rating system, and that is the enforcement of the ratings. Most retails now do not enforce the ESRB’s rating system; almost anyone can buy whatever game they want without fail. With option 2, the retailers are now more responsible than before in watching what their customers buy. This way, we can keep Mature games out of the hands of young children, yet adults can buy them if they wish to. Violence and Sexuality in Video Games Essay -- Video Games Violence and Sexuality in Video Games Unlike popular belief, the first violent video game was not Mortal Kombat. The killing started with a game called Death Race 2000 released in 1976 by Exidy Software. It was based on a B movie by the same title and features the main theme of the movie in the game: to run people over. You control the car to run over people, and the people you have killed become a cross. Needless to say, the game was quick to draw attentions towards it. The criticism from Americans all over the nation eventually got the game pulled off the market. One would think that the game must have been pretty intense and gruesome if it attracted such a response. Nope†¦not a bit†¦in fact, this is how the game looks: Things stay quiet until the 1980’s in which the Atari 2600 debuts. Out of the flood of titles being produced, someone decided that sex sells, even in videogames (geez†¦what a concept†¦). So a company by Mystique released Custer’s Revenge. The game had the player control a man named General George Custer going after a Native American maiden named Revenge, hence the title, Custer’s Revenge. Unfortunately, this game did not involve anyone saving a Native American princess; instead, the player has to control Custer and help him cross the playing field safely, while dodging cactus and arrows from Native Americans. Awaiting Custer on the other side of the field is Revenge, and the reward was that Custer gets to have sex with Revenge, on the screen, depicted by a group of flesh colored pixels (as shown on the left). The game received heat from women’s advocate groups and the Native American communities. Custer’s Revenge was so bad that many retailers refused to car... ...t that a 9 or 10 year old can have easy access to games such as Grand Theft Auto is just scary. I found option number 3 to be too extreme. Regulations are necessary, but option 3 would leave companies very restricted in terms of creativity and set a sense of fear in the game developers. Also, option 3 will impede one’s right to purchase the game one wants, without the eyes of big brother watching. Overall, option 2 is the most balanced, it deals with the weakest part of the rating system, and that is the enforcement of the ratings. Most retails now do not enforce the ESRB’s rating system; almost anyone can buy whatever game they want without fail. With option 2, the retailers are now more responsible than before in watching what their customers buy. This way, we can keep Mature games out of the hands of young children, yet adults can buy them if they wish to.

Phillis Wheatley Essay

The exotic daughter of Africa whose poetry inspired a cause of freedom and social justice in a different land while using the traditional religious view of her heritage. Whose words and symbolism still resonate through the world as reminders of a dream of equality and freedom from monarchal tyranny. This exemplary figure of true patriotism is Phillis Wheatley an African woman born along the Gambia River in Africa to the Fulani tribe (Shields 473). In two of her finest works â€Å"To his Excellency General Washington† and â€Å"Liberty and Peace† Phillis Wheatley uses the African tradition of solar worship to justify the American Revolution. Phillis Wheatley was born around 1753 to a Fulani woman who either practiced an ancient tribal form of solar worship or was a devout Muslim. Wheatley had only one fond memory of her life in Africa and that memory is of her mother performing a ritual every morning to the sun. ‘â€Å"before the sun at his rising† and then â€Å"prostrating herself† in the direction of the risen sun,†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Shields 473). The theory that Phillis Wheatley’s mother was a Muslim is plausible because the rising sun is in the direction of Mecca. Also, the word of Islam had spread to this part of Africa and the number of Muslims in western Africa was growing during that time period. However, the theory that Phillis Wheatley’s mother is Muslim is discredited through the use of sun allusions in Wheatley’s poetry. â€Å"Her mother’s solar worship surely is the source of her exaltation of the sun, which she names in her poems nine times as Aurora; as Apollo, seven; as Phoebus, twelve, and as Sol, twice,† (Shields). This shows the love and admiration that Phillis Wheatley had for the sun; a love that was instilled in her by her mother when Wheatley was a small child watching her mother praise Apollo. â€Å"To his Excellency General Washington† was published in April of 1776 by Phillis Wheatley in Boston Massachusetts. This poem to George Washington commemorates him for his efforts to promote freedom. This was the first written work to be published that supported him in his endeavor to free the young country (Williams). In the opening lines of the poem Phillis Wheatley uses a muse, a device of neoclassicism, which exposes the inspiration for her literary work. The muse of this poem is the celestial choir which can be interpreted as the sun god because in line one she writes, â€Å"Celestial choir! enthron’d in realms of light,† (CITATION POETRY FOR STUDENTS). â€Å"Enthron’d in realms of light† means that light surrounds the celestial choir which must come from the sun. In lines nine through twelve Wheatley explains a sun goddess that aides the American cause, â€Å"The Goddess comes, she moves divinely fair/†¦Wherever shines this native of the skies/ Unnumber’d charms and recent graces rise,† (CITATION POETRY FOR STUDENTS). This native of the skies shines wherever she roams; she is the female embodiment of the sun god. . She understands the validity of the American cause because she is fair and just that is why she supports America. The goddess shines on America and with this divine light comes unnumbered charms and graces that fall upon the young nation. She helps America by protecting them in the ultimate struggle they have at hand against the British. The theme of the poem is expressed in lines thirty one through thirty two, â€Å"And so may you, whoever dares disgrace/ This land of freedom’s heaven-defended race,† (CITATION POETRY FOR STUDENTS). The theme of this poem is simply freedom; freedom for the common man, woman and child, and that no person should be subject to any form of oppression or tyranny. The message of freedom is exemplified in these lines because America is being defended by the solar goddess. She promotes the continuation of the belief that every man is entitled freedom by birth. Therefore, these lines show that America is justified by heaven to fight the British. This heavenly protection serves as defense and as a means of dissuading any advances on America. The first line shows the warning to all that may want to pose a threat to America because it is a land of freedom that is divinely protected by the sun goddess. So, these two lines show that America is a land of freedom and that it is defende d by the sun goddess against all that transgress against America’s boundaries. After the defeat of the British in the American Revolutionary War and the Treaty of Paris of 1783 was signed, Phillis Wheatley wrote â€Å"Liberty and Peace†; a poem that celebrated the new countries independence (Shields 489-490). The poem was published in 1784 and praised the defeat of Britannia by America, which has just been established as a sovereign state (Doak 86). It was also one of her last notable works because during that same year she passed away (O’Neale). The overall theme and message of the poem is that America is noble and just for fighting for its independence and that she is and will always be divinely protected. Britain is considered a menace and dictator for holding the colonies back for becoming their own separate country (Jamison). In â€Å"Liberty and Peace† on line sixty four Phillis Wheatley explains how her ancestral sun god is on the side of America and that it is the reason why America defeated the British. The line reads, â€Å"And Heavenly Freedom spread her gold Ray,† (O’Neale). This line shows that the golden ray of heaven will be spread by heavenly freedom. The golden ray was graced upon America by the female embodiment of the sun god. This ray of freedom will spread to any land where America spreads its sails. America being able to spread its ray of freedom is shown in lines sixty two through sixty three of â€Å"Liberty and Peace†, â€Å"Where e’er Columbia spreads her swelling Sails/ To every Realm shall Peace her Charms display,† (O’Neale). This quote illustrates that the golden ray placed upon America by the sun goddess will spread to other lands by heavenly freedom. That any land America encounters will be instilled with the American virtues of p eace and freedom. Phillis Wheatley is a true American patriot for the American quest of peace and freedom from the British menace. She uses her ancestral tradition of solar worship to justify the American cause and to support the troops in their enormous endeavor. In â€Å"To his Excellency General Washington† Phillis Wheatley illustrates a sun goddess that aides on the side of the Americans during the revolutionary war. Wheatley goes on to further explain that American people are a group of people that are divinely protected because they exemplify a spirit of freedom that has never been seen in the world to date. In â€Å"Liberty and Peace† Phillis Wheatley shows that the values and beliefs that are at the core of America are protected by the sun god; that is the reason why America was able to triumph over the British. It was able to because it was fighting for freedom and the sun god protects and defends the righteous in all their endeavors. America will also inspire every land she touches to fight for freedom and equality because America is heavenly defended and her virtues are protected by the sun god. It is clear to see the instances of solar allusions in Phillis Wheatley’s work. She uses her mother’s religion of solar worship to show the validity of the American cause in the Revolutionary War. Phillis Wheatley supported and whole-heartedly believed in the American Revolution due to the fact that in â€Å"To his Excellency General Washington† and â€Å"Liberty and Peace she uses her tradition of solar worship to support America.

Software Define Networking ( Sdn ) Sdn And Its Security...

Software-Define Networking (SDN): SDN and Its Security Issues Sardar Ali alias shah Department of Computer Engineering Melbourne Institute of Technology Abstract - Nowadays, SDN is most emerging technology. It is one of the most promising area in which you easily depend on networking. It is going to virtualization to reality.SDN is basically separate the control plane and data plane physically. It is dynamically programmable that’s why they have more security issues if they have static programmable it is not much as insecure. Due to dynamic factor they are facing many security threats related to SDN.We are discussing on SDN security threats and we present its new framework architecture model. Index Terms – SDN (software Define Networking). I. INTRODUCTION Since 1970 there are no big changes in networking. Only the end point such as computers is where all the magic happens. Even networking equipment such as routers and switches serves as data collection purpose equipment. 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