Your assignment is to write a 1,200 - 1,500 on the item presented below. Here are the steps. (Check the grading rubric below)
1. Clearly identify the argument (or arguments) in the passage.
2. State your own position on the case (or a hypothetical position if you do not already have one).
3. Give at least one good reason in support of your position in the form of an essential claim premise. If your position is the same as the author's, explain why and bring any additional facts you find important to the argument.
4. Anticipate one objection to your position (the best one if you think of several), and state how you would respond reasonably to the person making the objection.
This will be a controversial topic, so it is important to write a well-reasoned assignment rather than an emotionally driven one.
Here is the item for your assignment:
John Lott, PhD, Visiting Senior Research Scientist at the University of Maryland at College Park, wrote in his 2000 book More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun-Control Laws:
"Ordinary, law-abiding citizens who own handguns and carry licensed, concealed weapons rarely use their guns except in matters of self-defense. Criminals and those who carry illegal and unlicensed firearms are typically those who commit violent crimes. It is a fact that in communities where citizens have been granted licenses to carry concealed weapons and are not restricted from keeping loaded guns in their homes, crime rates drop. Such conditions have proven to be a deterrent to crimes such as home invasions, burglaries, muggings and car-jackings because criminals will not risk being confronted by a victim's firearm.
Tightening laws restricting the use and possession of firearms does not protect average law-abiding citizens; it only puts them at greater risk. Enforcing licensing restrictions, trigger locks, and waiting periods makes it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to defend themselves and as a result encourages criminal activity. Only criminals benefit when ordinary citizens are deprived of their right to own a firearm and protect themselves, their homes, and their families."