...11 Position Papers I f you like to argue, you will enjoy writing position papers and argument essays. The purpose of a position paper or argument essay is to explain both sides of a controversy and then argue for one side over the other. This two-sided approach is what makes position papers and argument essays different from commentaries (Chapter 10). A commentary usually only expresses the author’s personal opinion about a current issue or event. A position paper or argument essay explains both sides and discusses why one is stronger or better than the other. Your goal is to fairly explain your side and your opponents’ side of the issue, while highlighting the differences between these opposing views. You need to use solid reasoning and factual evidence to persuade your readers that your view is more valid or advantageous than your opponents’ view. In college, your professors will ask you to write position papers and argument essays to show that you understand both sides of an issue and can support one side or the other. In the workplace, corporate position papers are used to argue for or against business strategies or alternatives. The ability to argue effectively is a useful skill that will help you throughout your life. 221 CHAPTER AT–A–GLANCE Position Papers This diagram shows two basic organizations for a position paper, but other arrangements of these sections will work too. In the pattern on the left, the opponents’ position is described up front with its...
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...workplace safety. There are laws passed at both the state and federal levels that allow United States citizens to carry concealed weapons as long as they retain a permit to do so. However, many businesses do not allow their employees to carry weapons on their persons, in their vehicles, or in their offices. The purpose of this paper is to state why citizens should not be allowed to carry concealed weapons in their workplace, the regulations that allow both employees to obtain weapons at work and the laws that refrain them from doing so. A common issue with concealed carry permit holders is deciding whether or not you can/should carry your gun at work. One’s place of employment is typically one of the top 3 places where you spend your time. There are also many issues that can affect other people’s decisions to turn violent (money issues can lead to desperation or anger in some people and situations). While the issue is extremely complex, you can usually boil the issue down to three factors. Does the law allow you to carry at work? The law usually leaves that decision up to the employer. However, the law will vary from state to state on the amount of freedom left to the employer and how strict the punishment will be for failure to comply. For example, in some states parking lots are specifically mentioned in the law to allow employees to leave a firearm in their car, while the building itself is left up to the employer. Obviously, in some areas, the law outright bans concealed...
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...Andrew Caneris Carr R. WRD 111 26 January 2016 Gun Control isn’t the answer This article was written by Professor James Q. Wilson who teaches Public Policy at Pepperdine University, and was previously taught at Harvard University. In this article, Wilson gives his insight on why gun control laws should not become increasingly strict, and many valid points to back up his statements. I chose this article for our group because our main topic is gun control and I felt that the content of this article was very well written, and it also was written by a person who seems to be a reliable source. The author also did a good job of looking at the opposing argument, and then proceeded to discredit them, which I thought was done very professionally and respectfully. The most important reason I chose this article was because it was written in 2007 around the time of the Virginia Tech shooting. I found this article to be somewhat comparative to the one that my group is featuring, which is the Sandy Hook shooting. My Stakeholders are people that own guns and buy and sell guns, so if there were tighter gun laws, they could very much be effected buy these laws. Even if they do have a clean record, there would be an increase in the black market for guns and the people who own shops would be getting cheated. Professor Wilson leaves us with the question of who is actually doing the murdering? Is it the gun or is it the one who pulls the...
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...Arming Teachers Throughout the recent years gun violence has been on the rise, particularly gun violence on school campuses. Unfortunately, within the recent years to present day, there has been an increase of shooting at colleges, high schools, and even elementary schools. Teachers’ unarmed in these dangerous situations causes a lot more deaths among students and teachers themselves. Little is being done to counteract these dangerous situations, guns should be in the hands of the teachers. If some teachers decide to OPT OUT of carrying a gun, then that teacher class should be in proximity of another teacher that is carrying a gun. Teachers that carry guns on school property should go through the proper training of shooting a gun properly, this would prevent less deaths in schools and save more lives. The statistics of school shootings are...
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...FOUNDATION Connecting Research in Security to Practice Crisp Report ABOUT THE CRISP SERIES OF REPORTS Connecting Research in Security to Practice (CRISP) reports provide insights into how different types of security issues can be tackled effectively. Drawing on research and evidence from around the world, each report summarizes the prevailing knowledge about a specific aspect of security, then recommends proven approaches to counter the threat. Connecting scientific research with existing security actions helps form good practices. This series invites experts in specialist aspects of security to present their views on how to understand and tackle a security problem, using the best research evidence available. Reports are written to appeal to security practitioners in different types of organizations and at different levels. Readers will inevitably adapt what is presented to meet their own requirements. They will also consider how they can integrate the recommended actions with existing or planned programs in their organizations. This CRISP report focuses on firearms in the workplace and their relationship with workplace violence. Author Dana Loomis, PhD, discusses how firearms end up at workplaces, and then assesses a host of opportunities to prevent any ensuing problems. His recommendations provide solid ideas on how organizations can avoid becoming victims of workplace violence, and how to implement recommended solutions. His discussion helps security practitioners...
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...x Do Texas Teachers Feel Concealed Handguns Are a Viable Security Option on Texas ISD Campuses? Timothy D. Clouse Wayland Baptist University EDUC 5366 1 February, 2012 Abstract This study is to explore how Texas Teachers feel about the possibility of other faculty or staff members carrying a concealed firearm on school property as a means to protect the students and staff from an armed attack. A survey was sent to 720 teachers across the 20 Texas school regions. The survey is made up of nine questions; the first seven are general information questions to provide researchers with demographic data; the remaining two are opinionated questions concerning how they feel about themselves or other trained faculty or staff carrying firearms in their school. Results were divided evenly between those that were for and those that were against having concealed firearms in their schools. Gender, prior military service, school population, and the type of school setting, i.e., elementary, junior high, or high school, generally, were not factors in determining how teachers felt about the subject; however, there was one significant finding, among teachers that possess a Texas Concealed Handgun license (CHL), results were unanimous when asked if they would volunteer to carry a weapon at their school. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Introduction 4 Problem Statement 5 Literature Review 5 Methodology 6 Limitations of Study 8 Results 9 Conclusion 11 Reference List...
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...Weinberg, Bill. "Guns: The U.S. Threat To Mexican National Security. (Cover Story)." NACLA Report On The Americas 41.2 (2008): 21-26. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. THE VIOLENT STRUGGLE BETWEEN MEXICAN Drug cartels for supremacy over the multibillion-dollar narcotics trade is starting to look like a real war. With local police outgunned, President Felipe Calderón began his term in the final days of 2006 by' deploying the army to fight the cartels The violence, simmering for more than a decade, exploded in 2003 in Nuevo Laredo, a crucial crossing point to U.S. Interstate 35. when Gulf Cartel kingpin Osiel Cardenas was apprehended. Seeing a strategic vulnerability, the rival Juarez and Tijuana cartels started moving into Nuevo Laredo, traditionally a Gulf Cartel stronghold.( n1) The Zetas--the Gulf Cartel's paramilitary force, thought to be composed of former military personnel--began a reign of terror to protect their turf Several Nuevo Laredo police officers were killed by presumed Zeta assassins in the opening months of 2005, prompting then president Vicente Fox to flood the town with 700 federal agents and army troops in what he dubbed "the mother of all battles" against the drug trade.( n2) Yet the Mexican state's armed response has done little to solve the problem. In 2007, drug-related killings surpassed 2.500, up from 2,100 in 2006.( n3) A crucial part of the problem lies in the cartels' firepower, which now rivals even that of the regular Mexican army...
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...Spencer Ballard Professor English 1101 2 September 2015 Gun Control There have been many of mass shootings in the past 15 years, everyone knows that. The the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the...
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...Crime and guns. The two seem to go hand in hand with one another. But are the two really associated? Do guns necessarily lead to crime? And if so do laws placing restrictions on firearm ownership and use stop the crime or protect the citizens? These are the questions many citizens and lawmakers are asking themselves when setting about to create gun control laws. The debate over gun control, however, is nothing new. In 1924, Presidential Candidate, Robert La Follete said, “our choice is not merely to support or oppose gun control but to decide who can own which guns under what conditions.” Clearly this debate still goes on today and is the very reason for the formation of gun control laws. Guns are extremely powerful weapons. They can cause destruction, harm or even death. They can be used to defend and protect or to threaten and kill. Any way you look at it, guns are powerful tools, not only physically but socially. As college students it is important to stay abreast of the current events and issues circulating our country today, one of which is the controversial issue of gun control. It is extremely important to pay attention to where gun control laws are headed. The directions they take not only affect our nation and society but our future as well as we all move to communities and begin to raise families. So why is gun control such a hot debate? Perhaps to answer this question it would be important to look at some key statistics concerning handguns in our society. In...
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...Gun Ban Debate Gun ban debate In America guns have been a part of the country’s society since it’s birth. Throughout history the citizens of the US have used firearms to protect the nation, protect their families, to hunt for food and to engage in sporting activities. The issue of Guns and gun control takes on a proportion of extreme magnitude. Weighing the rights and liberties of the individual against the welfare and safety of the public has always been a precarious balancing act. In the United States, gun control is one of these tumultuous issues that has both sides firmly entrenched in their positions. Those parties in favor of gun ownership and the freedom to use and keep arms, rely on the fact that the provision for such rights is enshrined in their constitution. So what is gun control?. Gun control is the effort to restrict or limit the possession and use of guns. The gun control debate may be one of the most important issues in our society. Regardless of whether people support it or not, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that the 2nd Amendment restrains the government’s ability to limit the kind of immediate ban of handguns that has existed in some parts of America such as Washington DC. "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" That's the campaign that the National Riffle Association made. It's a compelling argument whether it might be right , or it might be wrong . ...
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...The Great Gun Debate Introduction Among the more diverse issues in an already polarized society is a national perspective of guns (Hargrove & Perdue, 2015). The gun debate in the U.S. dates back to the 18th century, when the nation’s founders were crafting the Bill of Rights—the first ten amendments to the Constitution, adopted in 1791 (Smith & Ross, 2013). All gun control debates turn on interpretations of the Second Amendment, the worst written and most bizarre part of the constitution (Eichenwald, 2015). The Second Amendment gave Americans the right to “bear arms;” however, for more than 200 years, people have disagreed over how to interpret the amendment (Smith & Ross, 2013). Heated debates over guns have created division among “we the people.” On one end of the divide are pro-gun extremists. On the opposite end of the divide are anti-gun extremists. Then, there is the rational middle—the group that is often left out of the debate. This group typically consists of average law-abiding citizens who do not believe that Americans should be stripped of their rights to bear arms, but, rather, that some laws should be tightened up to ensure that guns and deadly accessories, such as high-capacity magazines, stay out of the wrong hands. Over the years, numerous mass shootings in schools have forced lawmakers to assess and tighten gun-control laws, which has also reignited the fiery gun debate. This assessment will attempt to uncover a proper course of action via a rigorous...
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...12 2013 Gun Control Debates involving gun control began in the early 1960s, since then many laws and regulations have been created (“Gun Control Time Line”). However, while crimes involving the use of guns start increasing, is changing the laws going to end the violence and make people feel safer? There have been many different media sources and political debates throughout our country questioning if increasing the laws will stop the crime or not. A problem in our society that we may all suffer from is in our amendment system. Our second amendment, established in 1791, states that “everyone is entitled to the right to bear arms.” (“Gun Control Time Line”) Recently, with everyone hearing and seeing gun violence on the rise has pushed the issues of changing our laws. With nearly all states considering all of the available options, many arguments concerning whether or not laws will reduce violence, need to be thought out to determine the best for society. Debates that support changing our laws within our country, feel as if our government is losing control as we all see crime rates rising. People argue that something needs to be done to stop gun violence. Many people have said that, guns do not kill; criminals who use them are the problem (“What the Public Really Thinks about Guns”). Individuals across the nation argue that current laws today are actually allowing criminals to get access to guns that are used for crimes. Those who are in favor of changing the laws also feel...
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...Gun Control in the United States With recent tragedies like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, as well as other mass shootings like the massacre at Virginia Tech, the debate over gun control is at the forefront of American politics. This debate is extremely controversial, as it calls to question some deeply rooted American traditions. In general terms, on one side of the debate are those who support looser regulation of guns in the United States. These people firmly believe in their second amendment right to bear arms. Opposing them on the other side are Americans who support the tightening of gun restrictions in the United States. These people believe that several laws must be passed to make access to firearms limited. The debate over gun control in the United States is both a social and economic issue. This is apparent through the role interest groups, as well as public opinion in the debate over firearm regulations. Through these two political linkage mechanisms, we can see how well democratic principles like popular sovereignty and political equality are maintained through this debate. Public opinion remains one of the most powerful influences on public policy in the United States. This is why politicians are constantly referencing the enormous volume of public opinion polling conducted in the United States. These polls allow representatives to see what their constituents think about certain issues and tailor their agenda accordingly. However, as we will see...
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...American Government 3/14/2013 Gun Control The gun control debate is clearly one of the most contentious and controversial issues in America today and the battle over gun control is now being waged through intensive media campaigns from both sides of the political spectrum to influence public opinion and to assert pressure on policy makers. It is a debate that has not been resolved and will never be. “The right to bear arms”, an amendment prioritized by our founding fathers, which earned the very second spot on the list of birth rights as Americans. However, with constant tragedies striking the United States, such as massacres in public high schools and universities, mall shootings, and attempted assassinations on state representatives, it’s no wonder law makers are constantly debating the topic of gun control. Given the strong evidence that the level of gun violence is related to “relaxed gun laws”, why don’t we do more to enact stiffer gun laws? In America guns have been a part of the country’s society since its birth. Throughout history, the citizens of the US have used firearms to protect the nation, protect their families, to hunt for food and to engage in sporting activities. Criminals on the other hand, they don't listen to laws, and will take advantage of the newly unarmed law abiding citizen. As shown in statistics and studies, cities with more gun control have more gun murders, due to the fact that a law abiding citizen can't carry a gun with him, but a criminal will...
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...The Deadly Date The Deadly Debate Gun Control has been at the forefront of many debates due to the increase of deadly shootings. Over the past several years, there have been multiple mass casualty shootings, and as the number of shootings increased, United States citizens began the debate of whether tighter gun control laws would prevent these shootings. In this debate, we will address the reasons supporting gun control and the reasons opposing gun control. Americans have a choice and this choice will be debated below. America was founded on the principle of freedom and the rights of an individual to live in a nation built by the people, for the people. The government has begun to use tragedy, terrorism and civil unrest to force unjustified laws and federal controls into action that are a direct attack on our civil liberties. The NSA and other federal organizations have violated Americans rights and freedom in the name of national security far too many times. If we allow the government to take away our rights to bear arms it will be another tragedy in the long list of attacks on our American rights. Many gun control activists believe that reducing the number of private gun owners in America will reduce crime and suicide. This could not be further from the truth; strict gun laws will only take the guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens, criminals will be armed and normal citizens will have no means of immediate protection. A recent study conducted by Harvard...
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