On September 4th of 2024, in the Apalachee High School, Colt Gray, a 14 year old, killed two students, two teachers, and injured seven others. Gray received the gun as Christmas present from his father. His father, Colin Gray, 54, was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second- degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children. Colt Gray has been charged with four counts of felony murder and is expected to be tried as an adult (Rosales et al.) The Apalachee school shooting was the 218th time a gun was fired or brandished so far in 2024. In the last 10 years, nearly 51% of school shootings occurred while classes were in session, and the rest after school hours. As of September 3rd, 20204, 18 of the 46 people killed in school shooting were under 18 (Gualyieri et al.).
The Second amendment allows people to have the right to bear arms, with a third of Americans say they own a gun. 72% of gun owners claim to own a gun for personal safety, however, while most gun owners enjoy having a gun at home, only 31% of nonowners living in a household with a gun say they enjoy having a gun at home. Despite this, 61% of Americans say it is too easy to obtain a gun, and 58% of Americans favor stricter gun regulations (Schaeffer).
In the United States after John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr. were assassinated, Congress passed the Gun Control Act of 1968, GCA. The GCA is meant to keep firearms from those who should not own guns. One of these is requiring Federal Licenses for transferring firearms. The CGA prohibited certain people from owning firearms, such as felons or children under 18. The Gun Control Act allowed states to enforce their own laws by prohibiting transport of gun laws (Gun Violence Reduction).
While this is in the entire United States, what about in Illinois? Illinois has one of the strongest gun safety laws and low levels of gun ownership in the United States. This is especially the case following the Highland Park shooting on the 4th of July (in 2022). Lawmakers prohibited assault weapons, however, despite the laws, Illinois still has an unethical rate of gun violence. Since Illinois is surrounded by states with weaker gun laws, most guns recovered in Illinois are purchased out-of-state. While Illinois has 50 key policies, and regulates gun industry and safety, there are something that could be added (Everytown Research & Policy). What do we need in Illinois? We need a state rule mandating that all guns include microstamping technology, as this would would aid police in identifying the shooters.
Works Cited
Everytown Research & Policy. “Gun Laws in Illinois.” Everytown Research & Policy, January, 2024, everytownresearch.org/rankings/state/illinois/.
Gualtieri, A., Sawate, J., Gold, R., Johnston, T., & Manthey, G.. “Apalachee High School Shooting Is the Latest in U.S. Here’s How Many Happened in 2024, so Far.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 4 Sept. 2024, www.cbsnews.com/news/how-many-school-shootings-2024-apalachee-winder-georgia/.
“GUN VIOLENCE REDUCTION: NATIONAL INTEGRATED FIREARMS VIOLENCE REDUCTION STRATEGY.” United States Department of Justice Archive - Appendix C, www.justice.gov/archive/opd/AppendixC.htm. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.
Isabel Rosales et al. “The Father of the Georgia School Shooting Suspect Has Been Arrested and Charged, Authorities Say.” CNN, Cable News Network, 6 Sept. 2024, www.cnn.com/2024/09/05/us/winder-georgia-shooting-apalachee-high-school/index.html
Schaeffer, Katherine. “Key Facts about Americans and Guns.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 24 July 2024, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/07/24/key-facts-about-americans-and-guns/.
Your goal is to persuade your reader to support law that would mandate microstamping technology incorporated into guns sold in Illinois. One thing I'd recommend is to include the request for specific actions from your audience right at the start of your letter, and then again at the end.
The general model of persuasive advocacy is to present a statement of the problem, and you do this by describing the Apalachee High School shooting and mentioning the assassinations of political figures in the 1960s and further mentioning the Highland Park shooting at the 4th of July parade in 2022. You accurately point out that the Second Amendment prevents bans, and you might have mentioned court interventions that forced Illinois to allow concealed carry laws. Your point is that despite rights to have guns, there is a well-established history of gun control laws.
So, I think your letter could have been arranged around this framework:
We ought to have a state law to mandate microstamping technology in guns sold in Illinois. Then, you would describe for your audience what microstamping is, and why you think it's a good thing to do with guns.
Then, you would describe some of the horrible things done with guns, and I like how you use descriptions of specific horrors. Those anecdotes are powerful.
You might try to state the problem as a series of points: how to ensure that responsible gun owners can enjoy their Second Amendment rights while at the same time preventing unstable death-cult-oriented persons from getting access to guns? How to make it easy to trace guns? Can we use technology to prevent unauthorized use of guns or unauthorized transfer of gun possessions? Can we hold people accountable if they provide guns to unstable and violent children or adults, but continue to allow responsible gun dealers and manufacturers to provide responsible gun owners with their products? Perhaps go into some discussion of how people have tried to deal with these problems through legislation.
Then, return to microstamping. Explain how a law to mandate microstamping of guns in Illinois would contribute to solving some of the problems you've outlined in the previous section. Then, consider the cases you give in the paragraph where you give examples of mass shooting, and describe how microstamping would have made a difference.
Conclude with a repeat with your first point, requesting your reader to take steps to pass rules to mandate microstamping. You might either suggest that the politician introduce such a law and advocate for its passage, or support such a law that has been introduced already.
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