Essay 1.1: Is Happiness Really A Warm Gun?: A Rhetorical Analysis on "Government Should Create Stricter Laws"

            The article that seemed to have the most appealing argument was  “Government Should Create Stricter Gun Laws” written by Megan Weintraut for the Ithacan.To get her point across, Weintraut uses plenty of logos along with some ethos to try to persuade her audience. Over all, I feel as though Weintraut went for tactics that were …

            Weintraut begins her article by jumping into the idea that the gun laws are outdated. She explains that the second amendment which, in simple terms, states that everyone has the right to “bear arms” was written during a time period when guns was a necessity for protection and for providing for families. She then argues that the United States as come a long way from the 18^th century, now organizing services to the public that focus on providing protection for their citizens and mass food production.

I feel that this was a good tactic for Weintraut to use to immediately draw in her audience. People tend to forget the reasons why most of our laws today were first created and tend to just accept them rather than question their existence. By including a small history lesson of the guns laws, Weintraut forces her audience to open their eyes rather than tolerating the laws that are in existence.

As the audience reads further into the article, they are hit with statistics that compare the United States crime rate in comparison to the rest of the world. By using statements such as, “… in 2006 alone, firearms were involved in 68 percent of murders, and more than 90 percent of today’s gang-related homicides involve guns”, Weintraut easily captures the attention of her intended audience, the American people.What I found most interesting about Weintraut’s article, was when she links American media with the crime rate. Many people ignore or seem to forget that the United States is one of the only countries conservative enough to look down upon sexuality rather than violence. Weintraut  points out that violence is seen as humorous rather than traumatic in most of today’s media.