Proposed Solution

Gun control has been an issue for as long as I can remember. Whether or not to make guns easier to get, harder to get, ban them altogether, or have everyone that can allow them to carry them. In today’s society there have been many occurrences of shootings in public places, for instance college campuses. One reason killings happen is because some people can’t carry a gun or they just don’t and therefore not able to defend themselves. Another reason is because people that are doing the killing have guns and use them for crimes of many natures. In some cases peace officers aren’t able to get to the scene of a person wielding a gun fast enough to prevent anything from happening. Karen Johnson a senator from Arizona is proposing a law that allows faculty, staff and students to carry guns on school premises. She is getting strong opposition though from many people because of the number of guns that will be in the public scene. They are saying that allowing people that are too immature or not proficient with a gun could cause more problems. Those opposed also think that when and if there is a shooting no one will know who is the cause of it and that if multiple people are carrying guns, innocent bystanders could be killed. These are just a few problems we face today as a society trying to decide on the correct action to take when questioning gun control.

Karen Johnson’s motivation is that of protection of the people, and I agree with her. I think people should be able to carry a gun on campus not only to protect others from possible rogue gunmen but to protect their self as well. There are more situations than just stressed out students going on a killing spree, such as any crime that someone is felt threatened by a criminal with a knife or gun.

A stressed out nursing student killed three of his professor’s at the University of Arizona and then killing himself. There is no way for people to know that allowing people who have a concealed handgun license on campus wouldn’t prevent the shooting. However we do not know what would have happened if people were to be allowed to carry guns. A person being robbed at gunpoint on campus, which has happened, and killed, could be prevented if that victim possessed a firearm. That scenario could be used in multiple situations where a deadly weapon is involved. In the case of the University of Arizona killings, if the staff, faculty and students were allowed to carry guns then those professors had a chance to survive. If all those people on campus were to carry firearms it would give the criminal pause from using a deadly weapon to commit a crime. Some want to ban guns because they are the tool people use to kill. You can’t ban firearms because the firearms will still be sold on the black market. Criminals are usually the people that run the market and buy from the market which doesn’t solve the problem because those who are law abiding wouldn’t seek out the market. I know that I was a criminal or a stressed out student and I knew that there was a possibility that many people were allowed to carry firearms on campus that would be a deterrent to me. People are victimized because those doing the unlawful act know they can get away with it. People are victimized because the criminal knows that the area isn’t that well patrolled by the peace officers. People are victimized because the possible ex-con knows people are not allowed to carry guns on campuses. Criminals would be able to get guns on the black market and the public can’t carry firearms. Who is the person who benefits from this? Not the law abiding citizen.

Stock Issue 1:

There is a problem with gun control and who is doing the controlling of guns. Criminals have guns and we don’t, if we have guns as well then it’s an even field.

Stock Issue 2:

The proposed solution could solve the problem but it’s the reaction of the people is what the deciding factor. Will we be terrified of guns if everyone else has them? Will we feel safer if we do have one? If people are responsible enough then everything will be fine. People drive everyday and get upset and stressed out cars can kill people and yet we don’t.

Stock Issue 3:

The issue could be solved easier I think without disturbing the status quo if there were a lot more peace officers on the streets, campuses and highways. When buying any firearm the process could be more involved, such as a mental evaluation, full background check with references from multiple people.

Stock Issue 4:

I think that the solution really could be practical and be enacted as well. Not only do people already own handguns (firearms) but they have for a long time. Not everyone has to have a concealed handgun license if going through a more thorough process. If selling a gun then it should have a title like a car that has to be registered.

Sock Issue 5:

Starting off the negatives would be that this would become the Wild Wild West and everyone will be doing showdowns in the hallways. Positives would be that everyone is aware of the guns people are carrying with them and it acts as prevention and in extreme cases a defense/offense.

Analysis of "Let It Enfold You"

In his poem “Let It Enfold You,” Charles Bukowski describes his process of growing from a young bitter, hateful, pessimistic, philandering, destructive, and argumentative man to a older, almost pleasant, loving husband, and dumbed-down version of his former self, to argue that there is no lost cause.
He starts off describing how he grows up and describes how he sees himself. "I was hard as granite, I leered at the sun." When he uses this simile he describes how tough, streetwise, and mean he is. He wants you to see him, to visualize him, and even wants you to feel something. Charles goes on to try and have you understand that not only is he hard but he is unstable and most likely a little crazy, "in and out of my mind." He lists things that he hates and describes why for the most part, like when he states "and flowers were for pansies." He insists on degrading everything, he has an opinion about everything and it’s not a good one.
Just as he finishes bashing the "peace and happiness," he is struck by the realization that the individualist he thinks he is has come to a halt when he wrote “that I wasn't different / I was the same." I believe that when the poet states "the lie was the weapon and the plot was empty, darkness was the dictator," he realized the "lie" that he thinks is his individuality has now become the "weapon". The plot is his life, everything that he thought, felt, hated, and used, something he worked so hard at and for, was now gone "empty." Now the "darkness" is the general feeling he gets from everyone he has studied, those people are being ruled, ruled by a "dictator", and he was now becoming an anarchist for the other side.
"I could never accept life as it was, I could never gobble down all its poisons but there were parts, tenuous magic parts open for the asking." Struggling, he is starting to struggle and convince himself that there is more to life, however small "but there were parts, tenuous magic parts" that make him realize that he did not have to "accept life was it was," and that all he hated wasn't all "poison" that he didn’t have to "gobble down".
Beauty, now that is not a word that I thought he would be used to describe something or anything for that matter and mean it, but he has "the mouse on my dresser / its eyes looked at me and they were beautiful." Those lines in his poem struck me, because I feel it is the first time he recognizes beauty as beauty.
Although he is changing, he is still struggling with himself, like when he takes "shots of peace, tattered shards of happiness. I embraced that stuff like the hottest number, like high heels, breasts." Even though his description leans towards the optimistic side of life, he throws in a few, almost vulgar similes just to let you know he hasn't fully converted.
There comes a point in his life that while experiencing "good moments" he looks into a mirror and sees himself in a new light a light that he has been fending off for so long. He sees himself as "almost handsome, better at least than some of those movie star faces like the cheek's of a baby's butt." This is when I believe he found his wife or soon afterwards, because he seems to be confident in his appearance for the first time. It’s funny to me that he writes that “finally I discovered real feelings of others,” as he is about to talk about his wife but not before he tells us he is going to the track.
His wife, I didn't expect this but wasn't surprised either when reading it. This has to be the epitome of his life, the way he writes about her while she is sleeping "ached for her life, just being there under the covers." This tells me that he has found love but, never does he mention love throughout this poem. He describes his exit from his home and into the "marvelous car," and the feeling he gets while in it. He drives away "I saw the mailman, honked, he waved back at me." Can you imagine him honking at someone for a positive reason at the beginning of this poem? I can see him honking but not to get a reaction but, certainly not a positive one. This to me is just mind altering. I can't get over him actually thinking of honking at the mailman so he could receive some kind of positive feedback, he sought it out. That to me was the perfect ending to the poem.