Places and Forms of Power : Weapons in the USA

Introduction :

I’m going to talk about the notion “Places and Forms of Power”. First, I’m going to define this notion.

The term “Places” denotes important buildings or institutions. Power is the ability to control others, events or resources; the ability to make things happen despite obstacles, opposition. At all times, power has been in the hands of politicians or particular groups with influence.

I’m going to illustrate this notion with the example of guns possession in the USA, which is so much related to power. Actually, the right to bear arms is written in the U.S. Constitution. Bearing arms is as dangerous as comforting. That’s why we can wonder to what extent does carrying a gun allow to better control your safety and others.

First, we will see why arms were so important in the USA and why they still are important. Then we will see why arms cause different problems.

First part: Importance of guns in the USA

1) The right to bear arms in the USA creates a lot of debates, several politicians wanted to regulate it but groups with power such as the NRA prevent it. Actually, this lobbying group of guns rights’ advocates to use their influence, related to their money, to defend the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

2) It’s very easy to get an arm in the USA. In the video “The State of Gun Violence”, It’s said that there are absolutely no conditions to bear an arm, whereas you need a license, a good psychological profile, and other conditions in most countries. You can also see in the video “Bowling for Columbine” where Michael Moor went in a bank, that an American citizen can get a free arm just by opening an account in a bank.

3) The right to bear arms have been written in the U.S. Constitution and in the American history since the war of independence. In fact, when the USA were a colony, arms were forbidden. So, when the independence came, the right to bear arms represented the liberty. Therefore, the cultural heritage of guns is very important.

Second part: Problems that are created by guns

1) It helps mass shootings along. In most of those mass shootings, the arms which are used are guns and especially semi-automatic weapons. For instance, in the video “Gun Supply”, which is about a summary of the different statistics about the gun possession in the USA, it’s said that there were 133 mass shootings between 2000 and 2014. You can take the example of the Columbine’s mass shooting.

2) As I said earlier, the right to bear arms is written in the U.S. Constitution and in the American history. Actually, when the USA were a colony, guns were forbidden so this right have been a real symbol of the independence. Moreover, as it’s said in the video “The State of Gun Violence”, there are more than 300 millions of guns in this country. It’s totally a way of life. You can’t pull this out.

3) Higher the number of guns in the USA is, higher is the number of gun deaths. For example, as it’s said in the video “Gun Supply”, there are several tens of suicides and homicides committed per day with guns. The suicides are particularly committed by white males and the homicides

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