This a persusasive paper for stricter gun control laws. This essay also includes an outline and bibliography.

Essay by MervilleUniversity, Master'sA+, March 2005

download word file, 6 pages 4.1

Stricter Gun Control Laws

On April 12, 1994, 14 students and one teacher were killed

when two students dressed in trench coats unloaded a duffle

bag full of shotguns and semi-automatic weapons and began

firing at random. It was the worst disaster our country's high schools had ever witnessed. Since then school shooting have become an epidemic. Is our passion for firearms so great that we will scarifice our children to gain easier access to them?

When young Americans go to school in many cities, often the first fimiliar person they meet is not their teacher, principal, or librarian, but, rather the guard who monitors the metal detector at the entrance at their school. The guard is searching for weapons - principally guns - that stdunets may be illegally carrying them.

The idea of placing a metal detector at a school entrance is a strange thought for many parents to accept.

They remember that when they were students, school was a safe haven for learning. But now, parent willingly welcome the metal detectors because they know that guns can turn a school into a dangerous place for children. Parental fear for the safety of children are based on the harsh cruelty of everyday life. A teenage boy shoots a classmate in a dispute about a girlfriend or because the boy want the sports jacket this classmate is wearing. A young drug pusher carries a gun to school for his own protection. A gang member settles a problem with a gang member of rival group by shooting him. A boy removes a gun from his home and take the weapon to school to impress his classmate.

Even Private schools are not a refuge from violence. At a

private, religious school in Stockton, California, on January 17, 1989, Patrick Purdy, a man...