In the article “Allowing Guns on Campus Will Invite Tragedies, Not End Them,” Webster and Daniels use statistics, research studies, historical evidence, and their own experience to form the argument against guns on college campus grounds. The authors’ voice is academic – the logic used is built on data (Seyler & Brizee, 2018). Nevertheless, the authors include several rhetorical questions for the audience and personal opinions on the nature of college education and the learning environment. Combining these elements is effective as the quantitative portion creates the argument foundation, while the subjective opinion strengthens the argument’s point. Webster and Daniels do not appear to use logical fallacies (Widyastuti, 2018). They rely on existing knowledge and make conclusions based on available information without discussing potential or unrealistic scenarios. The form of the reading matches the paragraph essay structure, although the authors have several short paragraphs that serve as connecting parts between two separate arguments. They can be united with the sections that follow them, although they help visually distinguish between the different points.
The arguments for gun carry based on the idea that having a weapon is likely to prevent mass shootings are not supported by evidence. In contrast, the connection between mass shootings and non-restrictive gun laws exists. According to Reeping et al. (2019), in states where gun laws are permissive, including concealed carry, the rate of mass shootings is significantly higher than in restrictive states. Similarly, higher gun ownership rates are associated with an increased risk of mass shootings (Reeping et al., 2019). Permissive gun laws are ineffective in lowering the rate of mass shootings. At the same time, the high number of guns owned by residents also does not prevent mass shootings. Therefore, the presented evidence shows that increased gun carrying cannot be considered effective in dealing with gun-related incidents.
References
Reeping, P. M., Cerdá, M., Kalesan, B., Wiebe, D. J., Galea, S., & Branas, C. C. (2019). State gun laws, gun ownership, and mass shootings in the US: Cross sectional time series. BMJ, 364.
Seyler, D., & Brizee, A. (2018). Read, reason, write (12th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
Widyastuti, S. (2018). Fostering critical thinking skills through argumentative writing. Yogyakarta State University.