My Daughter's School Paper

[Charles L. Cotton]

My daughter had to write a persuasive paper for her 10th grade English class (Houston, TX) and was assigned the topic of Automatic Weapons. Here's her essay:

Citizens and Guns

When you've only got seconds to spare, the cops are minutes away. If you're in a life or death situation, having a concealed weapon can come in handy; many people feel safer knowing that they can defend themselves at a moments notice. So why is the government so against citizens carrying concealed weapons? People should have the right to exercise the second amendment in their homes, work, or any activity freely.

The belief that guns need to be banned is mostly driven by fear. People fear what they don't understand. Take for instance, the assault weapon; anything can be an assault weapon, e.g. a baseball bat, a bomb or even your own fist. The most commonly carried gun outside of the military is a semi-automatic. Semi-automatic means that for every one pull of the trigger, one bullet is discharged from the gun's chamber; while an automatic gun will continuously shoot multiple bullets as long as the trigger is held down. A machine gun is an example of an automatic gun, and while these are the guns people are most afraid of, research shows that less than 1% of all guns used both legally and illegally are fully automatic machine guns.

Contrary to the myth and misrepresentation, most murders are not committed by law-abiding citizens going berserk and grabbing a gun in a moment of heated passion. In reality, studies have shown that both at the local and national level, an overwhelming percentage of all murders committed are by people with previous criminal records. A large percentage of homicide victims have criminal records as well. The "Crime of passion" may get the most media attention, but it is the exception, not the rule. There are approximately 2 million defensive gun uses (DGU's) per year by law abiding citizens. A defensive gun use does not always mean shooting the gun; often, knowing the target has a gun is enough to deter the criminal. As a means of self defense, the uses of DGU's seem to be very effective. Several studies show that about 800,000 crimes are prevented each year because of DGU's.

Although "they" would have you believe that gun ownership leads to violence and criminal behavior, actual research shows that people who legally own guns and use them for self-defense prevent crimes. While this does not mean everyone should own a gun, or that a gun should be used in all life threatening situations, guns are not the enemies we make them out to be.

Not only did she not get expelled, her teacher wants a copy of the paper to use as a good example!

I'm amazed that the school would assign the topic and give such positive feedback for a pro-gun position. I'm proud of her!

Keith

Keith:
She did a great job and I would like to publish this paper in the Juniors Section of the Texas Firearms Coalition website, if it's okay with you and your daughter. We could use her full name, or first name and last initial, if you prefer. A photo of her would be great but not required for publication. I would write a short introduction telling folks she's in the 10th grade at a Houston high school and she wrote this as part of a school assignment.

Please let me know how you feel about this being published.

Thanks,
Chas.

[Keith B]

She did an awesome job of writing this. I can see a future for her being a fantastic journalist or even a lawyer from her clear and concise presentation and pro-gun arguments listed in the paper.

[Zero_G]

I have to ask, though, this sounds very familiar. Is it something from Ayoob? I hope your daughter cited her references.

The assignment did not require citing references. She primarily used guncite.com for her information. I hadn't seen that site before, but it seems to pull a lot of information into a gun rights FAQ.

[Katygunnut]

I also first read it as "did" get expelled and had to re-read it. I suspect it may be the teacher here with the positive attitude, not the school. A different teacher might have had an entirely different reaction that led to a less pleasant chain of events.

I had a somewhat different experience along these same lines. In 8th grade, we were assigned to write an essay on which of the first 10 ammendments we believed was the most important. It was pretty obvious that the teacher thought the first ammendment was the most important. I wrote what I thought was a good, well thought out essay on why the second ammendment was the most important. The writing was on par with my other work that had consistently gotten A's or B's. This paper earned me a D-.

It was a good lesson for me that life isn't always fair, and sometimes you have to suffer a bit for things you really believe in.

[shootthesheet]

[CompVest]

I also first read it as "did" get expelled and had to re-read it. I suspect it may be the teacher here with the positive attitude, not the school. A different teacher might have had an entirely different reaction that led to a less pleasant chain of events.

I had a somewhat different experience along these same lines. In 8th grade, we were assigned to write an essay on which of the first 10 ammendments we believed was the most important. It was pretty obvious that the teacher thought the first ammendment was the most important. I wrote what I thought was a good, well thought out essay on why the second ammendment was the most important. The writing was on par with my other work that had consistently gotten A's or B's. This paper earned me a D-.

It was a good lesson for me that life isn't always fair, and sometimes you have to suffer a bit for things you really believe in.

To me it is pretty obvious that your teacher didn't think very highly of the First Amendment, either!

[VMI77]

I also first read it as "did" get expelled and had to re-read it. I suspect it may be the teacher here with the positive attitude, not the school. A different teacher might have had an entirely different reaction that led to a less pleasant chain of events.

I had a somewhat different experience along these same lines. In 8th grade, we were assigned to write an essay on which of the first 10 ammendments we believed was the most important. It was pretty obvious that the teacher thought the first ammendment was the most important. I wrote what I thought was a good, well thought out essay on why the second ammendment was the most important. The writing was on par with my other work that had consistently gotten A's or B's. This paper earned me a D-.

It was a good lesson for me that life isn't always fair, and sometimes you have to suffer a bit for things you really believe in.

Not a surprise, but without other information about the teacher, it's hard to say whether it was the subject of guns that got you the D, or simply the fact that you didn't flatter her priorities. I've never been good at telling people what they want to hear. Fortunately, when I went to high school and college I never had to cow-tow to any self-important teachers or professors (and/or my teachers were of better character than the one you reference).

[sawdust]

Seeing your daughter's cogent writing is one reason why I cannot give up on today's youth. Congratulations to her. A hearty Well Done!

[PostShooter]

I can only hope that my kids grow up as smart as yours. And that they have the good luck of the same teacher. The simple fact that her teacher thinks that weapons are important to our society and worth writing about is quite telling.

[TexasGal]

She is AWESOME! Now, about her political ambitions to be the first female president...

[67N20]

Does she shoot as good as she writes?

[gwashorn]

I also first read it as "did" get expelled and had to re-read it. I suspect it may be the teacher here with the positive attitude, not the school. A different teacher might have had an entirely different reaction that led to a less pleasant chain of events.

I had a somewhat different experience along these same lines. In 8th grade, we were assigned to write an essay on which of the first 10 ammendments we believed was the most important. It was pretty obvious that the teacher thought the first ammendment was the most important. I wrote what I thought was a good, well thought out essay on why the second ammendment was the most important. The writing was on par with my other work that had consistently gotten A's or B's. This paper earned me a D-.
It was a good lesson for me that life isn't always fair, and sometimes you have to suffer a bit for things you really believe in.

First, I enjoyed your daughters paper and congrats. I do hope it can be published as Charles hoped. In regards to schools these days and how they react I am always thinking back to school back in my days. I remember in the 8th grade I was allowed to choose a subject to write. I chose to write on the most humane method of execution. Yes I was a strange boy. Teacher let me and I got an "A". He was curious about how I was going to approach the subject I think but he was a very good teacher that I liked and he allowed me to do things to see where I would go. He always wanted us to stretch our minds, even if oddly. Thanks Mr. Griffin. Lethal injection was not around as one of the excepted forms back in the sixties. But I did research hanging, firing squad, Guillotine and electrocution.

[jimlongley]

I also first read it as "did" get expelled and had to re-read it. I suspect it may be the teacher here with the positive attitude, not the school. A different teacher might have had an entirely different reaction that led to a less pleasant chain of events.

I had a somewhat different experience along these same lines. In 8th grade, we were assigned to write an essay on which of the first 10 ammendments we believed was the most important. It was pretty obvious that the teacher thought the first ammendment was the most important. I wrote what I thought was a good, well thought out essay on why the second ammendment was the most important. The writing was on par with my other work that had consistently gotten A's or B's. This paper earned me a D-.

It was a good lesson for me that life isn't always fair, and sometimes you have to suffer a bit for things you really believe in.

Me too, and the irony was that free speech was starting to become a big issue in the 60s when this occurred.

I was attending college, more enthusiastically than high school because at least some of the subjects were interesting, but we were required to take the "core" subjects.

My English Composition "professor" (he insisted on being called professor even though he only had a Master of Arts degree) assigned a term paper at the beginning of the semester, due at the end of the semester, using all of the craft and art we would be taught through that semester. The subject was to be of your own choosing, but he told us that in his experience if it was something you knew or found interesting it would serve to enhance the paper. Seems to me it was to be 20+ pages, fully footnoted, with a comprehensive bibliography and may whatever forgive you if even one quote was not attributed or one sentence even appeared to be plagerized.

1966 - GCA'68 was still a hot button issue for debate, the 'Nam was becoming a free speech issue, social unrest and upheaval, and this dummy couldn't tell that "professor" was a little to the left of Chairman Mao, and submitted a paper entitled "The History of Firearms" with a subtitle that reflected my own belief, supported by my research, that outlawing them would only disarm the law abiding - "When guns are outlawed, Outlaws will still have them." I don't claim originality.

OK, there was an issue with the typing - my "girlfriend" at the time was typing the paper for me and quit with a few pages left to go, and I finished it on a different typewriter (remember those things?) which used a different type face and lost a whole letter grade for that gaffe, and for missing it in proofreading.

But the really insulting thing was the big red marker across the front "INAPPROPRIATE SUBJECT MATTER - F"

If I had known how to read his personality I might have done something about the "Propogation of Pansies" but I doubt it.

Shortly thereafter I dropped out and went to work for NY Telephone company, starting a career that eventually led to my retirement at the age of 48, from a craft that I excelled in, and enjoyed, and that is why Verizon pays me every month not to work for them even though I never did.

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Congratulations on an excellent effort, keep up the good work.

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Start early, retire young, exact the ultimate revenge against your high school classmates by showing up at the 40th reunion having been retired for a decade.