Step 1 of this Assignment is to read all of the following instructions and information. When you have finished reading all the instructions, scroll back to this point and click on and open each of the three links above. These are articles that appeared in the Denver Post. I suggest opening and downloading to your computer all of these articles. It will be easier and quicker for you to read and study these articles as you begin writing your paper.
Step 2 is to read all of the following instructions and information related to this Assignment, the key feature of which are the Denver Post Articles linked above. You will see these articles provide several ideas which are both interesting and exciting for those of us who have struggled with the issues of gun control and been frustrated at the seeming lack of progress in decreasing the number of horrible gun-related deaths and emotional trauma. Among the interesting information is the theory that different categories of gun violence may be addressed separately and possibly in different ways. Your job is to find sources of research using basic internet (“search engines”) or library search methods. Find scientific research articles and data that have been conducted on gun violence, as opposed to research conducted by groups that conducted surveys or “internal” research which provides no scientific analysis and are motivated by subjective and preconceived agendas. In other words, surveys by either the National Rifle Association or the Anti-gun advocates who want to ban assault rifles or any other type of firearms are not the kind of research articles that are helpful in this assignment. Your mission is to find the empirical truth about the number of deaths that occur each year in the categories of gun accidents in the home; domestic disputes; gang violence in urban areas; or mass shootings (schools or grocery stores) and use the research to determine if you think it is possible to reduce the incidence of gun-related deaths in America. Ask yourself if it is possible to treat each category differently. Can the number of children who die accidentally when playing with a gun owned by a parent be reduced if laws are enacted that would severally punish parents who negligently failed to store their guns safely? Would the National Rifle Association object to laws limited to those specific circumstances? Could laws specifically tailored to gun violence related to any other category be passed without objection from either a pro-gun group or an anti-gun group? Think about these questions and draw your conclusions logically, without bias or preconceived ideas you learned from your friends or relatives.
The goal of this paper is to determine your objective conclusions as to what research must be done to lower the incidences of gun violence-related injury and death in America. To come to your conclusions on this important and timely topic you must:
Understand and commit to the idea that the mission of University instructors is to teach you HOW to think, not WHAT to think.
You must use credible academic research and learned opinion as your sources of information and the foundation of the pathway to your objective conclusions.
You must not state your conclusions if they are nothing more than subjective opinions even if from a friend, relative, or admired teacher.
Understand that Wikipedia is NOT a credible source of information and must NOT be cited as reference material from which you drew your conclusions.
Understand that newspaper articles (even the one from the Denver Post) and commentary from television news programs or celebrity talk shows do not count as academic research and cannot be used as a reference for any of your conclusions.
Your conclusions must be based upon research conducted and tested by credible sources with academic integrity and qualifications. Examples of such sources include
Institute of Medicine, National Research Council
JAMA Internal Medicine
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”)
AMA Journal of Ethics
Your research may begin with “Google”, Yahoo, or similar search engine searches for scientific research on gun violence.
Understand the learning objective of this assignment is to find all of the science-based information you can, read it carefully, and use the information to come to logical conclusions about what research should continue to be conducted and what approaches should be attempted to resolve the problem of escalating gun violence and the death and catastrophic physical, mental and emotional injury suffered by our nation.
