More Guns = More Killings

This week's article is an article called, "More Guns = More Killings", and it is an NYTimes article written about the different opinions on gun control. The context of the article is a widespread interest in finding ways to reduce gun violence, and since the Elementary School shooting of Sandy Hook, it has been a struggle to find out where Americans really stand on the issue of gun control. Many Americans strive for legislative action to create stricter gun policies, but The National Rifle Association suggested that the way to deal with gun violence and deaths caused by it is to give more guns to the "good guys" to act as a way of protecting citizens. The purpose of this article is to show that this idea is completely wrong and would lead to more violence. The author, Elizabeth Rosenthal, is a physical and science reporter for the NYTimes, and though her qualifications for making a stance on this article seem to be a little out of place, she justifies her strong opinion well with the use of the exemplification rhetorical strategy. She used the Latin American country Columbia to show that more guns and guards means that there are more gun related deaths.  She used these countries that are currently unstable in terms of politics and that using guns to stop violence shows that institutions are completely broken down. She also talked about Australia and their new stricter laws on gun control, and how that resulted in no mass shootings since. It was very effective for her to point these countries' gun policies to the intended audience, which is the general public who has a general knowledge of the gun incidents in the recent decades.