Advanced Conversation with Jennifer on Gun Control in the U.S. (1)
Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer from English with Jennifer, and in this video I'd like
to help you prepare for a discussion about a current issue: gun control.
I won't be showing any violent images, and I won't be using any offensive language,
but this topic is for a mature audience. I caution my younger viewers and ask
that you don't watch this lesson without permission from your parents or guardians. Okay?
Gun control is a hot topic right now. If you're going to talk
about this, you'll need some vocabulary and background knowledge. I'm not here to
promote my politics, and I'm not here to argue with anyone. I'm here is a language
teacher who wants to give you information that will help you
communicate more confidently and clearly about this important issue. Okay?
The basic debate is over the sale, the ownership, and the use of guns by private
citizens. This debate goes back to the beginning of our country's history.
You know we have a constitution, correct? We also have a Bill of Rights which goes
back to 1791. The Bill of Rights are the first ten amendments to our Constitution.
Amendments are changes. The first ten amendments were written to limit
government power and protect individual freedoms and rights, or what we can also
call civil liberties and civil rights.
Today our two major political parties are the Democrats and the Republicans.
One thing the parties disagree over is how big a role the government should
have. Generally speaking, the Democrats are for a stronger, more centralized
government, and the Republicans are for having less government control at the federal level.
When some of our founding fathers argued for the Bill of Rights, we had the
Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Anti-Federalists opposed a strong
federal government, and they wanted a lot of control to remain with the states.
The Bill of Rights addressed the fears of the Anti-Federalists and made sure that
the new U.S. federal government wouldn't limit or infringe on our civil liberties and rights.
The very first amendment protects our freedom of speech and freedom of
religion. Those are the big ones. The First Amendment also includes freedom of
the press, the right to assemble peacefully, and the right to petition,
meaning we can complain to the government about something without
getting punished. The Second Amendment is the right to bear arms, meaning the right
to own a gun. People in favor of owning guns like to state that we've had this
right since the beginning, but opponents of gun ownership say that the law was
written at a completely different time in history.
In colonial times, we didn't have an organized army.
We had the militia -- just a group of regular men who brought their own guns
to fight when needed. Today with our local police forces and strong national
army, do civilians need to own guns? That's a question for debate. Civilians are
people who are not in the military and who are not police officers. So Americans
argue about whether armed civilians help or harm society. But there's something
else you should know. There's another reason why the Second Amendment was
written. The law was originally put in place partly to protect citizens from
the tyranny of government. "Tyranny" refers to cruel
and unfair treatment. If citizens are completely disarmed,
meaning if all weapons are taken away, then it's possible for a cruel
government to oppress them or have full control over them. So those who defend
their Second Amendment right say it's their right to defend themselves against
danger from anyone, including the government.
I'd say that gun owners are mostly law-abiding people. They buy guns legally
and use them responsibly. It's not a crime to be a gun collector or a gun enthusiast.
I read that there are at least 393 million guns in the U.S.
But I don't think we've had 393 million gun-related crimes in the past year.
Of course, all it takes is one person to misuse a legally owned gun and commit a terrible act of violence.
Everyone agrees that even one mass shooting is one too many.
A mass shooting is usually defined as any shooting that involves four or more
people, not counting the shooter.
Note that we can say "shooter" or "gunman." Shooter is a gender-neutral word.
Not all shootings result in death, so we usually talk about mass shootings rather than mass killings,
but you'll hear both terms used in the news. Did you know that the majority of
guns used in mass shootings were obtained legally? That means that the
owners purchased the guns legally. To buy a gun in the U.S., you need to go to a
licensed dealer, someone who is allowed by law to sell guns or what some call
firearms. A licensed dealer performs background checks before selling guns to
people. Many Americans agree on the need for background checks, but those who
strongly oppose more gun control say that tighter regulation opens the door
to invasion of privacy. These people argue that stricter gun laws negatively
affect responsible gun owners. There are arguments over what kinds of guns should
be sold to private citizens. Those with a middle position tolerate civilian
use of guns as long as the guns are used for sport or basic home defense.
Many Americans at the present are against the sale of assault weapons to civilians.
Assault weapons are the kinds of guns used by the military, and they can shoot very fast.
They can shoot repeatedly if they have a high-capacity magazine.
That's the part of the gun that holds the bullets. Even if the government
banned all assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, we'd have to
figure out what to do with the assault weapons already out there.
A ban is a law that says something can't be done. We actually had a ban on
assault weapons a while back, but it expired. Will we have another ban on
assault weapons? That's what many of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates
are pushing for. Some have proposed a federal buyback program. Gun owners would
turn over their assault weapons and be compensated. How easy would it be to put
such a program into practice? We don't know.
Gun laws vary from state to state. Florida is one of the states that has a
Stand Your Ground law, which is a shoot-first policy. It allows gun owners
to defend themselves in the face of danger. The law, not surprisingly, has been
interpreted different ways, not always in favor of the gun owner.
One difficulty in getting any law passed is that our politicians have to work together.
They're from different parties, and they represent different interests,
so agreement doesn't happen often. Then there are the lobbyists. A lobby is an
organized group that tries to influence the government according to the common
interests they share. The National Rifle Association, or what we call the NRA for
short, is a very large and powerful special interest group. They've been
around since the late 1800s, and today they strongly defend their Second
Amendment rights. NRA lobbyists have had much influence in Washington.
But remember that the need and desire to own a gun goes back
farther than the 1800s. Many of the early colonists had guns to hunt and to defend
themselves from hostile Native Americans. Later as the country expanded West,
people on the frontier fought Native Americans and sometimes each other with guns.
Hollywood has glorified this period of our Wild West. Incidentally, you have to
wonder how the U.S. would have grown if we hadn't used firearms against the Native
Americans. Our military had an unfair advantage over the Native Americans in
terms of weapons. At some point I should make a video about the history of Native
Americans and their treatment by the U.S. government. Let me know if that topic interests you.
Gun violence increased in the early 1900s, especially in cities like Chicago.
Organized crime makes use of guns, and that's one fact that responsible gun
owners like to highlight. Mass shootings in the U.S. have increased for sure, but
many homicides here are gang-related.
Those acts of violence don't involve the Smiths down the street who happen to
own a pistol for self-defense or your cousin Bill who likes to hunt with a
rifle during deer season. But opponents of gun ownership say that guns in the
home and guns carried by civilians can lead to unnecessary violence. So all gun
owners keep their guns away from children? How can we monitor the mental
health of gun owners with no criminal record? Is the answer to ban all guns?
The topic of gun control will remain a central issue for Americans until we
agree on how to prevent mass shootings. Until that time, we'll continue to hear
the same descriptions in news reports: a senseless tragedy, a horrific event, a
deadly mass shooting. Many of us are stunned by the fact that we've grown
used to asking the same questions:
Another one? Where? How many were killed?
Did they get the shooter? Who was it?
Some shooters have a clear motive, a reason
for committing the crime. Other shootings leave us baffled. Not all shootings are
hate crimes that target specific people. Some shootings are random.
The news reports always tell us the location, the time, and the number of victims.
Victims include fatalities and injuries. "Fatality" is another word for "death." Some news
reports are now choosing not to identify the shooter by name because there's a
risk of giving notoriety to these criminals. "Notoriety" is the state of
being famous for doing something bad.
Until we can stop mass shootings, we have to remain prepared. On Instagram, I shared
my thoughts on having active shooter drills in the public schools.
Visit me on Instagram to listen to that post. An active shooter is a gunman who
is actively shooting with a weapon. Active shooter drills prepare the staff
and students for the emergency in which a gunman opens fire in a school or on school grounds.
There are two basic responses: evacuation and lockdown.
In an evacuation, people leave the school and escape to safety. In a lockdown, all doors
are locked to keep the people inside safe.
Note that a school can be in lockdown or go into lockdown.
If you're the parent of a public school student here in the U.S.,
you'll probably hear about a safety training program called ALICE.
A.L.I.C.E. is an acronym for alert, lockdown, inform, counter, evacuate.
These are the actions of school staff can choose to take during an active shooting.
Often the threat of a school shooting comes from a student or a former student,
so do you think arming teachers with guns is a solution? This is currently
decided at the state level. Schools are generally a gun-free zone, but some
states have laws that allow adults to carry a concealed weapon. "Concealed" means hidden.
There are two ways you can carry a gun: open or concealed.
We can talk about open carry states or people with concealed carry permits.
If I'm not mistaken, Florida is the most recent state to pass a law allowing classroom teachers to be armed.
To sum up, Americans are aware of the increase in mass shootings. We know
there's a problem; now we have to talk about our current gun laws and agree on
how to prevent future violence. Some will ask for no guns.
Others will demand their right to own any and all guns. That's part of the
problem right there. Some say that guns increase the chance for violence and
guns make them feel unsafe. Others say that owning a gun gives them
a sense of safety -- guns can prevent crimes. Hopefully, we can find a middle
