Need help on Paper

D

Daren Thompson

New member
I have to write a Sociology paper for College. The paper has to be 5 to 10 pages. I am trying to find a way to write on firearms. (I put more effort into it if I like the subject) I need some ideas on a way to make it fit into Sociology. Any ideas will be much appriciated.
Thanks
Later
Daren
 
Daren,

Check your e-mail for a couple of thoughts I had.

Good luck in any case.

Blues

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Live Free or Die
 
Depends on the direction of your paper. It could be the social utility of the firearm in society: sport, food harvesting, crime prevention. On the latter, while I haven't read it (too busy reading about aeroplanes in WWII) yet, John Lott's "More Guns, Less Crime" has been highly recommended to me.
 
I think a good study of the armed society vs. the disarmed would work. Or perhaps a look into the nature of gov'ts that trust thier people vs. gov'ts that don't.

Once you find a topic, please use us as a resource. DC has piles of info linked to her site on the net and I've got a pretty good body of information to.

My first gun related paper was on Combat Shotguns in 7th grade english class.
I saw the teacher about a year ago and he still figures I am a terrorist pretending to be a marketing consultant. ;)
 
Rob,

I'm impressed. My boyhood school papers were typical papers on tanks and aeroplanes but combat shotguns? I did discuss bomb fabrication in high school and showed a dummy booby trap to illustrate the simplicity of such devices.

Gary
 
It might be interesting to discuss how individuals work to create societies; become comfortable; and, as they climb Dr. Maslow's hierarchy of needs, they turn their backs on the very tools and methods used to achieve their success. Sort of a twist on the premise that a satisfied "need" doesn't motivate. The people create and increasingly rely upon a centralized power, giving up their initiative and industry to become self-indulgent, lazy, and distracted by trivialities. At some point, the central power becomes despotic or the society falls prey to a more industrious society.
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Anything there for you?
 
I revamped the combat shotgun paper later in my educational career, too. It always stood out as unique.

My HS Political Science term paper was on the reason that the military switched to the .223 during the 1960's. Complete with anatomical drawings of what fast moving unstable rounds did to various parts of the human body. It was hard to my teacher to understand that wounding a man could be much better than killing him in terms of the big picture. She kept wanting to argue that point for some reason.
 
Or...
A society that liberalizes and minimizes criminal prosecution to the degree that society at large is both more fearful and likely to be victimized while at the dsame time increasingly disallowed the means to protect themselves.

Point out that society allows a person who injures a criminal in their own home to be sued by said criminal, hence the increased disaffectation and distrust of the government.

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"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"
 
Wounding a criminal in your home is actionable in some states. In CA, you don't even have to wound them to be sued. Thanks to ex-Supreme Court Justice Rose Bird (Rowland v. Christian), if the burglar is injured because of an unseen danger in your home which you failed to make safe (like falling through your skylight), you can be sued. I've asked my assemblyman to legistlatively correct this - but to no avail.
 
Here's a tough one, guatanteed to get you an "A": trace current gun restrictions back to the post Civil War era. Demonstrate that the movement against the 2nd Amendment began as an effort to keep Blacks disarmed. These same laws were selectively applied for many decades....today, they're applied to all.

If you wish to narrow it down pick just one State...Georgia, TN, Mississippi would probably yield substance.

It's wonderful to point up to the left that the same laws which they believe are so civilized today were born of the fear and hatred of bigots.
Rich
 
Rich has a good idea, but don't leave it just in the South...trace it up to New York in the Sullivan Act....which focused on Jewish and Italian immigrants.

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"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"
 
>>>which focused on Jewish and Italian immigrants.<<<

Hey, my NY family resembles those remarks! ;)

Blues


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Live Free or Die
 
Rich brings up a good point. One of the reasons the 14th Amendment was passed was to ensure that the vestiges of slavery would not rear its ugly head. Indeed, the first gun control laws were designed to make it safe to raid black homes. How is it then that the 14th Amendment, which made certain Amendments applicable to the various states, did not incorporate the 2nd? After all, without the 2nd all others don't count. May make a good legal paper too.
 
Yeah, Rich has a good one, I don't know about the gaurunteed "A," but if you decide to do that topic, I should be able to get you some good referrence material.
 
Go find a paper titled "The Racist Roots of Gun Control" by Clayton Cramer. The NYNY Sullivan mess of 1911 was followed by widespread discressionary permit systems all over the west and east, beyond the south where they originated. California's carry permit system of 1917 (towns only) and 1923 (statewide) was aimed mainly at Mexicans and Italians according to Clayton; the Fish and Game department argued in favor of carry permits in '17 to control "poaching by Mexicans and Italians".

Jim March
 
Had to check my premises before I joined this thread; per Websters':

'Sociology - the science or study of the origin, development, organization, and functioning of human society; the science of fundamental laws of social relations, institutions, etc.' (emphasis added)

Lots to work with there - seems like very fertile ground for an RKBA discussion. You've already received great ideas. DC has some great stuff, especially the 'Embarassing Second Amendment at http://home.pacbell.net/dragon13/embarassing_2nd.html , as does cornered rat at http://ddb.com/RKBA .

It would be great to see a focus upon the 'true' meaning and purpose of the 2nd Amendment with research including the documents underlying the discussions of the Bill of Rights in the 18th century. The most common anti-self defense argument is that everyone 'misunderstands' the RKBA, and that it supposedly has nothing to do with individual gun rights. For example, there were clear sociological and historical reasons that our founders inserted the 2nd Amendment so prominently in the Bill of Rights.

If that is too much history and not enough sociology, you might focus upon the human logic of self-defense. For example, how 'enlightened' and intellectual is it to insist that old people be unable to use a firearm to defend themselves from young, strong BG's?

I'm not encouraging cheating here, but if you were bold enough, and had enough time, I'll bet DC or someone else would be quite willing to post your draft on the 'net for comment and suggestions.

Best wishes and good luck.

Oh yeah - and my girlfriend in high school did her term paper on human sexuality ... after that I had a whole new outlook on research. ;)

[This message has been edited by Jeff Thomas (edited February 15, 1999).]
 
Darren,
Rich has a good plan. As a side note you can easily show how the advent of firearms in Europe, ended the fuedal system of Lords and vassels, and tie that into why the rich always have wished the poor, or underclass to be unarmed.
 
WOW thanks for all the info guys. I have already done writing 101 and 102 both argumentative writing and the instuctor probably got tired of the gun arguments, but I was having a time getting a good idea on how to incorpeate this into a Sociology paper. I feel this is how I will do it
The paper will be titled Fireams in modern Society I will explain the true reason for the 2nd
go on ito the racist roots on modern gun control. Then explain the Maslow's thing and counter it with facts from the Lott and Kleck studies.
whatdo you all think?
again all ideas were VERY helpful
Thanks
Later
Daren
 
Sounds good - just make sure you've got enough room for the breadth you're undertaking.

If you're going into the 'evolution' of the 2nd Amendment, make sure you check out http://www.jpfo.org/ regarding the 1968 U.S. gun law's supposed base in Nazi gun control law. Good luck.
 
Daren,

Jeff's correct, you're biting off awfully big chunks and using them to prop up your personal opinions about firearms.

Sociology can be philosophic or, sometimes, highly quatitative; it sounds like you are more interested in the philosophic side.

You might consider discussing how the ownership of weapons might support or negate the basic ideas of several prominent sociologists. How *would* the role of weapons fit into Maslow's ideas concerning the hierachy of needs?

A local college library should have an Encyclopedia of Intellectual History. It's great for a quick synopsis and very easy reading. Look up Herbert Tonnies, or Karl Mannheim, and see how they describe the difference between "community" and "state". See if you can figure out how the private or public ownership of weapons might fit into those concepts of society.

You may be able to compare that with Maslow or the other sociologists that you are studying.

You can certainly use the many good ideas offered on this board, just put them into a sociological context so your teacher can see that you're sticking to the subject.

Best of luck!

Kurt
 
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