Just Take Away Their Guns by James Wilson Essay

Just Take Away Their Guns by James Wilson - Essay Example This paper illustrates that Wilson assumes various rhetorical choices to explain how the removal of the illegal use of guns must be the focus of the government. In the article, he employs logos or logical appeal with persuasive facts that are likely to appeal to an American audience majority of whom is security conscious and by his own admission, they are likely to control the gun control laws but they are not sure they are going to be effective. In this case, Wilson begins by stating that creation of tougher gun control laws is not an effective method of dealing with illegal possession of firearms. Legal restraint of citizens to possess guns has little effect in dealing with the illegal use of firearms. Many guns are stolen, borrowed, or attained through private purchases and therefore, the government gun laws would be ineffective. Wilson succeeds in selling this particular idea to the readers because, from a logical perspective, he has statistically proven that the guns used in cri me are guns acquired by illegal means which the new laws are not going to have any effect on. By so doing, he has managed to effectively prove that the new laws are redundant and misguided since they will be unlikely to address the problem at hand. Wilson further uses exemplification and appeals to expert opinions, to clarify the importance of ensuring that the public can access guns legally without limitations. Gun control supporters largely disregard the need for self-defense among the citizens citing that the government can provide this necessity. However, Wilson cites Gary Kleck, a criminologist who has conducted research, indicating that every year guns are fired for self-defense purposes more than a million times what the police use. This research, therefore, indicates that the numbers of citizens that defend themselves with guns are more than the number of arrests that occur for violent crimes. Wilson provides an example to show the legitimacy of self-defense that discourages criminal activity. It is evident from the National Crime Survey that citizens that defend themselves with guns are less likely to suffer a loss of property or be harmed than those that do not. Further, statistics indicate criminals are scared of victims with guns in many instances. Wilson adopts the definition rhetoric choice in helping the reader understand the importance of government efforts in seizing illegal firearms. He defines the word â€Å"frisk† as parting down an individual’s outer garments, which occurs during a physical search. Frisk is an important part of the operation that law enforcement agencies must be encouraged to adapt to remove illegal guns from the public. It is thus unequivocal that the government’s effort to search for illegal firearms from criminals is more important than disarming the citizens. This is because the main problem is caused by criminals in the procession of illegal weapons as opposed to law-abiding citizens who have obta ined guns for their own safety. Rhetorical Situation Due to the increased rate of gun violence, there is an urgency that has motivated exigency in the article is created by the call for tougher laws to restrict people from acquiring firearms legally.