Each person has responsibilities to the community and ...



This text is about guns, the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the right to bear arms (own and use a gun). There are some words in this text that you won’t see very often when you are reading but are important for this text. These words are in bold in the text. Look at the questions below about these vocabulary items and try to answer them. You should use a dictionary if you are unsure of the answers.

A: Pre-reading Vocabulary

To bear sth (v)

‘The United States constitution enshrines an individual's right to keep and bear arms.’

Does bear mean you (a) use something or you (b) leave something?

To govern sth (v)

‘Although guns are permitted everywhere, the laws governing gun use vary considerably from state to state.’

Does govern mean that you (a) control something or you (b) make something commonly known?

To outlaw sth (n)

‘Proposed gun control legislation has concerned the outlawing of some types of weapons.’

If you outlaw something, do you (a) make it legal or (b) make it illegal?

Anachronistic (adj)

‘Advocates of firearm control argue that the Second Amendment is anachronistic, belonging to the long-gone days of the past.’

If something is anachronistic, is it (a) modern and up-to-date or (b) old-fashioned and out-of-date?

To stress sth (v)

‘They point to the high levels of murder and crime in the US to stress the need for reform.’

If you stress something, do you (a) show that it is very important or do you (b) suggest that it doesn’t matter?

To veto sth (v)

‘Any new gun control legislation that comes before the Congress is sure to be vetoed by President George W. Bush.’

Does vetoing something mean (a) allowing it to happen or (b) stopping it from happening?

B: Scanning for information

How are you going to answer these questions?

These are scanning questions – to answer these questions in the time available, you will have to look at the text very quickly! Remember; you are looking for names, dates or numbers.

Allow yourself only ninety (90) seconds to answer these questions.

1. What % of murders in 2000 were committed with firearms? ______________

2. In what year was the U.S Constitution written? ______________

3. When were the horrific events at Columbine High School? ______________

Each person has responsibilities to the community and others in a democratic society

Introduction

The United States Constitution, which was written over two hundred years ago, enshrines[1] an individual's right to keep and bear arms. In 2000, the FBI estimated that 66% of the 15,517 murders that year were committed with firearms. Fatal[2] shootings in recent years, many involving teenagers, have made the issue of gun control an important debate in US politics.

Context

The United States has the largest number of guns in private hands[3] of any country in the world with 60 million people owning a combined arsenal of over 200 million firearms. The US constitution, which was written in 1787, enshrines the people's right to keep and bear arms in its Second Amendment. It reads: 'A well regulated militia[4], being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.' Although guns are permitted everywhere, the laws governing gun use vary considerably from state to state.

Gun Control, Not Prohibition

Amending the Constitution to prohibit guns is rarely discussed as many Americans view the right to bear arms as an important civil liberty. Instead, the issue is whether or not it is lawful to impose stricter controls on gun usage. Proposed gun control legislation has concerned child-proof[5] locks, background checks on gun purchasers, the outlawing of some types of weapons and, most recently, the creation of a nationwide database of weapon owners’ fingerprints in order to track the movement of the nation's guns.

American opinion is divided between those who insist on the universal right to bear arms and those who advocate stricter controls. The influential firearms lobby, headed by the National Rifle Association (NRA), believes gun ownership to be a personal and moral right and dismisses the link between gun ownership and high gun violence with its slogan 'Guns don't kill people, people kill people.'

Advocates of firearm control argue that the Second Amendment is anachronistic, belonging to the long-gone days of the frontier[6]. They point to the high levels of gun-related murder and violent crime in the US to stress the need for reform. The issue of removing the number of guns that are already in circulation is rarely discussed.

More Controls

In the past decade, public opinion has been gradually moved in favor of stricter gun control laws. In January 2001, 59% of the respondents in an ABC News/Washington Post survey said they favored stricter gun control laws. After the horrific events in 1999 at Columbine High School in Colorado when two students shot dead 13 fellow students and each other, polls[7] showed that two-thirds of Americans supported greater gun control measures. Moreover, 15 state legislatures passed significant gun control bills. The case of the Washington Sniper[8], who terrorized the suburbs of the nation's capital in late 2002 in a month-long shooting spree, killing 10 people and seriously wounding three, quickly brought the issue of gun control onto the table once again.

However, any new gun control legislation that comes before the Congress is sure to be vetoed by President George W. Bush, who is a long-time ally of the NRA. While he was governor of Texas, the President signed laws making it legal to carry concealed weapons and difficult for citizens to sue gun manufacturers.

Adapted from bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/features/ihavearightto/four_b/casestudy_art29.shtml

C: Comprehension Questions

How are you going to answer these questions?

Most of these questions ask you to answer in your own words. You may find the answers in specific sentences in the text. Sometimes however, you may have to read a whole paragraph. Use the bold words in the questions to help you find the relevant parts of the text.

✓ These questions test your ability to analyze and understand the information that you have read.

✓ For the first question you must choose the correct answer(s) from A, B, C or D. For the other questions you must answer in your own words.

1. Which of the following statements from the text is/are not true?

a) Approximately two-thirds of the murders in 2000 gun related. ___

b) In 1787, 200 million people owned guns. ___

c) Permission to own and use a gun is written in the 2nd Amendment. ___

d) Every American state has the same laws about gun use. ___

2. Give two examples of the issues that have been discussed with regard to changes in legislation.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. What do people who are in favor of greater gun control think about the 2nd Amendment?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. What two incidents (in 1999 and in 2002) brought the control issue to renewed prominence?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. What examples are given to show that President Bush is gun-friendly?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

D: Post-reading Vocabulary

The missing words in these sentences are words that you will regularly see in academic texts. Try to guess the word using the given first letter and the clue. If you are unable to guess the answer you may check the text.

✓ Fill in the gaps using suitable words.

‘A____________ (noun – plural) of firearm control argue that the Second Amendment is anachronistic, belonging to the long-gone days of the past.’

CLUE: The missing word means a person that agrees with something.

‘Amending the Constitution to p___________ (verb) guns is rarely discussed as many Americans view the right to bear arms as an important civil liberty.’

CLUE: The missing word has a meaning similar to prevent or not allow.

‘Polls showed that two-thirds of Americans supported greater gun control measures. Moreover, 15 state legislatures passed s_________ (adj) gun control bills.’

CLUE: This word is similar in meaning to quite important and quite obvious/noticeable.

4. ‘In the past d_________ (noun), public opinion has been gradually moved in favor of stricter gun control laws.’

CLUE: This phrase is similar in meaning to ten years.

Answers

A: Pre-reading Vocabulary

1. Use something

2. Control something

3. Make it illegal

4. Old-fashioned and out-of-date

5. Show that it is very important

6. Stopping it from happening

B: Scanning for Information

1. 66%

2. 1787

3. 1999

C. Comprehension Questions

1. A & C are true, B & D are false.

2. 1) child-proof locks, 2) background checks on gun purchasers, 3) the outlawing of some types of weapons and, 4) the creation of a nationwide database of weapon owners’ fingerprints.

3. Advocates of firearm control argue that the Second Amendment is anachronistic.

4. 1) the horrific events in 1999 at Columbine High School in Colorado when two students shot dead 13 fellow students and each other, and 2) the case of the Washington Sniper, who terrorized the suburbs of the nation's capital in late 2002 in a month-long shooting spree.

5. President Bush is a long-time ally of the NRA. While he was governor of Texas, he signed laws making it legal to carry concealed weapons and difficult for citizens to sue gun manufacturers.

D: Post-reading Vocabulary

1. Advocates

2. Prohibit

3. Significant

4. Decade

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[1] To enshrine something means to make it very important and special.

[2] Fatal means resulting in death.

[3] In private hands refers to privately owned guns.

[4] A militia is an unofficial army.

[5] If something is child-proof, it can’t be easily opened or used by a child.

[6] The frontier refers to a more violent period of American history, when owning a gun was a necessity.

[7] A poll is a type of questionnaire.

[8] A sniper is an assassin who kills using a gun.

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