Do you hear a lot on the news about shootings?
Have you watched the news and heard them talking about gun control in English?
Today we’re talking about a tragic topic, and that’s because you want to be educated when it comes to gun control.
Though these shootings keep happening, there is a lot of controversy about gun control.
You will get some background on this topic, and learn what may happen to control this moving forward.
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Background On A Tragic Topic
If you hear about a shooting in the city that you live, how does that make you feel with it being so close to home?
There was recently a shooting in Atlanta, and many that were killed were Asian.
So, here we go again—mass shootings and gun control seem to fill our news feed so often lately.
We have spoken about this type of crisis in the US before, and it’s time to revisit it again because it’s so important and very relevant right now.
We have talked about this type of situation, how guns are in our vocabulary, and generally how to talk about such tragic events.
We did an episode that you will want to check out for some helpful background on these topics.
How To Enter A Conversation In English With Guns Blazing
You will also want to check out a feature that will give you some insight into such topics which you can use to educate yourself.
Check out Connected Communicator and there is a way to search up information such as this if you want to research something specific.
There is an entire module on gun control in the US that you will want to check out for some helpful background.
Type in guns to search bar, and then you can find information related to this topic.
Though this may not be a positive or uplifting topic, it is one that is current and relevant—it’s important to understand the issues here.
This is a topic of conversation that you may hear about on the news, or which may even come up in conversation.
You want to know how to talk about it, and so having some background here can be really helpful to you with this.
But we wanted to talk about it again, because unfortunately it is something that keeps happening unfortunately.
Though this may seem like it’s a topic that we hope goes away, sadly it’s something that needs to be addressed and fixed—but you want to know how to talk about it in the meantime.
Looking Into A Sensitive Topic
You may start by asking yourself this—when you hear that there has been a shooting, what goes on in your mind?
Do you have an emotional reaction to this?
Many of us do react emotionally because innocent lives are lost and it’s a tragic situation.
The thing you always hear is “Thoughts and prayers…”- but is that really enough?
You may hear this from government officials or on the news, as sometimes people don’t know what else to say.
How does this make you feel when you hear “thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families?”
Do you think things will change now that Biden is in charge?
Let’s look into this a bit more so that you can understand what exactly is happening here.
There was an article that may be very helpful for you to read on this very topic, and you will want to read it over to bring yourself up to speed.
Gun control legislation or executive orders?
Here’s what President Biden is considering Jeanine Santucci USA TODAY March 24 and 25, 2021 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/03/24/gun-control-where-president-biden-stands-legislation-executive-orders/6989667002/
There is a lot of information out there about gun control, and that’s what we are focusing on today.
If there were more stringent gun control then many believe that these shootings wouldn’t happen.
This is a very relevant topic and it’s so important, and so you want to be prepared to know how to talk about these things.
You have likely heard about gun control just as you have heard about shootings on the news, and you want to understand the background so that you can get to the heart of the issue.
The Important Things To Understand In This Area
So you have read the article, you have heard all about gun control and shootings and other related topics in the news—now it’s time to get into the issues so that you can understand what may be done in this area.
There are two bills, and these are very important to understand even on a broader level.
You will want to know that at this point in time, the House has approved both but the Senate may prove to be the hard part here.
These two bills would be instrumental in helping with gun control and hopefully putting a stop to mass shootings.
1. The Bipartisan Background Checks Act: This would push for more background checks when somebody wants to purchase a gun. It would close a “gun show and online sales loophole” so that people who want to purchase guns are forced to go through an extensive background check. There is more to it, but one main point is that there is a straightforward process with extensive background checks for anybody wishing to purchase a gun. What exactly is the “gun show loophole?” This is a good key term, which means privately sold firearms, so this could happen at a gun show. There are no federal background checks needed, which makes it far too easy for gun purchases to anyone who is interested.
2. The Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021: This would end the “Charleston Loophole” which is when the background check isn’t necessary “if three business days have passed.” This would make the period longer than 3 business days which it is now. It is hopeful that it would be 10 days, which would be a much better option. The idea is the same that a more extensive background check would help with gun control. In this case though, it gives a longer period of time to hopefully catch anything alarming in somebody’s background.
You can learn more about these bills in this article, which will be very helpful to you in this area. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gun-control-background-check-bills-house-passes/
There is also a strong focus on assault weapons, as there is a lot of controversy that surrounds them.
We had a ban on assault weapons in 1994, which helped, but we don’t have that anymore.
There is a lot of controversy because people don’t understand why anyone would need an assault weapon in their daily life.
Biden wants to ban them again, and therefore bring back this law.
The article also mentions that people wonder if Biden could take executive action to make these things happen.
Some would say or you may even see it in commercials that Republican politicians glorify guns, though this is where the debate starts.
There is also the idea that Democrats want to take guns away, which would take away the Second Amendment rights.
While this isn’t true, there is a lot of emotion and thought behind this debate and people feel strongly on either side of it.
What do you think should happen?
What do you think will happen?
Why do you think these shootings keep happening?
These are good questions to think through for discussion about a very important topic.
You can think through your position and your answers, and then use this all in conversation when it comes up.
This is a very important topic to be educated on, and it’s a great way to contribute to an important aspect of conversation.
Takeaway
We taught you some politics, current events, and vocabulary about a very important topic.
We gave you our opinions on this terrible issue, so that you can start to understand what is going on and why this matters so much.
We hope one day it will be solved, but being educated is the first and most important step in this.
This is a hot topic with some controversy around it, but it’s something that may very well come up in conversation.
Now you have the background and you can contribute your thoughts and feelings to this very relevant conversation when it comes up.
If you have any questions, please leave them below in the comments section.
We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
