Research Essay Proposal

Research Proposal: Gun Control

[Name of Writer]

[Name of Institution]

I have chosen gun control as the social issue that I will research upon. Owing to the exigency brought about by the current social and political climate of America, many groups believe it is increasingly critical that gun laws are made stricter. Much can be said about why this demand is logical and a vital need of the hour. A staggering majority of the deadliest mass shootings in the last fifty years have happened in USA. Gun laws in some US states are so relaxed that it is legal for eight-year-olds to carry weapons. Students can carry weapons to class in some states and are therefore committing no crime up until they start shooting on sight. School shootings have sped up social discourse around gun laws in the past and the democratic population hopes that the same will happen in the wake of recent mass shootings. The argument against stricter gun laws mainly draws from the guarantee of freedom emboldened in the second amendment. The rural population of Southern American states is the fiercest advocate of this ideology. My research will cover both sides of this fence in order to understand and elucidate the debate in a better way.

For me, the debate around gun control is personal because I have seen what gun violence does to victims and to the families they leave behind. As a child I had befriended a sweet girl in pigtails at summer camp. Two years ago, we lost her to a mass shooting in a concert in Las Vegas. Even though her death and the boundless grief of her family that I saw at her funeral was traumatizing, I still find it infuriating and disorienting that the shooter could just walk up to a crowd of people without violating the law of the land. It is unfortunate and deeply unsettling that a wild majority of Americans have similar personal experiences with gun violence. The only course of action while going forward should be talking louder so that this debate can transform into concrete, substantial change.

The first open question I must cover in my research is the dilemma brought about by the realization that the American society has a fond relationship with its weapons. How deep is this relationship and how far will America go to resist a change? Secondly, there is the question of how America has essentially lost its initial motive of ensuring a weapons-freedom in the first place since there are no more Brits to defend against. How paranoid is an average American and how much is the need for carrying a weapon justified? The third question I would like to address in my research paper is the confusion around assault rifles being legal. As the world gives space to anti-war discussions, when will a gun-loving American be ready to let go?

There are several keywords that I plan on using in my search for sources. Some of these have to do with school shootings and other mass shootings. Changes in gun laws following important relevant national disasters like Sandy Hook are why I will use names given to mass shootings as keywords. Gun laws under specific presidents will also be searched when fishing for sources. I will look for credible sources in journals about social and political thought. I will also look up articles and stories in newspapers as sources. In a time when unapologetic radical hate is trying to make a comeback, it is crucial that we understand the argument around gun control in order to deduce a strategy.