Left In The Lurch Essay Example for Free

Left In The Lurch Essay Jim showed up at work today and found out that Sara called in sick but Jim thought he saw Sara at the gas station on his way to work this morning. It was a car like hers and he’s pretty sure that it was her license plate. Jim and Sara were supposed to give a big presentation to the CEO today and Sara never sent him her slides for the PowerPoint show. What are Jim’s options? Jim should call Sara to see if she would answer the phone to check on her. If she answers he could then ask if she would send the power point slides by email. Or Jim could try to postpone the meeting to a later time until he can get the power point slides from Sara or she could be there for the presentation. What does he actually know and what does he think he knows? Does it matter? Jim knows that Sara called in sick and they were to give a big presentation to the CEO and he also knows he doesn’t have her slides for the Power Point show. Jim thinks he saw Sara at the gas station because he saw a car that looked like hers and he thought the license plate was her number. It doesn’t matter why she called in sick or if it was her at the gas station. Jim still needs to find a solution to his problem before the presentation. How could he apply the character qualities you’ve learned about so far (persistence, enthusiasm, optimism, and self-control) in this situation? Being positive in this state of affairs and having the determination to get through this presentation. Being optimistic will help him give the performance without Sara. Jim can exhibit self-control by not getting upset and blaming everything on Sara, when he should be focusing on the presentation. Jim exhibiting self-control, being optimistic, being persistent and enthusiastic all plays a major role in the way he is going handle this problem. These qualities will help Jim to make new slides for his presentation and overcome the urge to be upset with Sara. His ability to show enthusiasm will help him to deliver his presentation to the CEO. What should he do? Jim should try and call Sara to see if she can email the slides. If he can’t get a hold of Sara, Jim can do the slides himself and go into the meeting with confidence and enthusiasm. Jim should focus on getting through the meeting by doing the best that he can do in this type of situation by, showing that he can overcome and adapt to the situation he is facing.

Banquos Virtue in Shakespeares Macbeth :: Free Essay Writer

Banquo's Virtue in Macbeth      Ã‚   The Bard of Avon creates some truly mean and ugly characters in the persons of the Macbeths, but he creates a counterpart to them in the character of Banquo. This military man will be the subject of this essay.    In Everybody's Shakespeare: Reflections Chiefly on the Tragedies, Maynard Mack explains how the Bard upgraded the Holinshed version of Banquo:    His [King James] family, the Stuarts, claimed descent from Banquo, and it is perhaps on this account that Shakespeare departs from Holinshed, in whose narrative Banquo is Macbeth's accomplice in the assassination of Duncan, to insist on his "royalty of nature" and the "dauntless temper of his mind" (3.1.50). Many critics see a notable compliment to James in the dumb show of kings descending from Banquo ("What, will the line stretch out to th' crack of doom?" (186)    Blanche Coles states in Shakespeare's Four Giants that Banquo is "a man to be feared" by Macbeth:    Besides Lady Macbeth, the one who knows how much Macbeth is acting is Banquo. In the scene where Banquo is starting for his afternoon ride, the conversation between the new King and his "chief guest" is artificial on both sides. In pretending that he is about to seek advice from Banquo, Macbeth [. . .] is relying on the security of his office to prevent a contradiction from Banquo. A few lines farther on he says that his fears in Banquo sink deep. In the long soliloquy, beginning "To be thus is nothing," he reflects that Banquo would dare a great deal, and yet his daring is accompanied by a certain wisdom that would guide him to act safely. So he is a man to be feared. (56-57)    Clark and Wright in their Introduction to The Complete Works of William Shakespeare comment that Banquo is a force of good in the play, set in opposition to Macbeth:    Banquo, the loyal soldier, praying for restraint against evil thoughts which enter his mind as they had entered Macbeth's, but which work no evil there, is set over against Macbeth, as virtue is set over against disloyalty.   (792)    In Fools of Time: Studies in Shakespearean Tragedy, Northrop Frye explains the rationale behind Banquo's ghost in this play:    Except for the episode of Hercules leaving Antony, where mysterious music is heard again, there is nothing really supernatural in Shakespeare's tragedies that is not connected with the murder of the order-figures. Banquo's Virtue in Shakespeare's Macbeth :: Free Essay Writer Banquo's Virtue in Macbeth      Ã‚   The Bard of Avon creates some truly mean and ugly characters in the persons of the Macbeths, but he creates a counterpart to them in the character of Banquo. This military man will be the subject of this essay.    In Everybody's Shakespeare: Reflections Chiefly on the Tragedies, Maynard Mack explains how the Bard upgraded the Holinshed version of Banquo:    His [King James] family, the Stuarts, claimed descent from Banquo, and it is perhaps on this account that Shakespeare departs from Holinshed, in whose narrative Banquo is Macbeth's accomplice in the assassination of Duncan, to insist on his "royalty of nature" and the "dauntless temper of his mind" (3.1.50). Many critics see a notable compliment to James in the dumb show of kings descending from Banquo ("What, will the line stretch out to th' crack of doom?" (186)    Blanche Coles states in Shakespeare's Four Giants that Banquo is "a man to be feared" by Macbeth:    Besides Lady Macbeth, the one who knows how much Macbeth is acting is Banquo. In the scene where Banquo is starting for his afternoon ride, the conversation between the new King and his "chief guest" is artificial on both sides. In pretending that he is about to seek advice from Banquo, Macbeth [. . .] is relying on the security of his office to prevent a contradiction from Banquo. A few lines farther on he says that his fears in Banquo sink deep. In the long soliloquy, beginning "To be thus is nothing," he reflects that Banquo would dare a great deal, and yet his daring is accompanied by a certain wisdom that would guide him to act safely. So he is a man to be feared. (56-57)    Clark and Wright in their Introduction to The Complete Works of William Shakespeare comment that Banquo is a force of good in the play, set in opposition to Macbeth:    Banquo, the loyal soldier, praying for restraint against evil thoughts which enter his mind as they had entered Macbeth's, but which work no evil there, is set over against Macbeth, as virtue is set over against disloyalty.   (792)    In Fools of Time: Studies in Shakespearean Tragedy, Northrop Frye explains the rationale behind Banquo's ghost in this play:    Except for the episode of Hercules leaving Antony, where mysterious music is heard again, there is nothing really supernatural in Shakespeare's tragedies that is not connected with the murder of the order-figures.

Project Cycle Essay

In this essay, I will outline the TRADITIONAL PROJRCT CYCLE, Macarthur’s PROJECT SEQUENCE MODEL and the PARTICIPATORY PROJECT MANAGEMENT CYCLE by giving their main features and general principles. There after I will discuss which one of them is the best suited to ensure learning takes place and those projects planning are improved. First we need to understand what project cycle is. The planning and managing of the project indicate the cyclic process of the project (Conyers and Hills 1985: 73-61) which opposes Katz’s (1975) ideology of a spiral process. Here in the project cycle, the planning consists of a number of linking phases which exist depending on one another. The project cycle has different phases during its cycle process, namely being phase1: Decision to engage in planning and the creation of an organization  framework. Phase2: The identification of planning objectives and targets. Phase3: Data collection and processing. Phase4: Identifying alternatives courses of action. Phase5: Appraisal plans and projects Phase6: Implementation and lastly Phase7: Monitoring and evaluation. Though the initial decision to engage in Planning and creation of an organizational framework is stated as phase 1, according to Conyers and Hills, phase 1 is placed at the outer edge of the cycle planning process because this decision is only made once in each country and does not form part of a regular cycle. This step is there to ensure the availability of the necessary human and financial resources to carry out the planning and implementation effectively. The identification of planning objectives and targets which is phase2. This phase is often regarded as political therefore the decision is taken by government leaders. It is stated by (Conyers and Hills: 1984) that during this phase, general rules are laid down to show the course of the country’s development and the set of principles or ideas used as a basis for one’s decisions within which development planners can formulate more specific objectives. These general rules are usually sketched in a broad description and indicate medium-term and long-term priorities. Another phase included in the traditional project cycle is Phase3: Data collection and processing. This phase is regarded as the important phase in the development planning of any country. The availability of information is absolutely essential for determining the nature and scope of development problems and resulting in designing alternative course of action to relieve or solving problems. Stated by (Conyers a nd Hills: 1984) The following phase is Phase4: Identifying alternative courses of action. Here is where time is given to identify and specifying alternative courses of action which may be adopted to solve development problems and achieve objectives. These identified courses of action may take form of either a written planning document or a series of projects. Said by (Conyers and Hills: 1984) Phase5: Appraising plans and projects is the phase during which stated by Conyers and Hills that different proposed alternatives are  weighted one another and appraised or assessed the value or quality of their nature. The advantages and disadvantages of alternative courses of action are decided firmly and submitted to those who will ultimately choose between the alternatives. Implementation is Phase 6, though the implementation of plans and projects is part of the project cycle, it is not considered to be part of the planning process mainly because the professional planners are not directly involved the implementation of plans, stated by (Conyers and Hills: 1984). This part is left to the technicians and administrative staff. This does not mean that the planners are free to ignore the implementation process. The implementation phase can not proceed without the other phase of planning or the other cycle and during this period it is actually the development planner’s job to consider how the plans is to be operationalised. The last phase of the traditional project cycle stated by (Conyers and Hills: 1984) is Phase7: Monitoring and evaluation. What is monitored ad evaluated here is the implementation of the planning. The monitoring and evaluation are undertaken on a continuous basis and not only once, making it part of the implementation process. This phase is intended to establish what takes place during the implementation phase, to determine to what extent objective has been realized, and lastly to formulate the lessons learnt from the experience of the implementation and to solve problems as they arise. This step is said to be the last step of the process, but the actual fact is that the process starts all over again. There is another form of project planning called the Macarthur’ project sequence. This project is a somewhat an opposite of the traditional project cycle. The difference between the project plans will be visible during my description of Macarthur’ project sequence. The Macarthur’ project sequence demonstrates how much more it is complex to plan a project than Conyers and Hills portray it to be. Even though that’s the case, their cycle is said it does give good idea of the main phases or stages of project planning (Macarthur 1994a: 137) Here in Macarthur’s project sequence diagram, he demonstrates how his model  is an improvement and more realistic reflection of reality than the simplified academic model. The Macarthur’s project sequence model has three phases which also within it consists of stages or events in the life of the project (Macarthur 1994a: 137) The first phase is the Pre-Investment, where the project is still a set of ideas and proposals. The second phase is the investment Phase, here is where the financial commitment has been made and the fixed productive assets are obtained (Macarthur 1994a:137). He proceed by saying the third phase is the Operation Phase, where the created investments are used to generate the output whose availability in the economy is the main justification of the project (Macarthur 1994a:137) Macarthur does not allow to be the fourth phase in the diagram (even though he admits it would make sense to do so) consisting of box 18-21, but he thinks this will make the diagram too complex. He also did not include the eight possible sources of project ideas (which are listed above box 1) as part of the project sequence because he feels that they form part of outside project activities such as broader policy formulation and the government activities and planning (Macarthur 1994a:137) (Macarthur 1994a:137) also stated that his diagram differs from the Conyers and Hills cycle because it has ‘’exit’’ routes where are alluded as ‘’abandonment’’. This allows a project to continue from one step to the next when it fails. He also says that this allows projects to enter at places other that the identification stage. Allowance of more entrances enables projects to be pat of larger programs rather than being just a mere stand-alone project. It allows the proposals to be ‘’sent back’’ for reconsideration or refinement of the first phase which is the Pre-Investment Phase didn’t go well. Macarthur lastly explains the last Phase 3 which is the Operations Phase. He states that this is where the improvements on the other project cycle diagram are presented since they make no mansion of this phase in their diagram. Box16 of Macarthur’s diagram (which is the transmission to normal  administration) reflects the importance of this phase. He says this part indicates the point at which a new project stops to have a special identity as a unique or different set of activities and becomes part of the responsibility of a section in the organization that is responsible for the operation of productive facilities (Macarthur 1994a: 137) In Macarthur (1994a:137) sequence diagram, evaluation immediately takes place after implementation of the project in order to reflect on the experiences during implementation and to take note of any lessons learnt in order to feed these back into similar project that may be undertaken later (Box 18) The aim of the evaluation that takes place after years of the operation has been done is to make more proper assessment of the rates of return received on the money initially invested in the project (Macarthur 1994a: 147-148) Both Macarthur (1994) sequence planning and Conyers and Hills cyclic planning show a blueprint approach are inflexible and difficult to change. The projects are systematically and carefully planned in advance and implemented strictly according to the formulated plan. Their design is to the provision of a large physical infrastructure like industrial projects. The infrastructure that regard is easy to obtain in which to the base the project. The Macarthur (1994a: 137) sequence and Conyers and Hills cycle project plans got criticized by Rondinelli (1983) in the late 1970s and the early 1980s. Rondinelli (1983: viii) says that the problems that come with a strict blueprint approach can be minimized by using â€Å"Adaptive approach that relies on adjustive and strategic planning, on administrative procedures that facilitate innovation, responsiveness and experimentation on decision making processes that join learning with action†. An adaptive approach is also known as the learning process planning mode. It provides for successive stages of EXPERIMENTATION, PILOT, and DEMONTRATION AND REPLICATION OR PRODUCTION. The important statement in this approach is that there is little certainty about which technique will work in the long  term for a particular country (Rondinelli 1983: viii). Selected techniques are applied and exposed to regular field tests, after which activities are designed in accordance with what was learnt in the field. The outcome is that project planning is made more flexible by modifying and adapting project as more knowledge is obtained about environment. One of the statements about learning process approach is that there should be continual communication between project planners, implementers and the inhabitants of the area affected by the project (Korten 1980: 480-511), (Sweets and Weisel 1979: 127-130). Long (2001: 64-79) also supported this by explaining why participation is so important on development effort. He stated that poor people know their economic and social problems best and have insights and ideas about what could be done to solve them. Lane (2005) also supported Rondinelli (1983) criticism by making a critique of his own of various planning Models among which is the blueprint approach like those discussed previously. Lane (2005) stated that there are more flexible approaches like SYNOPTIC APPROACH which he feels allows for what he calls â€Å"tokenistic† participation. He also mentioned other flexible planning approaches such as â€Å"mixed planning†, â€Å"incrementalism† as well as approaches like â€Å"transitive† planning and communication theories. Lane (2007: 296) argues that â€Å"whereas participation was previously viewed as a decision making adjust, all schools of contemporary era view participation as a basic and important element of planning and decision making. Even though the traditional project cycle of Conyers and Hills was criticized by other models. It has an advantage of providing for a number of phases designed in such a way as to link the formulation of basic policy guidelines to specific projects and programs; this ensures that the lessons learnt from the implementation of each phase will be in corporate into the next cycle. Because in this cyclic project planning the process usually starts all over again after the last phase which is phase 7, it gives the planners an opportunity to learn from the lessons of the past. The Macarthur (1994a:  137) project planning sequence has its advantage of having the allowance of â€Å"exit† route, which is referred to as â€Å"Abandonment†. When a project fails to continue from one stage to the next. Another advantage of Macarthur’s sequence is that it allows for â€Å"projects to enter at places other than the identification stage (1994a: 138). He also adds that by allow ing for more entrance, enables Macarthur to make provision of other projects that may be part of a larger programs, rather than mere stand alone projects. Thirdly project proposals can be â€Å"sent back† for reconsideration or refinement. The participatory project management cycle’s adoptive approach has its own advantage of consisting of continuous cycle of action, reflection and adaptation, which Den Heyer (2002: 525) refers as â€Å"learning loops†. Even though all three of the project planning models has advantages, there are some disadvantages that come with them that make them to be not applicable for use in some project planning. The disadvantage of traditional cyclic model as pointed by Macarthur (1994a: 135) is that Conyers and Hills traditional cyclic model omits certain key moments in the life of a project, which means that we do not really get an adequate description of all the actual phases or stages through which large projects in particular, move. Macarthur’s (1994) project sequence also has its disadvantage. It is criticized by Rondinelli (1983: viii) and Lane (2005) that the sequence is a blueprint approach, and blueprint approaches are too strict and inflexible. Which they feel blueprint approaches don’t allow for participation. Long  (2001: 74) also agrees with this critique that blueprint approaches do not allow participation and flexibility needed to carry out the project.  As much as participation approach has a lot to criticize on other approaches, it also has its disadvantage, which is by the point of view of (Lane 2007: 296) is that participation is a remedy for the inadequacies or weakness of the more rigid blueprint approaches. In my opinion, I think the participatory approach is the best approach that ensures that learning during implementation takes place because it is flexible and includes the techniques use in both the cyclic and the sequential approaches. It does not  only accommodate infr astructural projects but also the people centered projects that will benefit the people. Just like the Tanzania Participatory Poverty Assessment project. Where PPA was designed to complete a natural Human Resource Development (HRD) survey on 1993 by focusing on gathering information on poverty as defined by local people in their own terms (Moriiti and Crawford 2009: 296). BIBLIOGRAPHY. Biggs & Smith; Hart, Burgess, Beukes & Hart; Lane.2009. Only study guide for DVA2602.Pretoria: University of South Africa PROJECTS AND PROGRAMMES AS INSTITUTIONS OF DEVELOPMENT: a reader, 2009: contributed by Muriithi and Crawford. Pretoria: University of South Africa.

San Diego City College - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2226 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2019/03/19 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Gun Control Essay Did you like this example? Professor Daveed Department chair of history and political science at San Diego City College. Views the United States gun rights/reform from both sides. Neutral, more informative view. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "San Diego City College" essay for you Create order Not opposed to or for gun control/rights. Kristin Brown Co President and Chief Strategy Officer of the Brady Campaign. The Brady campaign aims at preventing gun violence by promoting policies that will keep guns out of the hands of Americans. It was founded by Jim and Sarah Brady in 1974. Jim was Ronald Reagans press secretary and after he was shot, he and his wife devoted the rest of their lives to do something about gun violence. In 1993 the Brady bill was passed. It required background checks on people purchasing firearms, along with a five-day waiting period on purchases. Kris Brown started her career on Capitol Hill working for congressman, Jim Moran. She then earned her law degree and worked as a regulatory and litigation lawyer. Now, she oversees strategy and management of the Brady Campaign. Working towards expanding background checks, limiting gun dealers, and educating the public on gun dangers. Correa 2 Wayne LaPierre Executive vice president of the National Rifle Association. The NRA is a nonprofit organization that advocates for gun rights and advocates for and against gun legislation. After obtaining a masters degree in government from Boston College, LaPierre entered the lobbying industry and in 1977, joined the NRA as a 28-year-old. LaPierre has also served on the boards of directors of the American Association of Political Consultants, American Conservative Union, and Center for the Study of Popular Culture and the National Fish Wildlife Foundation. He is also the author of Safe: How to Protect Yourself, Your Family, and Your Home, The Global War on Your Guns: Inside the UN Plan to Destroy the Bill of Rights and The Essential Second Amendment Guide (Garrett). Introduction San Diego City College is hosting a panel event. They have invited Kris Brown from the Brady campaign, a gun control activist. Along with Wayne LaPierre, head of the NRA, and a gun rights activist. We have head of history and political science, professor Daveed as a guest as well as a student named, Gabriel as our mediator. The guests will be giving their thoughts and opinions on where the United States currently stands on gun control/gun rights and what we should be doing differently to prevent gun violence. Gabriel [Walks onto stage and sits on the right of Wayne LaPierre, Professor Daveed, and Kristin Brown, who are sitting in that order] Hello, San Diego City College! How are you guys? [Response from crowd] Good, good. The turnout is amazing, I can see people squeezed in all   around the sides of the room and along the walls, while that might not be too comfortable, its great in terms of numbers and the amount of people that have come out to listen to this very   Correa 3 important debate, which does make sense because we have our very own Professor Daveed on the panel today. He is our department chair of History and Political Science. We have Kris Brown with us, Co President of the Brady Campaign and Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle Association. [Turns his attention toward guests] Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedules to be here today. It is very much appreciated and I think were all equally as excited for the conversation we are having today. Professor Daveed Thank you, Gabe for thinking of me and bringing me into this panel. Im honored to be sitting here with the both of you (Kris and Wayne) who are the faces of two of the largest gun nonprofits. Also Gabe, I appreciate the shout-out. Thank you for not making me feel like a meager participation trophy next to these two. Gabe- ha-ha, youre so much more than that Professor, I would never Also, theres still time for my grade to be brought down, so I couldnt. Professor Daveed Funny. Kris Brown [Interjects] Ive got to say Gabriel, I feel just as honored to be here. To be able to share my thoughts and opinions on gun control in a room full of young men and women is really something. So, thank you for reaching out and having me. Wayne LaPierre Yes, I too appreciate the opportunity. We have serious discussions ahead and serious issues that impact each and every one of us. Correa 4 Gabe Yes, we definitely do. We have all heard of the mass shootings and the rallies, the protests, and calls for stricter gun laws, some even going as far as changing the Second Amendment or creating additional gun rights. There has been extensive media coverage on the issue, as well as in schools, making sure kids know the procedure if a shooting were to occur. It seems the debate hasnt settled down, it has only been fueled by more gun violence, those who are hungry for change, and others who strongly disagree with the proposed additions and/or restrictions to gun laws. So, my question for you guys is: Would universal background checks and a ban on assault-style rifles reduce gun violence in the United States? Professor Daveed Ill go first. I really like your question. I feel like its come the closest to actually being a part of the real conversation, and could eventually lead to passing legislation. I say this, because earlier like you mentioned, many people speak about rewriting the second amendment and I feel that that will never in a million years happen. Heres why. Americans are very proud. As Americans, I think we pride ourselves in having the Constitution and having rights that set us apart from other countries, so much so that sometimes we let that get in the way of realizing when something just isnt working. Im not saying that I am against gun rights, because Im not, but I do think that the laws we have set in place are letting ill people slip through the cracks, leading to many casualties and hurt families. So, to answer your question I would say that stricter gun laws would be a fair compromise for people who do depend on hunting or even enjoy sport shooting. There wont be a buyback program stripping individuals of their firearms or a change in the Bill of Rights, just a lengthier process to purchase a gun.   Correa 5 is how it should be if you know the severity that a bullet can cause, and if you are in fact only using a gun for the right reasons, you should be just fine. Wayne LaPierre Its not that Americans are proud, Professor. We are simply standing up for our rights, the same rights that have stood for hundreds of years. The Second Amendment clearly states that A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. Now, in the 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller case, the Supreme Court translated the Second Amendment into its intended meaning, ruling that it protects an individuals right to bear arms, and not just a National Guards (Berman). The dilemma here is that its a fact that blame is being shifted onto the NRA and guns instead of the people committing the acts. It is society that is fundamentally flawed. It is our values and morals, not guns. Guns are not committing crimes, people are. Kris Brown I think that that is precisely the problem Mr. LaPierre, the second amendment has been in place since 1791. Times have changed, we no longer use muskets or revolvers that hold less than six rounds. Technology has surged forward, I dont have to tell you how many kinds of guns we have now or how many bullets can be held in a single magazine with bump stocks that allow bullets to fire at twice the speed, allowing for mass casualties. But, changing the second amendment isnt apart of the conversation. So, I wont go any farther than that. The real question is about more restrictions and making the process of purchasing a gun more accurate and safe. Thats apart of the Brady three tier goal. Our goal is to cut gun deaths in half. How we plan on doing that is through expanding the Brady bill to cover all gun sales. Something that   Correa 6 about 94% of American agree with, because currently 1 in 5 guns are sold without background checks. Also, for those who dont know the Brady bill mandated background checks. The   second goal is to ban the sale of all assault-style weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines. The third is to enact extreme risk laws. Meaning laws that allow family members and law enforcement to seek a protective order to remove firearms from someone at risk of hurting themselves or others. Professor Daveed Im very curious, What is stopping us from being able to expand the Brady bill? As you mentioned before 94% of Americans agree with that, so whats the hold up? Kris Brown Unfortunately, we have our answer in the politics of America today. The NRA contributed or lobbied about $50 million to get President Trump elected under a pro NRA agenda and many members of Congress, so although the polls clearly show support, Congress just isnt acting. What we have done over time, has been to get the states approval. We now have twenty states that have passed expansions of the Brady background through ballets, not their legislatures. Wayne LaPierre Yes Mrs. Brown, we do lobby. It is our way of giving back and supporting congressmen and women who deserve a seat in Senate and the House of Representatives. The NRA spends money, but so do dozens of organizations and causes. NRA money is not why gun control efforts are failing. We have only spent about $203 million since 1998. T hat figure is even smaller than it looks when you consider 30 percent of Americans, or about 100 million people, own a gun. By contrast, Wall Street and the broader financial industrial shelled out more than   Correa 7 $1.1 billion in the 2016 election cycle alone. The bulk of that $203 million doesnt actually go to candidates. Its spent on those issue ads that you see mostly on cable news channels during election years. Fewer than 20 percent of American gun owners are even NRA members. We give the beliefs of gun owners a voice, rather than frame what they should believe. The real power is with those voting gun owners, not the lobby group. We support regulations on bump stocks. However, we do not support expanding firearm background checks or banning certain guns. We instead urge Congress to loosen gun restrictions, along with passing the Concealed Carry Reciprocity, which would require states to recognize concealed carry permits from other states. Banning guns from law-abiding Americans based on the criminal act of a madman will do nothing to prevent future attacks. If we have more good people armed, then we could stop the crazy people with guns. Professor Daveed You dont think stricter gun laws would prevent future attacks? What about Australia? Or the U.K.? Just entertain the thought, because many countries have had mass shootings, and tightened their gun laws shortly after in order to prevent any further losses. The 1996 Port Arthur Massacre in Australia resulted in a man killing 35 people, and wounding over 24 with a semi-automatic rifle. Two weeks later firearms were regulated. The National Agreement on Firearms was put into effect, which prohibited automatic and semi-automatic assault rifles, mandated licensing and registration, and instituted a temporary buyback program that took about 650,000 assault weapons out of public circulation. It also required licenses to   Correa 8 demonstrate a genuine need for a particular type of gun, as well as taking a firearm safety course. In the U.K. something similar happened, as well as in Canada and Norway. When tragedy struck it was followed by change. Right now in the U.S. at the age of 18 you can purchase rifles, shotguns, and ammunition but have to be over 21 to purchase all other firearms like handguns. And, in most states you can even carry a concealed gun in public. Did you also know that (speaking to audience) background checks are only required in eleven states since the Brady Bill expired in (1968-) 1998 and was never picked up by most states. Same with the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons ban that expired in 2004. The ban was signed by President Bill Clinton and outlawed nineteen kinds of military style-assault weapons, never being signed by Congress again. Furthermore, most states do bar selling guns to high risk individuals, including felons, people with a mental illness history, fugitives, drug users, individuals with restraining orders against them, people who have given up their citizenship, dishonorably discharged military personnel, unauthorized migrants, and tourists. The U.S. depends on the NICS/FBI database for these background checks, which many times exclude crucial information that could indicate a risk. Last bit of information, I promise. There have been over 93 mass shootings since 1982, 42 of those occurring after Sandy Hook. The other 51 never exceeded 32 deaths in one case, while a single shooting in 2017 caused 58 fatalities, exceeding Columbine, Sandy Hook, Texas Baptist Church, Parkland High School, A Thousand Oaks nightclub, and the Orlando nightclub massacre that killed 49 people.