Summary Of Get A Dog But Get Rid Of Guns By Molly Ivins

Ivins’ Argument For Knives Today’s political battlefield in America sees many controversial topics debated upon. Out of all the political topics currently sweeping through the United States, few have had a louder voice and more media attention than the debate on gun control. Some people argue that guns are too dangerous to have in society and should be banned while others claim it is their constitutional right to bear arms. In the short passage Get a knife, Get a dog, but Get Rid of Guns author Molly Ivins argues for the banning of guns in the United States. She challenges the idea of all people owning guns and argues instead of guns, people should seek safer methods of protections (ie: knives and dogs). She states that overall guns are not

Ivins not only argues for her idea to ban guns, she also takes arguments that many gun supporters may throw back and does her best to invalidate them. She starts off this strategy with a pro-gun argument that states the second amendment in the Constitution allows all citizens to own guns as part of a “well-regulated militia”. She responds with her definition of a well-regulated militia being the National Guard or any of the armed forces. Another opposing argument states that if cars kill people and aren’t banned, guns can be as well. Ivins goes on to state that cars have a purpose beyond killing and are extremely regulated through licensing and restriction, Ivins says that “at a minimum, we should do the same with guns”. Ivins gives the fact that the United States has changed in its history and that we are no longer a civilization that needs to hunt for food, or be on constant lookout for danger. This point moves to discredit traditionalist thinking of sticking to old-fashion American values that we are still a frontier country. Through bringing up and immediately knocking down opposing arguments Molly Ivins’ own argument appears more intelligent and thought out. At the same time her opposition’s argument loses credibility and seems less believable or