Concealed Carry Argumentative Essay

"Would you rather just sit there and cower underneath a desk while someone executes you and your friends or would you rather have a chance to defend your life? That's what it really boils down to," says Michael Flitcraft, a 23-year-old sophomore at the University of Cincinnati. Flitcraft has become a leading advocate and organizer for Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC), a grass-roots organization that was formed after the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre that left 32 college students and professors dead (Arena).

The organization now boasts a membership exceeding 42,000 college students, professors, college employees and parents who believe that holders of state-issued concealed handgun licenses should be allowed to extend those rights

In actuality, not a single permit holder on these campuses has been involved in a firearm accident or crime (De Vise). It is also possible to examine the data to determine that permit holders, not just on campuses, are exceedingly law abiding. Florida has released detailed records on the behavior of their permit holders. During the past two decades, from October 1, 1987 to February 28, 2011, Florida has issued permits to over 1.96 million people, with the average maintaining that permit for more than a decade with recurrent training. In that time, 168 permit holders have had their permits revoked for any type of firearms violation, the most commonly occurring was accidentally carrying into a no-carry zone such as a school or an airport, not threats or acts of violence. This represents a revocation rate of less than 0.01% over the course of two decades (Putnam). It is clear that this issue represents a point of contention for both individuals and the media. Before the rise of professional journalism in the early 1900s, and the conception of media ethics, newspapers reflected the opinions of the publisher and writer. Modern media bias occurs when the media systematically presents a particular point of view. A journalist

Ironically, Rupert Murdoch, the head of Fox News’ parent company, has been quoted saying, "I challenge anybody to show me an example of bias in Fox News Channel." (Murdoch) Bias is clearly evident in much of the coverage from Fox News, however in this case the data is on their side, and they have presented a grand argument for the SCCC organization’s