Advanced Conversation with Jennifer on Gun Control in the U.S.

8,257 views ・ 2019-09-05

English with Jennifer


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer from English with Jennifer, and in this video I'd like
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to help you prepare for a discussion about a current issue: gun control.
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I won't be showing any violent images, and I won't be using any offensive language,
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but this topic is for a mature audience. I caution my younger viewers and ask
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that you don't watch this lesson without permission from your parents or guardians. Okay?
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Gun control is a hot topic right now. If you're going to talk
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about this, you'll need some vocabulary and background knowledge. I'm not here to
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promote my politics, and I'm not here to argue with anyone. I'm here is a language
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teacher who wants to give you information that will help you
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communicate more confidently and clearly about this important issue. Okay?
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The basic debate is over the sale, the ownership, and the use of guns by private
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citizens. This debate goes back to the beginning of our country's history.
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You know we have a constitution, correct? We also have a Bill of Rights which goes
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back to 1791. The Bill of Rights are the first ten amendments to our Constitution.
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Amendments are changes. The first ten amendments were written to limit
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government power and protect individual freedoms and rights, or what we can also
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call civil liberties and civil rights.
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Today our two major political parties are the Democrats and the Republicans.
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One thing the parties disagree over is how big a role the government should
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have. Generally speaking, the Democrats are for a stronger, more centralized
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government, and the Republicans are for having less government control at the federal level.
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When some of our founding fathers argued for the Bill of Rights, we had the
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Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Anti-Federalists opposed a strong
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federal government, and they wanted a lot of control to remain with the states.
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The Bill of Rights addressed the fears of the Anti-Federalists and made sure that
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the new U.S. federal government wouldn't limit or infringe on our civil liberties and rights.
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The very first amendment protects our freedom of speech and freedom of
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religion. Those are the big ones. The First Amendment also includes freedom of
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the press, the right to assemble peacefully, and the right to petition,
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meaning we can complain to the government about something without
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getting punished. The Second Amendment is the right to bear arms, meaning the right
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to own a gun. People in favor of owning guns like to state that we've had this
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right since the beginning, but opponents of gun ownership say that the law was
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written at a completely different time in history.
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In colonial times, we didn't have an organized army.
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We had the militia -- just a group of regular men who brought their own guns
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to fight when needed. Today with our local police forces and strong national
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army, do civilians need to own guns? That's a question for debate. Civilians are
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people who are not in the military and who are not police officers. So Americans
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argue about whether armed civilians help or harm society. But there's something
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else you should know. There's another reason why the Second Amendment was
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written. The law was originally put in place partly to protect citizens from
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the tyranny of government. "Tyranny" refers to cruel
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and unfair treatment. If citizens are completely disarmed,
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meaning if all weapons are taken away, then it's possible for a cruel
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government to oppress them or have full control over them. So those who defend
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their Second Amendment right say it's their right to defend themselves against
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danger from anyone, including the government.
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I'd say that gun owners are mostly law-abiding people. They buy guns legally
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and use them responsibly. It's not a crime to be a gun collector or a gun enthusiast.
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I read that there are at least 393 million guns in the U.S.
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But I don't think we've had 393 million gun-related crimes in the past year.
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Of course, all it takes is one person to misuse a legally owned gun and commit a terrible act of violence.
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Everyone agrees that even one mass shooting is one too many.
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A mass shooting is usually defined as any shooting that involves four or more
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people, not counting the shooter.
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Note that we can say "shooter" or "gunman." Shooter is a gender-neutral word.
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Not all shootings result in death, so we usually talk about mass shootings rather than mass killings,
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but you'll hear both terms used in the news. Did you know that the majority of
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guns used in mass shootings were obtained legally? That means that the
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owners purchased the guns legally. To buy a gun in the U.S., you need to go to a
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licensed dealer, someone who is allowed by law to sell guns or what some call
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firearms. A licensed dealer performs background checks before selling guns to
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people. Many Americans agree on the need for background checks, but those who
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strongly oppose more gun control say that tighter regulation opens the door
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to invasion of privacy. These people argue that stricter gun laws negatively
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affect responsible gun owners. There are arguments over what kinds of guns should
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be sold to private citizens. Those with a middle position tolerate civilian
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use of guns as long as the guns are used for sport or basic home defense.
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Many Americans at the present are against the sale of assault weapons to civilians.
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Assault weapons are the kinds of guns used by the military, and they can shoot very fast.
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They can shoot repeatedly if they have a high-capacity magazine.
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That's the part of the gun that holds the bullets. Even if the government
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banned all assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, we'd have to
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figure out what to do with the assault weapons already out there.
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A ban is a law that says something can't be done. We actually had a ban on
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assault weapons a while back, but it expired. Will we have another ban on
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assault weapons? That's what many of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates
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are pushing for. Some have proposed a federal buyback program. Gun owners would
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turn over their assault weapons and be compensated. How easy would it be to put
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such a program into practice? We don't know.
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Gun laws vary from state to state. Florida is one of the states that has a
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Stand Your Ground law, which is a shoot-first policy. It allows gun owners
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to defend themselves in the face of danger. The law, not surprisingly, has been
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interpreted different ways, not always in favor of the gun owner.
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One difficulty in getting any law passed is that our politicians have to work together.
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They're from different parties, and they represent different interests,
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so agreement doesn't happen often. Then there are the lobbyists. A lobby is an
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organized group that tries to influence the government according to the common
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interests they share. The National Rifle Association, or what we call the NRA for
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short, is a very large and powerful special interest group. They've been
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around since the late 1800s, and today they strongly defend their Second
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Amendment rights. NRA lobbyists have had much influence in Washington.
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But remember that the need and desire to own a gun goes back
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farther than the 1800s. Many of the early colonists had guns to hunt and to defend
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themselves from hostile Native Americans. Later as the country expanded West,
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people on the frontier fought Native Americans and sometimes each other with guns.
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Hollywood has glorified this period of our Wild West. Incidentally, you have to
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wonder how the U.S. would have grown if we hadn't used firearms against the Native
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Americans. Our military had an unfair advantage over the Native Americans in
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terms of weapons. At some point I should make a video about the history of Native
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Americans and their treatment by the U.S. government. Let me know if that topic interests you.
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Gun violence increased in the early 1900s, especially in cities like Chicago.
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Organized crime makes use of guns, and that's one fact that responsible gun
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owners like to highlight. Mass shootings in the U.S. have increased for sure, but
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many homicides here are gang-related.
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Those acts of violence don't involve the Smiths down the street who happen to
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own a pistol for self-defense or your cousin Bill who likes to hunt with a
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rifle during deer season. But opponents of gun ownership say that guns in the
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home and guns carried by civilians can lead to unnecessary violence. So all gun
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owners keep their guns away from children? How can we monitor the mental
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health of gun owners with no criminal record? Is the answer to ban all guns?
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The topic of gun control will remain a central issue for Americans until we
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agree on how to prevent mass shootings. Until that time, we'll continue to hear
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the same descriptions in news reports: a senseless tragedy, a horrific event, a
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deadly mass shooting. Many of us are stunned by the fact that we've grown
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used to asking the same questions:
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Another one? Where? How many were killed?
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Did they get the shooter? Who was it?
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Some shooters have a clear motive, a reason
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for committing the crime. Other shootings leave us baffled. Not all shootings are
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hate crimes that target specific people. Some shootings are random.
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The news reports always tell us the location, the time, and the number of victims.
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Victims include fatalities and injuries. "Fatality" is another word for "death." Some news
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reports are now choosing not to identify the shooter by name because there's a
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risk of giving notoriety to these criminals. "Notoriety" is the state of
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being famous for doing something bad.
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Until we can stop mass shootings, we have to remain prepared. On Instagram, I shared
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my thoughts on having active shooter drills in the public schools.
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Visit me on Instagram to listen to that post. An active shooter is a gunman who
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is actively shooting with a weapon. Active shooter drills prepare the staff
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and students for the emergency in which a gunman opens fire in a school or on school grounds.
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There are two basic responses: evacuation and lockdown.
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In an evacuation, people leave the school and escape to safety. In a lockdown, all doors
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are locked to keep the people inside safe.
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Note that a school can be in lockdown or go into lockdown.
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If you're the parent of a public school student here in the U.S.,
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you'll probably hear about a safety training program called ALICE.
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A.L.I.C.E. is an acronym for alert, lockdown, inform, counter, evacuate.
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These are the actions of school staff can choose to take during an active shooting.
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Often the threat of a school shooting comes from a student or a former student,
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so do you think arming teachers with guns is a solution? This is currently
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decided at the state level. Schools are generally a gun-free zone, but some
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states have laws that allow adults to carry a concealed weapon. "Concealed" means hidden.
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There are two ways you can carry a gun: open or concealed.
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We can talk about open carry states or people with concealed carry permits.
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If I'm not mistaken, Florida is the most recent state to pass a law allowing classroom teachers to be armed.
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To sum up, Americans are aware of the increase in mass shootings. We know
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there's a problem; now we have to talk about our current gun laws and agree on
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how to prevent future violence. Some will ask for no guns.
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Others will demand their right to own any and all guns. That's part of the
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problem right there. Some say that guns increase the chance for violence and
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guns make them feel unsafe. Others say that owning a gun gives them
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a sense of safety -- guns can prevent crimes. Hopefully, we can find a middle
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ground for common-sense laws. What would those laws be? What are your thoughts?
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You can tell me in the comments. We'll end this discussion here, but I'm sure we'll
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