Testing the Hypothesis Part 1

Limiting access to guns for children while still being able to keep guns in the house

·      Opportunity:

o   School shootings are becoming more and more commonplace while simultaneously getting deadlier. A large part of this is because children have access to firearms that their parents keep in the house for protection.

§  The who—children in schools and their parents

§  The what—children are dying as a result of these shootings or accidents

§  The why—children are allowed access to their parents’ firearms

o   Testing the who: The children who are victim to the shootings and their parents are not truly the only victims. Whenever there is a shooting, the entire country is affected. School shootings frighten children all over the world and worry about their child’s safety in school. Shooting also happen in all levels of education, from preschool to college. I believe the who is all school-children and all parents with children still in school.

o   Testing the what: Children are dying as a result of these school shootings. The shootings seem to be becoming more common ever since the first famous school shooting: Columbine. If children were unable to have access or operate these firearms, school shootings would all but cease.

o   Testing the why: The why in this situation is because children have access to firearms because parents keep them in the house for defense. If parents decided to get rid of the firearms altogether then they would be left unprotected, so a solution is needed that allows parents access while denying the children access.

·      Interview 1

o   In my first interview, I spoke with a freshman. He said that he supports stricter gun laws and agrees that children having access to parents’ guns is definitely a problem. I also asked if he thought that guns with fingerprint locks were useful and he agreed. He said that he thinks the best way to stop these shootings would be through stricter gun laws.

·      Interview 2

o   My second interview was with an older man who owns many firearms. When I asked him if he thought that school shootings were a problem he agreed. He said that although shootings are a problem he does not agree with stricter gun laws because that would leave law-abiding citizens without firearms while the criminals still have access to them. He also said he supports fingerprint locked guns. When I told him about the problem with a fingerprint locked gun (only one person can use it in an emergency) he agreed that that could be a problem.

·      Interview 3

o   My third interview was with another male student here at UF. This student described himself as ‘pro-gun’. When I asked him if he believed that school shootings were a problem he agreed, but also said that a gun ban would not solve the problem. When I asked if he supported fingerprint locked guns, he agreed with hesitation. When I pointed out the problem with fingerprint locked guns, he agreed that that was a major flaw. When I then suggested a voice locked gun (a gun unlocked by saying a word rather than a fingerprint) he agreed that it would solve the problem, but was not in total agreement with the idea either.

·      Interview 4

o   For this interview, I spoke with a female student here at UF. She agreed that school shootings were a problem. She also said that she supports a fingerprint locked gun to stop children from getting access to their parents’ firearms. When I pointed out the problem with fingerprint locked guns, she agreed that that could be a problem in certain situations. So when I asked if she would support a voice locked gun over it she said she would.

·      Interview 5

o   My final interview was with an older lady. She agreed that school shootings were a problem and that measures should be taken to not allow children access to their parents’ firearms. When I spoke to her about the fingerprint locked gun she said that she supported it, and when I spoke to her about the problem associated with it she agreed that it could be an issue in certain situations. Finally when I asked her about the voice locked gun instead, she said she would support it but thought the fingerprint locked gun was sufficient.

·      I learned a lot from these interviews. The first thing I learned was that almost everyone believed that school shootings and children having access to their parents’ firearms was a major issue. I also learned that most people would support either a fingerprint or voice locked gun that would limit the amount of people who could use the firearm. I also learned that most people, except those who feel very strongly about being ‘pro-gun’, would consider purchasing a special lock for their firearms.