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The use of guns can have positive support, but threatening or taking a human life is not acceptable reasoning. In today’s society, the rise of violent crimes involving guns has risen dramatically over a short period of time. According to the FBI Uniform Crime Report, between 2006 and 2010, 47,856 people were murdered by firearms (Date, Pierre, and Ryan). Many people own guns, but it does not make them feel safer. On the other hand, many humans think that owning a gun ensures one hundred percent safety; however, they are wrong in many ways such as environmental safety and even their own safety. With more people owning guns, it only hurts society and puts everyone in the public and in their homes in danger.

In today’s world, there are millions of gun owners, but it does not openly make them feel safer to know they have a gun. Guns are used for many other things besides a weapon that shoots bullets to protect a person from violent crimes; firearms are used for hunting for food and not trophies, as well as sports; furthermore, for war vets, guns are a bonding experience (Whaley). James Hagerman of Colorado, who owns a 12-gauge shotgun, uses his guns for hunting. James says he was shaken the first time he killed something with a gun. He was about thirteen and hunting deer with his father. He got the animal in his sights and shot it dead with his rifle. He states the following:

“It was sad. I ended something’s life,” He felt reverence for the animal he killed and for what it gave his family food for the winter. When he hunts, he feels he’s part of a natural cycle of life and death, and he hopes to instill that perspective in his two small sons. “I have no heads on my walls; I don’t use guns or hunt to get trophies,” Hagerman said. “I provide for my family. We eat on that for the rest of the year.” “That animal,” he added, “has to die somehow, and when I kill it, I know how it is processed and what I went through to get it.” Hagerman’s first hunting trip followed years of learning from his grandfather how to handle a hunting rifle.”He taught me to never shoot anything I didn’t intend to kill, and to not kill anything I didn’t intend to eat.”Hagerman, a former Marine, said guns shouldn’t be blamed for the mass shootings at Columbine High School in 1999 and at an Aurora theater last summer. Those shootings, he said, were committed by someone whose cries for help were never answered.”I am willing to bet, neither the shooters at Columbine nor (Aurora shooting suspect) James Holmes had the training or life lessons I had, like countless gun owners out there,” he said. “(Holmes) lashed out, violently, to get the attention he needed, and now we have the stain of blood on our community for eternity.” (Whaley)

Stephen Holben says that he is not a gun nut; he uses his gun only to see how accurately he can shoot his handguns and rifles. Stephen also states the following:

“There’s a tremendous amount of skill involved,” he said. “You have to be in control to squeeze that trigger, and once you do it’s a big thrill.” Holben also figures it’s a lot safer than mountain climbing or other sports. “You hear about climbers getting hurt or getting killed all the time. That rarely happens at a shooting range,” he said. He also likes the feel of a gun in his hands.”For men, it’s shiny and it goes ‘bang’; what more do you need?” said Holben, who visits the shooting range several times a year. But he refuses to hunt.”I just don’t have it in me to kill an animal. I don’t want to shoot Bambi,” he said. Holben also doesn’t use a gun for personal protection. When his wife thought she heard an intruder one night in the couple’s home, he decided to keep a loaded handgun near their bed.”I felt very uncomfortable with the feeling of having a loaded weapon within reach,” he said. “I could get rousted out of my sleep and I could shoot and hit my wife, or a cat. The next day, we got that alarm system.”Holben is skeptical of the rhetoric that gun owners would be the last line of defense should government agents try to take away everyone’s weapon.”We are a nation of people who just fall in line; we are all dependent on government,” he said. “I’m pretty confident that a lot of these guys who wear these ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ T-shirts would (soil) their pants should a SWAT team show up at their door.” (Whaley)

Michael Haring, an Iraq-war veteran, uses his gun experience to bond with his younger kids at a gun range. Haring helped them load and scope the weapon, and then showed them how to squeeze the trigger. His daughter was terrified at first because it was nothing but big guns sounding off around her. Her being afraid was normal because she was a child. Her father, Mr. Haring, did not have that he fear; he put his arms around her, helping her aim and to get used to the gun; after a couple shots, she had become unshaken and began to shoot the gun like it was nothing (Whaley). They all ended up spending quality time together as a family. Any father figure would rather go out and teach their children how to shoot a gun then to have them go out and play with a gun and accidentally kill themselves. No father would take an accident like the one that happened in Tennessee with the seven-year-old little boy. Jaymee Steward was at home with his two brothers, ages four and thirteen, when the three of them found a loaded Derringer-style .22-caliber handgun, which they thought was a toy . The gun went off, injuring the seven year old boy   with life-threatening injuries, which eventually led to fatality. The gun belonged to a family member, Jones said, although she would not say whom. The boy’s parents and grandparents lived at the house. Authorities said they would not file charges. Investigators and prosecutors concluded no laws were broken, and Jones added, “There are, no legal requirements to have that gun locked up,” Every gun, in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult (“Kid Shootings)

 Millions of gun owners have access to these dangerous weapons, but does it protect them and others as well? Many people fail to realize by owning fire arms, he or she is really putting himself or herself and someone else’s life in a lot of trouble. When owning a gun, it is really unsafe for the owner and others because their gun could come up missing, and somebody could take somebody else’s life with it, causing trouble for thief and owner. By the gun being registered to the owner, the police may come and question them or even arrest them as the killer even though the owner is not the killer, and being arrested could be on the owner’s permanent record. Michael Haring of Colorado stated that for his personal protection, and that of his two children, he will pick up a baseball bat as his first line of defense. It is just safer that way, said Haring, who says he suffers from post- traumatic stress disorder. He also suffers from bouts of insomnia so severe that he can not sleep for two days. He stated that when he is in that kind of condition, and he is suddenly rousted from sleep, he honestly does not think he could trust himself with a weapon. Mr. Haring stated that the bullet could go through his wall, his kid’s wall, and even through a neighbor’s wall, so why take a chance (Whaley)? Most people would not have thought like Mr. Haring did he or she would have only thought about him or herself which is selfish.

As society may know, fire arms do not benefit society most of the time in any way. They only hurt society by putting people in danger and a risk of getting killed, or seriously hurt. For example, the Trayvon Martin case that happened in Sanford, Florida, was horrible and sad to hear. It must have been even worse for his parents to get the news. Trayvon Martin was killed by the toy security guard named George Zimmerman for no reason. He was a young black kid that was only 17 years old. When he was shot, he only had a drink called Arizona tea and a bag of skittles in his possession. What was he doing wrong to get shot? Many are still searching for answers as of today. But what is known is that a concealed weapon was involved and someone lost their life as a result. That is no way for guns to benefit society, with someone’s life being taken for no reason. Should society have to go through those things? No way. For a police officer to carry firearms there is no control over that situation. Police officers help keep society safe from as many of the crimes that they solve. If police did not carry guns, it would be devastating to even imagine what a society would be like with all the violence stuff going on. For example, there is a bank robbery or even a homicide going on and police respond to the call. They have to have something to protect themselves against the suspect or the suspect would get away with a horrible crime or even take the policemen’s life.

With all that being said, guns are used for many of other things besides protections but are very dangerous in many of ways which is why society is the way it is today.

Works Cited

Date, Jack, Pierre Thomas, and Jason Ryan. “Guns in America, a Statistical Look.” ABC News.

ABC News Network, 25 Aug. 2012. Web. 01 Nov. 2012. <http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/08/guns-in-america-a-statistical-look/>.

“Kid Shootings: 7-year Old Boy Killed When Playing with Gun with Brothers.” 

Kid Shootings: 7-year Old Boy Killed When Playing with Gun with Brothers. Http://kidshootings.blogspot.com, 24 Jan. 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://kidshootings.blogspot.com/2012/01/7-year-old-boy-critically-injured-when.html>.

Whaley, Monte. “Why Own a Gun? Colorado Gun Owners Speak out.” The Denver Post. N.p.,

28 Oct. 2012. Web. 01 Nov. 2012. http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_21871702/guns-are-used-food-and-not-trophies-hunter

College athletes should be allowed to be paid to play for many reasons, but today’s college athletes are subject to the “pay for play” rule, which states ‘‘that an individual will lose his or her amateur status and will not be eligible for intercollegiate competition in any sport’’ (Steve Wieberg). However, ultimately the rule hurts student athletes because many college students need help simply surviving financially. If student athletes are allowed to receive money from fans, they could do positive stuff such as pay bills, buy food, wash clothes, get gas for their cars, and buy toiletries. Many universities depend on their student athletes to produce and maintain the popularity of their school’s name. Although scholarships are also given for academic achievement, these students do not do the additional work college athletes are required to do. Also, college athletes, unlike those students with academic scholarships, are a huge source of revenue for their school and attract students to their institutions. The student athletes help the university grow their popularity because these are considered the best athletes in the country at the D1 level.

            Most college athletes that play a sport in college accept a scholarship as their form of pay to play that sport at the school just as an average student with a 4.0 grade point average that receives a scholarship to attend school. That is perfectly fine that student athletes receive the scholarship to come to the school and play for the university, and the regular student that received their scholarship just to attend to get a education because of what they did in high school, but is the scholarship enough for the athletes to survive or should they be allowed to be paid?  No, the scholarship is not enough for them to survive. Student athletes should be allowed to be paid by the university and by the fans. According to an ESPN article “College Athletes Deserve to Be Paid,”  ‘by the time Christmas break comes, most athletes are in debt with the university officials’’ (Wilbon, Michael).  A lot of colleges are not giving athletes a full ride scholarship to play the sport for them. Instead, they are giving them a partial scholarship, meaning they will pay only for half of the college athlete’s tuition and college expenses, even though universities are going to be making millions off of the college athletes.

The rule “play for pay” should be revoked (Ellen J. Staurowsky). With the rule “play for pay,” if a student athlete violates the rule, they will be suspended from the team. The student athlete may also be kicked out of the school, and cost the school many problems such as fines, revoked games and banners, and even require the firing of the team’s coach. College athletes should not have to break the pay for play rule just to survive or even have fun. For example, I calculated if an instate student athlete gets a full ride scholarship to Florida State University that the total cost for room and board, meal plan, books, tuition and fees, and other expense would total out to be $19,187 for their attendance, but for a student athlete from out of state, the total cost for them to attend would be $34,354. Let us say all fifteen men on FSU men’s basketball roster get a basketball scholarship, and six out of fifteen are considered in state tuition and nine out fifteen are considered out of state tuition. The total cost of all the scholarships added together would total to be $1,345,284.00. But according to a National College Athletes’ Advocacy Group and a sports management professor, the report calculated that if college sports shared their revenues the way pro sports do, the average basketball player at the college level would be worth $265,000 each (Associated Press). They are getting over big time.

The University is making big bucks off athletes because they are charging a big amount to come to the games in person, and the NCAA runs the website NCAA.COM which sells jersey, shirts, tags, hats, and etc of each teams. The National College Athlete Association, by selling all the items for all the different team are making a lot of money  because big time fans from around the country will go online and order items from their teams  store to represent  the team they have pride in. But still, where does the money go since it is not going to  student athletes? Student athletes and fans like me are still wondering.

Skylar Diggings of Norte Dame, was asked the follow questions while giving an interview by the New York Times:

The N.C.A.A. makes a fortune. It also requires athletes to sign away their likenesses in

Perpetuity with out pay. Does this bother you?Skylar answered, ‘Yes when I see all these

People walking around with my jersey on, I’m like, where does all that money go’’? She then stated ‘but I’m living the life as high as the tuition is, at Notre Dame I probably wouldn’t be able to go here as a regular student. So anything that is good for Notre Dame is good for me and our program’’ (ANDREW GOLDMAN).

Even after Skylar  answered  “yes it does bother me when I see a lot of people walking around wearing my  jersey and not knowing where the money goes,” ‘she stated, that’s ok because she is living the life of a true college student and that anything that’s good for her is good for Notre Dame’’. Dispute the opportunity Skylar was afforded she is a rare case. Many athletes at public universities are not given the same opportunity. Even Skylar as college athlete who has benefited so much was wondering where all the money goes that is made by the National College Athletic Association. Many college athletes wonder the same?

The National College Athletic Association, should allow the colleges to pay the student athletes to show appreciation to the student athletes for choosing their university to represent over all the other universities. Lastly college athletes should be paid by the university or even allowed to be given money and gifts from fans because in Division 1 sports such as football and basketball many of those athletes are not finishing school with a degree. The athletes are leaving school early and declaring for the draft to become professional. Many college athletes come from low income families that live in the projects and have multiple siblings and cannot help provide for the student that is in college because it would take away from the kids that live with them also, many college athletes have children themselves and a small monthly fee from the university would help them to provide for the child a little. Most of the time when college athletes leave school early and declare for the draft, majority of their reason seem to be because they family are in need or they have children to take care of and have to handle their business someway .

With all of that being said, college athletes should be allowed to be paid and receive money and gifts from their fans and not be subject to the pay for play rule that would rule them to be ineligible to play sports. The National College Athletic Associations needs to stop being selfish and thinking of itself and think of how their greed is really hurting the college athletes. College athletes should receive that small payment because it is not fair that they do all they work and represent the university pride.

Back in my high school days as a senior in health academy, there was this one girl named Jackie who I noticed had really gained a lot of weight over a short period of time. It looked as though all she did was eat and sleep. I used to really judge her, I used to think to myself all the time, “All she must do is eat, and sleep, and repeat the same thing, over and over.” I also always saw Jackie playing Disney computer games that dealt with food items a lot; I thought that was really weird to sit and play Disney computer games and be happy.

In health academy, we had worked so hard to get the bragging rights, stoles, cords, pins, and to be able to work in the hospital to get some experience in our career field.  I used to always talk to Jackie in our health classes, and our bus rides to Baptist Hospital, but I never really considered us as friends. I only considered us as good class mates. I didn’t think we had any type of connection with each other to be friends on the regularly. Until one day during B lunch block, I noticed the whole lunch room laughing and talking about Jackie. Jackie’s black tights had a big hole in between her legs. I felt for Jackie; that had to be one of the most embarrassing moments of her life. Jackie was really upset and embarrassed, and she ran out of the lunch room crying really hard.

I felt sad for her, so I decided to go behind her and offer her some encouraging words. I told her that I was sorry for what had happened, and that all the kids in the lunch room were very rude kids who really had nothing good going for themselves, laughing at something she had no control of. Since all of the students in the lunch room were young adults in high school, I thought someone should have pulled Jackie to the side and warned her about the hole she had in her tights. After I talked to Jackie with good words to make her feel better, I asked her if she had a car; she said yes, but it was not running. I told her that we should check ourselves out from school to go and get her some more pants for her to change into.

While I was driving Jackie to her house, we talked up a storm and learned more about each other. During the ride to Jackie’s house, I and Jackie talked about each other’s child hood, where we were born and raised, and we named some of our family members, It turned out we were friends with each other’s family members. We just never ran into each other to get to know one another to become friends, and we shared some of our hobbies, and the things that we did in our spare time. After the long ride to Jackie’s house it turned out I considered Jackie more than just a class mate; she was now my friend. On the way back to school, Jackie told me thanks and that she really was touched for what I did because no one had ever done anything like that for her.

We became very close with one another and began to hang out a lot, and to tell each other a lot of personal stuff that we wouldn’t discuss with just anybody. Jackie and I had became so close, she told me that she had been stressing so much because her dad had been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and her family was waiting for him to pass away, she also had to run her family home and focus on school work at the same time, and she didn’t know if she would be able to further her education after high school as a result of family issues and low funds. She said instead of stressing and worrying herself to death, all she would do is eat and sleep in order not to think about it. It really made me feel bad because you shouldn’t judge anyone based on appearance and I did. It only made us bond closer than before.

            I really wish I had gotten to know Jackie so much earlier than just my senior year. Jackie was very nice and smart. She showed me a lot of new things such as how to bake homemade cakes, and how to make pillows with left over clothes items that you didn’t need any more. She also helped me with my math home work because I was horrible in math.

            Jackie’s father ended up not passing away which took a lot stress off her. I was really happy for her and her family because I wouldn’t have known what to do if I was in their category. Since everything in Jackie’s family got better she end up making the decision that she would be going off to college to attend Prairie View A&M University to major in Family Nursing Practitioner, and to be a basketball equipment manager for the Lady Panthers, I ended up staying home and attending the University Of West Florida to major in Health Care administration. I and Jackie came to the conclusion that we would always be friends no matter where we were, and no matter what happened we would always stay in touch with one another as much as possible no matter if it was only a text that said, ‘‘hello have a great blessed day’’.

Jackie and I both ended up graduating from health academy with our stoles and cords for completing all the requirements set forth by the Escambia County School Board. AAt our health academy banquet we all received awards for our hard work and dedication to the academy. Jackie and I hugged each other at the end very tightly and told each other thanks for all the help we gave one another.

I learned to never judge a person by the cover because you never know what that person is going through in life or how that person is living. Just step up and be a good friend and help them out as much as you can.

Daddy’s Little Girls, produced and directed by Tyler Perry, is a movie that left a good effect on me.TTHGH   It showed me that all women do not always win custody battles as expected in most cases. All men are not the same as expected, and more should step up to the plate and be the best father and/or role models they can be no matter what the situation is. This movie is very heartrending and portrays the lives of three little girls who were caught up in a violent and shocking custody battle between their parents. 
            Daddy’s Little Girls begins with the three little girls staying with their maternal grandmother who has been caring for them for many years. Their father soon realizes that his children’s grandmother is dying, and he will have to fight for custody rights with their mother Jennifer. However, I expected for it to be a custody battle between Jennifer and the state, not between Monty and Jennifer. Monty is very low on funds which make it hard for him to get a lawyer to defend him.  Monty keeps trying to get money to fight for custody of his kids in court. He picks up a driving job for an attorney named Julia Rossmore.  I expected later in the movie that Julia Rossmore would take the plate and defend him in court and call it even swaps for his driving for her. The girls witness their parents argue over who they will stay with. I expected, as in a real-life situation, that there would be plenty of arguing through the whole movie because it dealt with custody battles.   In my opinion, Monty is a great father and a strong one because no matter what he went through, he stays strong and stood tall to make his girls happy and comfortable. In the movie, however, Monty shocks me and shows me not to judge because I expected for him to be a no-good father and not try to fight for custody. He is different from a lot of men. Their mother Jennifer is really not mother material in my opinion.  I expected her to be mother material and act as if she had three children who needed her. She loves her daughters and all, but she does not want to be a mother and take the responsibility and do what is right for her girls. 

Throughout the whole movie, both parents never get along and come to any type of agreement with their custody problems; they only think of ways to win the battles. I think that by both parents arguing it proves that the battle is violet and shows how bad the parents want the girls..  The mother Jennifer ends up getting custody of the three little girls for a period of time because they were left at home alone, and while cooking, his oldest daughter Sierra accidentally starts a fire while cooking. social service grants the mother custody, easily making it even harder for Monty to have his girls. I expected after that incident with the fire that the state would have just put the kids in a foster home until the custody issue was solved. At this point in the movie, everything in Monty’s and his daughter’s lives is going all wrong, but he still fights for custody. Monty was denied custody of his daughters at a hearing because of his past in which he was falsely blamed for statutory rape. I think that in the movie, they should have had some type of flash back with the rape accident instead of bringing it up all of the sudden. The attorney, that Monty is working for, however, shows up to support him. Once she finds out about the rape case, she ditches him, leaving Monty to stand up and defend himself. I think that Julia should have been more professional about the news instead of walking out. I think Julia is mistaking her feelings for love instead of remembering she is there to defend Monty, not leave him.  At this point in the movie, I expected Monty to have given up in frustration.  I know Monty really loves his kids and takes pride in them as a father; he keeps fighting after all the setbacks he goes through.

Towards the end of the movie, that is when things get real and everything Monty has done pays off in dramatic fashion. One early morning, Monty’s three little girls sneak away from home and come and tell Monty very heart breaking news; they are being physically abused by Jennifer’s boyfriend Joe. Monty is very heart broken like any other father should be when another man touches their kids, but Monty does not know what to do because he could end up killed or in jail because Joe is a thug, and everyone is scared of him. Joe has had the whole neighborhood scared for years to testify against him for drugs. Monty is so angry that he decides to make a bad choice and drive over to fight Joe and Jennifer.  I understand that Monty loves his daughters, but I think he should have thought of a better way of handling the situation because he could have easily been hurt or been killed in a situation like that.  Jennifer and Joe are driving on the same street as Monty, so Monty crashes into Joe car and gets out and takes all his anger out on Joe.  Joe’s home boys end up trying to jump Monty, but they were shocked the whole neighborhood backed Monty up with fighting. Monty, Jennifer, and Joe all end up in jail.  At this point, Monty’s story about the fight and him being falsely accused of rape makes the local news. The local news was all Monty needed to get his attorney Julia to help back him to get his kids back into his custody.  I think the film producers do a good job when they make Monty’s story worldwide. As I expected, Monty would get a lot of support from a lot of people because he was falsely accused of rape. In court, the neighborhood shocks Jennifer and Joe and stand up as witnesses against them, and Jennifer and Joe are sent to jail for selling drugs and battery charges against Monty. Monty is set free because the neighbors are on his side and do not testify against him. I expected at some point in the movie that everyone would stand against Jennifer and Joe to get them locked up to help Monty battle easier. Finally, Monty is granted custody of his three little girls, and he is given an auto shop to have. He and his attorney Julia end up dating each other. I did expect that Julia and Monty would get together because of all the things they went through during the movie.

The movie Daddy’s Little Girls left a positive effect on me because Monty as a single hard-working father fought for his kids to the end. He shows how a real father should step up to the plate and do whatever he has to do for his kids because it will pay off in the long run.