Not all people who own guns are criminals nor will they end up using their gun, but it does feel better to know that in a worst case scenario situation, one will be able to fight back on even grounds. Gun regulation is not about banning guns, but about controlling who has access to them. As proposed by the President, background checks are essential when it comes to being able to own a gun (Simon 2013). This is no way violates any sense of privacy or freedom and right to bear arms. It just assures the public that those who do have access and ownership of these powerful weapons will not use them in a hurtful or harmful way, nor will they, most importantly, hurt our children. Although it is difficult enough to protect children at home, no longer do children have that security and safety that used to be felt at school. This is an essential component of any gun control legislation. Children's innocence has been altered and in order to get a sense of normalcy back into the lives of students who have little choice about going into school every day, a solution needs to be established.

Propositions so far have suggested that armed guards should be stationed at every school across the nation. This will not only provide a sense of security in knowing that there is someone who will be prepared to handle situations if they were to go extremely bad, but there is also a sense of relief in knowing that if a crazed gunman were to get back into a school and initiate an attack as grand as the Newtown Elementary School shooting, a stationed and trained individual with a visible gun in their possession may deter these situations from occurring in the first place. Trained school officials may be more qualified in acting immediately to take control of a situation instead of having to wait for trained professional respondents to do their job. Again, gun control should not be about protecting the rights of its citizens, but about protecting the lives of its citizens and of their children.

Topic 4: The Presidential Inauguration

The Presidential Inauguration represents a promise for the next four years. It creates precedent for what is to come. This ceremony allows citizens to get to know the individual that will guide an entire nation. It is his time to reiterate his promises and to assure the public that they are indeed his first priority. However, despite there being a historical significance in the Presidential Inauguration, there is also a political significance; this is why there is more than one inaugural ceremony. There is a private pre-inauguration inauguration that is held in Washington D.C. just between private officials (JCCIC 2013). This ceremony represents the actual swearing in of the President of the United States. The ceremony itself handles all of the logistical aspects that may be too long drawn or not interesting for millions of people to watch. However, the public ceremony is the opposite.

The first Presidential Inauguration began with the first president of the United States: George Washington. This inauguration had to be the mold that other following inaugurations after that had to ideally imitate. The sense of pride that was felt after the United States of America was freed from Great Britain control was something that subsequent Presidential Inaugurations after that had to encapsulate (JCCIC 2013). Although ideally the Presidential candidates are inaugurated in a private ceremony in front of those individuals that can make the presidency official, sometimes because of mitigating circumstances such as the assassination of the current President or the sudden death of the President, the next in line -- usually the Vice President -- needs to be sworn in on a whim, without any time for preplanning this essential ceremony. This is stated to stress that not all Presidential Inaugurations have to be grand public events. It is more of a legal and logistic matter that needs to be had in order for a President to rightfully take on his position as the leader of the free world.

In general, the Presidential Inauguration has been one where the future leader of America swears upon God and its citizens, his loyalty to everyone that he will guide. The President repeats and emphasizes all of the issues that are at hand and how his coming into office will alleviate those issues instead of exacerbate them. This moment is necessary to once again revive a crowd that worked tirelessly to get their desired presidential candidate in the Oval Office. The newly...

It is the moment where the candidate addresses his citizens for the first time as President or for the first time after being re-elected.
As aforementioned, the road to Presidency is one that is paved with wishful thinking, exaggerated promises, and solutions to all of the nation's problems. During the public Presidential Inauguration, the newly sworn in President reiterates his resolution to what is wrong, and provides his supporters with his acknowledgment on what is working just fine in the country, and his promise to maintain status quo on issues that have already been successfully resolved. This is an event that all citizens look forward to. Hearing one's President for the first time is a psychological working that allows citizens to once again feel pride in their country. It allows people to remember why it is that they supported the President to begin with and it gives opposing citizens the opportunity to listen to him and find some common ground.

Topic 5: The way Wilkerson's book connects to the theme of American society or government

"Warmth of Other Suns" by Isabel Wilkerson was a book that depicted the Great Migration, one where hundreds of thousands of African-Americans migrated from the South to other areas of the United States, permanently and forever changing the demographics of an entire nation. This book takes on a positive perspective when it comes to the civil migration within one nation. African-American invasion to other regions of the United States has been depicted in a negative fashion, as this migration has been pointed out as the sole reason why inner-cities became infested with crime and drug violence. Wilkerson however, takes on a positive view and writes how this Great Migration in fact contributed to American society and how their moving from the South created a positive environment for all.

American society is known for having been built on morals, values, and good and honest hard work. The Great Migration contributed greatly to this philosophy of greatness and to this hope that oppressed Blacks from the Southern states of the United States had when traveling to the Northern and Western portions of the U.S. The story in the book follows the lives of three different African-American individuals, each one migrating because of their respective issues in the South. The Northeast, West, and Midwest brought to them a sense of hope for a better lifestyle than the one that they were currently enduring in the racism-filled and discriminatory South. Just as the first immigrants from other countries came to the United States with a desire to attain a fresh start, each of these Black individuals was also in search of a better life, a promise to be fulfilled by American Society (Wilkerson). This Great Migration, just as the influx of immigrants during the late 1800's and early 1900's, had particular goals in common as these individuals were all escaping from the horrors that were to be their lives if they stayed in their current situation. This book represented all of those feelings that immigrants feel when they set off to a new location. It represented American society to its fullest.

This book adds on to the notion of survival on which American society is built on. Because of American's desire to be free and be able to voice their opinions, wars have been fought, injustices ended, and discrimination controlled. Wilkerson's book represents all of this and more. It demonstrates an alternative view to the widely believed notion that the Great Migration was indeed what preceded the influx of drug violence, gang crimes, and severe poverty stricken ghettos that arose in the United States during those decades. Other novels have failed to capture the essence of the Great Migration and how it contributed greatly to the American society and its government. Discrimination is an unfortunate occurrence that is still very much present in American society today. However, this book, just like any book written about immigrants and their struggles, illustrates how families and individuals come to the United States of America with the hope of having a better future for themselves and their children. It is representative of the cycle that constantly occurs in the U.S. when it comes to immigration. Every couple of decades a new group of people, ethnically different from the immigrant groups…