Glock The Rise of America's Gun Final Post

After finishing this book I can say without a doubt that this has been the most interesting book I've read to date. I really found myself turning page after page, and before I knew it I had finished the whole book. This book is a very accurate portrayal of the gun culture in America. The book also does a great job of describing how all the events leading up to the introduction of the Glock in America made it the perfect storm to break firearms records. The amount of gun history within this book is very surprising because it seems like a small fact every chapter but in reality those small facts can lead up to a large body of knowledge. This book was a perfect hybrid between a personal narrative and a historical retelling of the events leading up to the rise of Glock. The last big topic that this book talked about in the last few pages was the ending ongoing battle that everyone has to pick a side on when talking about gun control. This was the first piece of literature that seemed to give an accurate portrayal of both sides of the debate. Without a question, this book gave me more knowledge on the topic and was a great help when doing my marketplace of ideas assignment.

Glock The Rise of America's Gun Part 4

The next topic that was brought up in my book was how advertising worked in the gun industry. Glock never started an advertising campaign even when the company was just being introduced. Once the handgun became the talk of the town on the national news for being so called radar proof, Glocks sales tripled. Soon after the latest installment after a run again with the local news, Glock became the handgun everyone instantly recognized . And because of this instant recognition, Glocks sales beat their projections again for a 10th year in a row. Glock also did well by establishing itself in action movies where the main character or the villain would use it to get the audiences full attention. "What set Glock apart form other handguns in the realm of pop culture was that it so quickly acquired a reputation as the firearm of both the cop and the outlaw." (75) This kind of crazy instant following behind Glock was a huge reason why it was such a hit in the American marketplace. Gun companies have recently realized what guns full selling potential with negative publicity in the press. This kind of controversy wouldn't last in many other industries but the complete opposite in the firearms industry. Without with instant success with Glock many gun manufacturers wouldn't have realized the potential for all the future gun purchases in America.

Glock The Rise of America's Gun Part 3

Another issue that was talked in great detail about was gun control. Gun control in this book began with a story of the Killeen shooting in Texas. A man carrying a Glock 17 killed 21 people. After this killing everyone started to rethink their own gun control ideology. Many people were pushing at this time for magazine capacity laws and other laws that banned so called "assault weapons". A Democratic senator from texas specifically from the county where the shooting took place had this to say, "the killer could not have had seventeen bullets in each clip, and we could have perhaps saved lives." (109) Many believe that with stricter gun laws revolving around magazine capacity and banning "assault weapons" would lessen the damage of many violent crimes. But the reality is no matter how many gun laws are put into effect none of them will be followed by the criminals who are taking the lives of the innocent. The criminals will always find ways to get around laws by obtaining guns illegally. A study from the FBI's Uniform Crime Report stated that of all the violent gun crimes that had taken place in 2010, 80% of them were illegally obtained. For this reason alone we should be realizing that stricter gun laws only apply to those who legally carry and use their firearms in legal ways. The only thing that stricter gun control does is disarm the general public from defending themselves in a lethal confrontation.

Glock The Rise of America's Gun Part 2

Another issue that was being addressed in this book was corporate greed. Gaston Glock had a very aggressive managerial style. He would constantly not allow his employees to buy small things like another stapler or some extra office supplies. On the other side of the coin he would take frequent trips to his villa in Italy and have dinner at the most expensive restaurants in Europe. This greed and selfishness only got worse as time went by. By the end of his life he had the companies money hidden away in off shore accounts so he wouldn't have to pay higher taxes. This type of thing in America isn't rare, many top executives have been caught trying to beat the system for their own personal gain. I believe the worst part about this crime is the lack of punishment. When someone commits a crime they should be punished for the crime. But when high level executives commit a crime and get caught they end up serving a minimal sentence in a low security facility where they have many more luxuries than the average prisoner in America. Both should be treated the same way and should serve the same time, as if they were to have done another more heinous crime. The book should be thrown at the next corporate executive who crosses the line and commits a corporate crime like embezzlement. 

Second Semester Senior Year

I am currently a senior at Deerfield high school, and only have 7 more days left of school. This semester has been the most looked forward too time during my high school education. Everyone has this preconceived notion of what senior year is going to be like and for the most part they were all true. Staying up late before a huge paper due the next day, going out everyday of the week, and certainly enjoying the weather when ever possible.  From my experience of being a senior has taught me that these great times in your life are only what you make of it. At this point I'm on the cusp of going to college and the only thing standing in my way is the summer before college. I've heard many bad things but also at the same thing great things about the summer before college. I've heard it can drag but also at the same time go faster than any summer has gone before. All I know for sure is that I'm going to enjoy every minute of freedom I can get before I start living on my own.

Senior Ditch Day

Today, Monday April 23rd, is senior ditch day at my local high school. I walk into my first period class with no idea how many people will show up. Only one other person showed up including me. This really surprised me since I expected at least five students to not want to take the notorious 3% hit off of their grade. I started thinking and asked myself the question, where did senior ditch day originate and why do we still observe it today? After a few clicks after searching this question on Google, I came up with the answer because the seniors can. The links brought me to the Wikipedia page for senior skip day and it said there are many days seniors typically skip, the day after prom, April 20th, May 5th, the day after Halloween, and the day after the super bowl. The page even said that it has gotten so bad that some schools dispatch the local PD to catch all the kids who skipped out on school. Here at Deerfield we do have a traditional skip day and it is the first Monday after prom, which gives students one more day from the prom weekend festivities.

Bowling For Columbine

In Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine, there is a wide range of issues presented for the reasons for the school shooting. One topic that had a profound effect on me after watching the movie was how different the US compared to Canada really is. The biggest difference the film made between the people who live in Canada versus the people in the US is the amount of fear each society lives with. The movie made this point very apparent when Mr. Moore went door to door testing his theory by seeing if Canadians locked their front doors. Every house he tried he was able to open and enter their homes. In America we have a new tragedy on the news every night and Moore points to this as the reason why there is so much fear in the American psyche. Americans believe that crime is a common occurrence but in reality it is highly unlikely to happen to them. People in the US commonly think the worst of their neighbors and the people they interact with every day. In contrast Canadians think the best of people unless they have shown them differently in the past. The differences in both of the countries people have a lot to do with culture and the amount of fear that is produced through the media. One quote that caught me off guard during the film was when more stopped a news van on the street and asked them about the qualifications for coverage. The person said “If it bleeds, It Leads.” We have all seen this quote in practice across all networks, no matter the specific day. This kind of constant bombardment of fear can cause people to do radical things such as spend thousands of dollars they can’t afford on a security system.