My Advocacy Ad for CHL Carry in Schools (School Project)

[Flatland2D]

I'm finally getting around to graduating college. I'm a senior in Freshman Composition II. Kind of waited till the last minute to knock that one out.

Anyway, for our final project we got to make an advocacy ad about a topic of our choice. Naturally I chose concealed carry in schools, as it's something I feel very strongly about. Here is the ad that I made. I decided to focus on the VT massacre and point out their foresight and negligence to respond appropriately to the problem (heck, the App. School of Law shooting was in VA). The class just ended, so there's no changes left to be made, but I thought some of you guys might be interested in seeing this. I gave a brief intro about CHLs, stats about safety, requirements, and well known school shootings.

At the end, the professor opened it up to debate. Overall the reaction was pretty positive from the people who spoke up. I'm thinking the ones who stayed quiet probably thought I was crazy. The teacher asked, "If I told you guys that I had a gun in my purse, would that make any of you feel uncomfortable?" All who answered said "no" because their dad is a cop, their parents carry, they carry, etc. Went pretty well I think. I'm hoping I was able to plant a few seeds.

Anyone know of any other school shootings involving the denfensive use of a handgun to stop the attack? The two in the ad were the only two I could find.

[carlson1]

I think you did a great job

[Venus Pax]

Excellent poster.
Perhaps it can be used before the 2009 session.

[longtooth]

Hope you got an A.

[Flatland2D]

Excellent poster.
Perhaps it can be used before the 2009 session.

Lol! I would be honored. Thanks for the compliments.

Even though I'm leaving school, I'm trying to get more young people interested in CHL. I'm 23 and don't want to see my rights slowly die off as I get older if my generation doesn't take to it like the previous generation.

[Sangiovese]

Very well done.

I think that you chose appropriate bullets (har har!) to illustrate your point. I like the layout with the dates supporting each item.

One nit to pick is the use of Cho's likeness in the ad.

Although effective, lawyers from his family would probably win a case against the originator of the ad if it were real and not just a school project. It might go either way (you can argue the news angle) but it would be something to be concerned about.

[stroo]

The photo is probably in the public domain although whatever network had it, NBC I think, might have some rights to it. If used for advocacy, you probably would want to check that out.

Great job! We really need to get advocacy pieces like this out there. I was hoping the NRA would push revoking the school zone Federal law at the same time as they were agreeing to changes in the NICS process. Doesn't look like it though.

[Flatland2D]

Yeah, I guess for school I really didn't have copyright issues in mind (though I did site the source for the picture in another document). My only reservation about using that picture is the negative portrayal of handguns, though I also wanted to show just how twisted this guy was and the gravity of the situation.

[Skiprr]

My only comment is about: "Concealed handgun license holders account for about one third of one percent of all criminal offenses in Texas."

Subliminally, I could see readers coming away with "concealed handgun license holders" and "criminal offenses in Texas." The "one third of one percent" is abstruse, and takes a moment's thought to translate as meant.

But even then, it's validly expressed as: "Out of every 1,000 criminal offenses in Texas, three of them are committed by Concealed Handgun License holders." Not good...and not true.

The crimes the DPS used to track for CHL stats (they stopped as of 2005 because the numbers were so insignificant) were of specific categories of heinous offenses, not all criminal offenses. Heck, even DUI wasn't in the mix, for goodness sake. And the offenses tracked varied from year to year, so you can't draw an accurate trending or overall percentage. Even so, there are enough aberrations in the actual numbers that I don't think you, as someone trying to present an affirmative position on licensed handgun carry in schools, would ever want to use these stats as a talking point. (Review the 2005 stats for some less than stellar results on criminal negligent homicide and kidnapping, to name two.)

If I were a TA counseling you, I'd tell you that since you have very limited space, I'd rather see it presented in the positive, not the negative: "Texas Concealed Handgun License holders must undergo a rigorous background check by both Federal and State law enforcement agencies." Or something similar and brief.

Congratulations on completing the project! When do you walk?

[stevie_d_64]

I'm hoping I was able to plant a few seeds.

I think you succeeded...And thats one of the best things in all of this...

I also would probably not worry too much about copyright infringements...

You have only compiled staments of fact and packaged them in your own format...Some lawyers might dissagree, but the only "real person" image you are using is of a dead guy...And I am not so sure he's going to protest...

Besides, even that image is public domain I believe...

Personally, I wouldn't worry about that too much...Thats just my opinion...

For the most part your argument is sound, I wouldn't change anything...

You did good!

[TheYoungGuy]

Flatland2D, way to go! I hope you have seen my post on a similar subject such as this. While I'm sure there are many of us out there, I have no problem tooting my own horn and saying I'm proud that you and I believed in this enough to bring it up in a school setting. We have to speak up if we want to be heard. Once again, WAY TO GO!

My Visual Communication project, Spring 2007

[Flatland2D]

Skiprr, after thinking about it I do think you're right about not focusing on the small negatives, but rather the big positives. That line was from my CHLs are model citizens themed slide about our safety record, far less likely to commit crime than average person, etc. After being presented in that way, I think the students were reminded of the point I was trying to make, and not how that would be construed into something bad. But still, probably could have been handled better.

I actually already walked. We don't have a summer graduation so I got to go to commencement early.

TheYoungGuy, I just checked out your poster. I would have liked to have been there when all the typical college hippies came around. I hope it turned out well. Nice to know other people are spreading the word to our age group, too. Was that at UT?