1/25 Summary.

Overall, there have been many current events going on in the United States lately. One current event that is a major topic in a lot of people’s lives today is the shooting in Arizona on January 8^th. As noted by my group members, in order to be considered a “good citizen” one must contribute to society, get involved in some community activity, help out fellow citizens, and follow the rules that are set within the community. Jared Loughner, the person responsible for the tragic shooting, was not at all considered a good citizen, and was indeed in need of mental help, but was given a blind eye by everyone else. I personally think that if he had been paid more attention to and was given the help that he needed, it may have stopped any of this from happening. Like another member of my group stated, this is not the first time something has happened like this, Columbine and Virginia Tech are just two examples of troubled teens not getting then help they needed and it ending up in a tragic event.

Gun control is another topic that was brought up in the blogs by my group members this week. There is an ongoing debate about making stiffer rules and regulations regarding gun control. The government wants to make it harder to possess a gun, and have stiffer penalties regarding firearms. However, the gun that Loughner possessed was legally registered; more times than not when a gun is part of a crime, the gun is not registered. I personally do not have an opinion on the matter, but the Second Amendment gives United States citizens the right to bear arms – I think that if the government takes that right away they are just going against the amendments and taking away part of our citizenship.

As for our governor, Paul Lepage, the comments that he made about the NAACP were just downright rude and uncalled for. The level of professionalism in his comments was minimal, and he should not be speaking or behaving in such a manner when he is representing us as Maine citizens. The First Amendment gives him the freedom of speech, but I think for the sake of being a Governor, he would refrain from making such comments, regardless of his rights. If Lepage did not want to attend an event, all he had to do was say so, without the rude side remarks.