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The New York Times reports:

Isolated human genes may not be patented, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Thursday. The case concerned patents held by Myriad Genetics, a Utah company, on genes that correlate with increased risk of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.

Rarely does a day pass before I hear or see another incredulous pro-gun argument in one medium or another. I see the memes on Facebook that say, “This woman fought back a burglar with a GUN! TAKE THAT, GUN CONTROL!” and the like. So I thought I would take a second to create a simple guide to dismantle and disprove the myths of the pro-gun, NRA-funded ideologues.

1. Gun control doesn’t work.

Anyone who knows how to use Google can disprove this argument. It’s common knowledge that the states with the most stringent gun control policies hold lower rates of gun violence than states with the least control. Look at Australia: In the aftermath of a mass shooting in 1996, Australia enacted sweeping gun control, including an assault weapons ban and increased background checks. How many mass shootings have occurred since then? You got it. 0.

2. Gun control won’t prevent another Sandy Hook.

This argument makes absolutely no sense. The point of gun control laws is to threaten would-be criminals with penalties if they so choose to break the law. If we don’t enact laws simply because they won’t “prevent” heinous acts from continuing, why do we have laws against murder? Rape? Theft? The law is used to create a disincentive for potential criminals who would otherwise commit the acts laws seek to prohibit and punish.

3. Gun control infringes on our rights.

Okay, so you’re citing the Second Amendment, which was made for the sole purpose of preventing a tyrannical government from overtaking the people. This amendment was included in the Constitution under the pretense that, if the people so chose, they could overthrow the government with their guns and reinstate new leaders. This amendment was added when “arms” meant rifles that took 40 seconds to reload, and “accuracy” didn’t exist. I’m also afraid to say that under today’s government — with the nuclear power and military that government possesses — our rifles and pistols don’t stand a chance. Not to mention the thought of the government becoming a tyrant is a faded memory of the Founding Fathers’ generation. If we hold this amendment to be all-powerful, then we should also give equal weight to the amendment following it: Soldiers cannot be quartered in your homes. I’m sure we all struggle with that problem day to day.

4. Guns don’t kill people; people kill people.

Yes, so we’ve concluded that people kill people. But how people kill others is what matters. There’s a reason we can’t go to the nearest department store and buy a nuclear weapon. Irresponsible or crooked individuals exist in our society, and we have to accept that fact. The only sound way to prevent these individuals from owning weapons of destruction is to get those weapons out of the hands of the general public. I mean, what happens if someone crazy doesn’t have access to a gun and uses something else instead? On the same day of the Sandy Hook massacre, a mentally ill Chinese man ran into an elementary school classroom and stabbed more than 20 children with a knife. None were killed.

5. Gun control will take my guns away from me

If you’re mentally ill or a convicted criminal, then maybe you won’t be able to buy a gun. There is absolutely no legislation being considered that would take guns away from anyone. The most “radical” gun legislation ever considered in the United States is the “assault weapons ban” — a ban on further sales of weapons that would in no way take away any guns already on the street.

6. Cars kill people too; why don’t we regulate them?

We do. Last I checked, you need a driver’s license to drive a car. You must register your car. You must have insurance. You must wear a seat belt. You cannot talk on the phone while driving (here in California, at least).The list goes on. You know the regulations for gun ownership? Me neither. That’s because there are basically none — other than a simple background check and a mandatory waiting period.

7. Look, here’s someone who used a firearm for self-defense against a criminal and could’ve been hurt if he or she didn’t have the gun.

Look, here’s a list of 30,000 Americans killed by gun violence per year. Children, elderly, and most of the time innocent people — you name it. You decide what you value more: a single crime being prevented or the 30,000 stories behind the deaths of these Americans. (Not to imply that gun control would prevent people from self-defense – I prefer bear spray and a taser over a gun any day).

These are only few of the many incredulous arguments that reverberate through the halls of your Congress today. For each day we hold off of gun control, more than 85 Americans a day are killed by gun violence. If the recent defeat of the Manchin-Toomey gun control proposal (the background-check expansion that had approximately 93 percent public approval but still failed) is an indicator of anything, it is that the NRA has taken our legislators hostage.

The nonsense needs to stop, and we’re the ones who need to stop it. In the words of legendary President Ronald Reagan himself, “Every year, an average of 9,200 Americans are murdered by handguns, according to Department of Justice statistics. This does not include suicides or the tens of thousands of robberies, rapes and assaults committed with handguns. This level of violence must be stopped.”

Julian Sarafian explores the right to choose ones own political opinion in his Monday blog. Contact Julian Sarafian at jsarafian@dailycal.org.

The post A Dummy’s Guide to Winning Gun Control Debates appeared first on The Daily Californian.

More than ten years ago, in March of 2003, American-led forces began their invasion of Iraq. Since then, 4,409 American service members died in the Iraq War.

The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, by contrast, occurred less than six months ago. As of this writing, according to data published by Slate, 4,539 people have been killed by guns in the United States.

We all watch the news. We all recognize the famous public figures in the American political discourse: the president, a senator or two and maybe even your House Representative. We all have some opinion on the politics that govern our country. But rarely do we care about what these people are doing with our country, nor do we care about the direction politicians are taking us in.

We, as students, tend to hate politics. I don’t blame you. Government can be scary, impersonal and sometimes unhelpful. No one likes the DMV — long lines and subpar air conditioning drive everyone crazy. And deep down, everyone ultimately feels helpless in enacting any change as one of 330 million citizens in this country. Despite government’s intimidating role in our lives, you should care — because the decisions the government makes impact you every day.

I’m not writing this article to tell you that you need to radically change your fundamental beliefs on the role of government. Nor will the article instruct you on your ideologies and government policies. I don’t care whether you vote Republican or Democrat, Independent or for the Green Party. I couldn’t care less if you believe we should overthrow the government and instill a broomstick as the president. What I care about is whether you even care in the first place.

We often correlate the words “politics” with images of the president speaking, congressmen debating, income taxes or maybe even the military. We often correlate the word “government” with the least helpful governmental agencies (cue DMV) or policies with which we disagree (cue gun control). Rarely, however, do we think of the day-to-day applications of government that keep us safe: the police, emergency services, street lamps, streets themselves, highways, bridges — the list goes on and on. Rarely do we think of the day-to-day benefits of leisure the government provides: public schools, parks, museums, national parks, radio — again, the list goes on and on.

These things matter to you and me. These are not controversial issues — nor are they topics fueled by passionate debate. And yet, topics like these constitute the government as much as the mainstream issues like abortion or gun control do. These issues may seem to have easy solutions (who wouldn’t want more schools or better roads?), but they are just as political: How much of our funds should go to the military versus building new roads? Should we even build public parks? What about taxes? Should the government have control over how fast I can drive my car?

These questions may have obvious answers to you, but answering them in the context of government is much more complicated: A speed limit may seem obvious, but why should the government have control over my car when it is my own property? We need a strong military, but we also need strong infrastructure in the form of stable roads and bridges — what do we pick, the military or roads? Public parks are nice, but what if we can put that money elsewhere — say, toward subsidized housing for the underprivileged? These are typical questions that policymakers debate on behalf of you and me everyday. These questions strike at the heart of the oh-so-cynical “government” that you choose to despise.

There are always two sides to every argument. But staying out of the political arena and smirking at politicians does not make you a “bigger person,” and it doesn’t make you a better citizen. Government, whether you like it or not, will always be part of our lives and will always be changing. It’s up to us to decide whether we want to determine how it’s changing. I know there are better, more fun things out there that interest you: cars, television, sports or anything other than politics. But next time you watch Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert and laugh at how silly the government is, ask yourself this question: Do I really know how much potential I hold to change the government and the power of the government itself?

You might surprise yourself with the answer.

Contact Julian Sarafian at jsarafian@dailycal.org.

The post Why you don’t care about politics appeared first on The Daily Californian.