Debate: Can stricter gun control laws decrease the rate of crimes involving guns? Yes, because with fewer weapons, you get fewer crimes. Take a look at the crime rates of countries like the United Kingdom. Their crime rate is very low, compared to ours here in the United States. Just by simply putting stricter laws in place on who can own them, it will greatly reduce the crimes involving guns. Posted by: 5h4yGlory Past Practice There was an assault weapon  ban back in 1994 under Bill Clinton. Shootings and crime did not go down for the 10 years when this law was in effect. Criminals do not follow rules. The law only affects those who try to obey the law to arm them to protect themselves. Posted by: jb1988 Wake up, you Americans! It's hardly surprising that America has one of the highest gun related murder rates of all countries! And of course guns don't kill people, but the more people own guns, the easier it is to get access to one, the higher the chance of people using it to kill somebody is! In Germany, we have really strict gun laws and only a few people own guns, and obviously we don't need them. There's no reason that a normal citizen would need a gun! Guns are made for one reason only: killing. Posted by: cstephie13 More gun control laws, fewer shootings On the same day as the Sandy Hook tragedy, a man in China entered a primary school with a knife and injured 22 students on December, 14. However, nobody was killed. Compare that to the 26 students and teachers killed at Sandy Hook in Connecticut with a powerful gun. We must learn something from this tragedy. Posted by: Jasonx986 Gun violence goes up with more gun control Criminals will take advantage of the situation. They will do whatever they want and take whatever they want and kill whoever gets in their way. They will get guns illegally. Crime rates go up as a result of more gun control, because criminals know you don't have one, and they will kill you as they like. There is no point in banning guns! Posted by: eebnflow According to the first post, in the United Kingdom   _  . A) the crime rate is higher than America's B) the crime rate is rising sharply C) there is no gun control laws D) buying guns is very hard
D
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One evening last summer, when I asked my 14-year-old son, Ray, for help with dinner, his response shocked me. "What's a colander ? " he asked. I could only blame myself. In the family, nobody else's hands went in the sauce except my own. But that night, as I explained with a touch of panic that a colander is the thing with holes in it, I wondered what else I hadn't prepared Ray for. As parents, while we focus on our sons' confidence and character, we perhaps don't always consider that we are also raising someone's future roommates, boyfriends, husbands, or fathers. I wanted to know that I'd raised a boy who would never ask the woman in his life, "What's for dinner?" So I came up with a plan: I would offer Ray a private home economics course. I was delighted to find that he didn't say no. For two hours, three days a week, Ray was all mine. One day, as his tomato sauce reduced on the stove, he washed and seasoned a chicken for roasting. Then he rolled out the piecrust   and filled it with apples, all while listening to my explanation on the importance of preheating an oven. I knew that he would rather have been shooting hoops in the driveway than learning to mend socks with his mother--he tried to beg off sewing lessons, even though I insisted that one day, someone would find the sight of him fixing his own shirt very attractive-- but it couldn't be denied that he was learning, and more than just housekeeping. "I appreciate what you do as a mom," he told me one day. Ray now understands the finer points of cooking, and more importantly, he realizes there's nothing masculine   about being helpless. Now, not only can he make his own dinner, but also he can make a big meal for his family. That's what I call a man. I'm glad that I prepared so great a present for my future daughter-in-law. In the author's opinion, some parents pay little attention to   _  . A) building up children's confidence B) telling kids what is right and wrong C) preparing children for their future life D) making children live a hard life
C
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"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood. The happy childhood is hardly worth your while. "Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood. And worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." That was Frank McCourt reading the opening lines of his book Angela's Ashes, released in nineteen ninety-six. This Irish American author best known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography Angela's Ashes that recorded his poor upbringing, died of cancer on Sunday, The New York Times reported. He was 78. Born in New York City, he was the eldest of seven children born to Irish immigrant parents. Angela's Ashes was a memoir that captured an irresponsible, drunkard father with a gift for story-telling. When not drunk, his father was absent, turning his back on a family so poor, McCourt wrote, that they were reduced to burning the furniture in their rented hut to keep warm. His mother struggled to raise her many children after his father left the family. Already struggling when the Great Depression hit, the family moved back to Limerick, where they slipped ever deeper into poverty in the  1930s. Three of McCourt's siblings died of diseases worsened by hunger and the wretchedness of their surroundings. McCourt himself almost died of typhoid  fever as  a child. In Angela's Ashes, he wrote of hunger, a home flooded with rainwater and the unbearable humiliation of seeking handouts from charities in the Irish city. But he told the story in a way that is expressive, warm and light-hearted. Frank McCourt left Ireland at the age of nineteen to return to New York City where he was born. He earned a degree in- English education and taught creative writing for nearly thirty years. After retiring in nineteen eighty-seven, he decided to write about his childhood. "Angela's Ashes" became a huge success and brought McCourt a 1997 Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and other honors. Millions of copies of the book were... From the passage, we know Frank McCourt's father is_. A) humorous and trustworthy B) alcohol-addicted but loves his family C) poor but warm-hearted D) irresponsible but gifted in telling stories

D
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