Topic

The main topic Barack Obama focuses on in his statement on the shooting in Oregon is the importance of adopting laws meant to reduce gun violenc…

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Gun control

At first, Obama focuses on the mass shootings that take place in the US so often and claims that thoughts and prayers are not sufficient when it comes to making a change regarding gun deaths: “But as I said just a few months ago, and I said a few months before that, and I said each time we see one of these mass shootings, our thoughts and prayers are not enough. It’s not enough.” (ll. 22-25)

Then, Obama talks about the pro-gun groups who op…

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Argumentation

Barack Obama’s speech relies on both open argumentation (where he states his arguments openly and clearly) and hidden argumentation (where his arguments are implied using suggestions).

First, an example of open argumentation is the following, where he openly states that law-abiding gun owners agree with him and acknowledge the necessity of passing stricter gun control laws:

There are scores of responsible gun owners in this country --they know that's not true. We know because of the polling tha…