Perspectives

This part of the study guide will help you expand your perspective on Tiffany Hyatt’s article “Why I Picked Up a Gun” by looking at how the events described by Hyatt evolved, current issues related to her article, and at other similar tex…

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Time perspective

At the time when Hyatt published her article (May 2003), the identity of the Baton Rouge Serial Killer was still unknown. At the end of May 2003, authorities identified and arrested a man connected to the murders. Before he was charged with murder, he had been arrested for stalking women. Despite this, the authorities did not initially connect him with the Baton Rouge murders, because they were looking for a white man. This was because most known serial killers in the US were white men and because of misleading eyewitness account…

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Other texts

As the gun control debate in the US is controversial, it could be interesting to compare this article with an official speech by Barack Obama when he was the President of the US. Obama – as a Democrat – was in favor of imposing stronger gun control regulations in the US and making it harder for the mentally ill or criminals to access firearms. For example, you could look at Barack Obama’s “Remarks by the President on Common Sense Gun Safety Reforms”. Obama made thi…