Speaking Outline (Full Text Follows) Term Paper

Memorable Closing:

More than any phrase, memorable quote, or image, let me leave you with these statistics: 14,000 routine killings committed in 2005 with guns, to which must be added 16,000 suicides by firearm and 650 fatal accidents. The NRA says that 'guns don't kill, people kill.' Perhaps this is true, but guns certainly make it much, much easier ("America's tragedy," the Economist, 2007).

Full text of speech

General Subject: Gun Control

Specific Subject: Problem/Solution

General Purpose: To persuade my audience to support the strengthening of gun control laws

Specific Audience-centered Purpose: After hearing my speech, members of the audience will support the passage of gun control laws, including stricter background checks and limits upon the type of weapons that can be purchased by civilians.

I. Introduction

A. Attention Step:

One sunny day in March, at a gun store in Virginia, a young man named Cho Seung-hui walked into a gun shop. Despite having extensive documentation of mental difficulties at his college, Cho easily purchased what he desired. The end result? 33 dead on the campus of Virginia Tech.

B. Rapport Step:

After the tragedy, the police looked in the gunman's backpack, an ordinary backpack just like you or I might possess. And what did they find? A perfectly legitimate sales receipt for all of the weapons used to commit these murders, a receipt for a March purchase of a Glock 9 mm pistol.Cho had committed no crime, until he pulled the trigger that fateful day.

C. Credibility Step:

According to CBS News, the gunman held a green card, meaning he was a legal, permanent resident, federal officials said. That meant he was eligible to buy a handgun unless he had been convicted of a felony, which he was not, although that made little difference to his victims -- and their families ("More Gun Control? Don't Hold Your Breath," CBS News, 2007).

D.

Preview Step: The time has come, after the tragedies of Virginia Tech and Columbine to create a safer society by making guns less available and more difficult to obtain in America.

II. Body

A. Describe the situation

1. Despite the fact that Congress has passed some gun control legislation in the past, such as the Brady Bill, to ensure that the records of individuals buying handguns are reviewed, these laws are often inconsistent and weakly enforced. Also, according to the Economist, "Cho killed his victims with two guns, one of them a Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistol, a rapid-fire weapon that is available only to police in virtually every other country, but which can legally be bought over the counter in.....