Gun Policy

California probably has the strictest gun laws out of all 50 states. I work in a gun store so I am quite familiar with these laws and as you can guess I feel CA gun laws are too strict. While these laws were made to keep guns out of the hands of the wrong people, I feel they don't do that. The people we should be worried about are not getting their guns through a gun store like most responsible gun owners do. They are buying them for people off the streets. I do agree with the laws that you have to pass a back ground check before purchasing a gun. This does help to eliminate any potential problems. I also agree that you must pass a safe handling test and written test to demonstrate you know how to properly use and handle a gun. With less and less police officers around to patrol cities I feel much safer knowing I don't have to rely on waiting for the cops to show up to protect me. I think more people should be prepared to protect themselves. I feel CA is too strict when it comes to distributing Concealed Carry Permits. Yes it is great that I can protect myself in my home but for me I don't spend much time at home. Most of the time I am out and about which would require me to have a Concealed Carry Permit to have my gun with me at all times. People who pursue their CCW Permits go through hours and hours of classroom and hands on training. By the end of their training they are highly proficient in safe gun handling and how to handle certain situations. But many people who go through these courses will be unable to get their permits because many counties refuse to issue them or extremely limit the quantity they give out. I feel much safe knowing that someone in the bank line next to me may be carrying concealed in the event of a hostile robbery. As far as when it is appropriate to use deadly force, I have to mostly agree with Ca Penal Code Sec. 197 which states the following:


197.  Homicide is also justifiable when committed by any person in any of the following cases:
   1. When resisting any attempt to murder any person, or to commit a felony, or to do some great bodily injury upon any person; or,
   2. When committed in defense of habitation, property, or person, against one who manifestly intends or endeavors, by violence or surprise, to commit a felony, or against one who manifestly intends and endeavors, in a violent, riotous or tumultuous manner, to enter the habitation of another for the purpose of offering violence to any person therein; or,
   3. When committed in the lawful defense of such person, or of a wife or husband, parent, child, master, mistress, or servant of such person, when there is reasonable ground to apprehend a design to commit a felony or to do some great bodily injury, and imminent danger of such design being accomplished; but such person, or the person in whose behalf the defense was made, if he was the assailant or engaged in mutual combat, must really and in good faith have endeavored to decline any further struggle before the homicide was committed; or,
   4. When necessarily committed in attempting, by lawful ways and means, to apprehend any person for any felony committed, or in lawfully suppressing any riot, or in lawfully keeping and preserving the peace.
 
198.  A bare fear of the commission of any of the offenses mentioned in subdivisions 2 and 3 of Section 197, to prevent which homicide may be lawfully committed, is not sufficient to justify it.  But the circumstances must be sufficient to excite the fears of a reasonable person, and the party killing must have acted under the influence ofsuch fears alone.
 
198.5.  Any person using force intended or likely to cause death or great bodily injury within his or her residence shall be presumed to have held a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily injury to self, family, or a member of the household when that force is used against another person, not a member of the family orhousehold, who unlawfully and forcibly enters or has unlawfully and forcibly entered the residence and the person using the force knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry occurred.
   As used in this section, great bodily injury means a significant or substantial physical injury

Firearms Policy

For me the idea of anyone allowed to legally carry firearms in any country seems like a bad one. I'm not an NRA member and never will be. I'm a pacifist and feel that firearms only belong in the hands of trained police officers and members of the military. I in no way support the second amendment and feel that there are no positive or safely regulated militias and that people should in no way have the right to carry and bear arms and that this law does need to infringed upon and abolished. The only policy that I would support regarding the second amendment would be for persons of the police or military force who are regulated and trained and held accountable for their actions. We need less guns, not more people are to incapable of handling the responsibility of privately owned firearms and more death than good comes from the second amendment. There are no excusable situations to use deadly force, it is just as easy to take down and diffuse someone or a situation and imprison them as it is to end them.

Midterm Reflection

I think our midterm turned out well.  Our group has worked together really well and we all have brought something to the table.  Everyone in our group has done everything they are assigned to, we don't have any slackers and we can count on eachother. 

Showing up: 8
Doing fare share of work: 8
Being on Time: 9
responding to emails and communicating: 9
handling a conflict: 9
being present in the group and not getting distracted: 9

I think five important rules for a successful group would be

Being punctual
Organized
Communicating well
everyone participating
sharing your ideas

Mid term reflection

I feel that our group does a very good job of working together. I am pretty happy with our group. I would not kick anyone out of our group. I would put my own participation at a 7. This is how I rate the following from 1-10

Showing up- 9
Doing your fair share-10
Being on time-7
Responding to email-7
Handling conflict-7
Being involved in the group-9

Rules:

Everyone must participate
No cell phones
Communicate
Help each other out

Midterm Reflection

The United States of Eurasia

I feel like our group works very well together. And i think we all do a pretty equal amount of work.i think we all do about a 6 or 7 on the work hard scale. and even if i could i wouldnt remove anyone from our group.and the following is my rating for how important these things are.

A. showing up- 8
B. doing your fare share- 9
C. being on time- 6
D. responding to emails and communicating- 7
E. handling a conflict- 8
F. being present in the group and not getting destracted- 7

five rules for an effective group
1. respect each other
2. respect the teacher
3. respect the class
4. work hard
5. enjoy the work

this is a link to an article about group dynamics

Mid-Term Reflections

I think our group did quite well on our class presentation, and as for my personal contribution, I would give myself an 8.5. I researched the laws applicable to graffiti, but I probably could have said a bit more during the presentation. Everyone contributed and did the work asked of them too. At this time I wouldn't want to remove anyone from the group (or add anyone either). The group's dynamics are working nicely. Workplace rules are semi-important to the group, but there haven't been any real issues in that area. Everyone in the group has been in class for the most part, gotten all the work in on time, communicate with each other, and work well with each other. Five rules that are important to having an effective group I think are:
Being punctual
Completing all designated work
Being organized
Being able to work through conflict
Being able to follow and give directions when needed

Reflections

Reflecting back on the midterm, I would have to say it was an overall positive experience. Our group all had a positive hand in the outcome of our presentation and all did their parts in completing a compelling presentation. I would give myself an 8 on the scale of my overall contribution feeling that I was committed to giving the best possible presentation and not settling for anything less than A work. I would actually not remove any of our current group members or fire anyone at this point feeling that we all work well together. If a change was needed I would only add that the person be on time, perfect attendance, and overall have fun with the class and   only settle for A work.1.Showing up 10, 2. Doing fair share 10,3. Being on time 10,4. responding to emails 8, 5. handling conflict 8, 6. being present 10. Five rules for an effective group show up, come prepared, work well together, have a democracy, allow coffee.