1. Does easier accessibility to guns lead to greater instances of violent shootings?

Yes. According to data from the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, more gun availability is
shown to cause an increase of homicides. We can see this in a report from Mother Jones, an
independent news organization, which stated that shooting sprees in the United States is not
uncommon, with 62 mass shooting having occurred between 1982 and 2012. All of the killers
were found to have obtained their weapons legally. Also, I agree with this personally because I
remember that I never heard about violent shootings on television when I lived in Korea. Korea
has strict firearm laws which only allow citizens to own guns for sport and hunting, but even
those guns are stored at police station armories. In T Stranger, Meursault would have likely
he
not killed the Arab if he didnt have the gun with him. If Raymond didnt hand him the gun,
Meursault would have been weaponless, which would have prevented him from doing anything
against the armed Arab. Meursault could represent a mentally disabled person mishandling a
firearm. In the US, people with a mental disability are not allowed to own firearms due to the
danger posed in doing so. In Meursaults case, he might be an example of how things might turn
out if something like that happened.

2. How fair is our justice system? Consider different aspects of a trial. Consider the
punishments we have in place. Is the death penalty an appropriate form of punishment.

Although the US justice system has been revised to be more fair and try to be equal to every
person, there are still many flaws. The death penalty is given when people decide a person is
the worst of the worst, which is very subjective. The death penalty is often reserved for poor
people who arent able to afford better attorneys who can negotiate deals. Public attorneys are
underpaid and overworked, along with not being given enough time and resources to come up
with an effective case. Race has a huge impact as well, seeing how eyewitness identification is
less reliable when identifying someone of a different race. Black and hispanic people are also 3
times more likely to be incarcerated compared to white people. People that dont support the
death penalty are not allowed to serve on a capital jury, but people who do support it are more

likely to support a guilty verdict. This is similar to how in The Stranger, Meursault believes that
his appointed lawyer is less competent than the prosecutor. Also, the jury in the book are shown
to be judging Meursault based on his other actions, rather than the murder itself. This is unfair,
because Meursault is being judged as a person rather than for what he did.

3. What is the significance of race in our society? Does race matter? Does racism exist?
Where does it exist? Consider the presence of race in schools, in the workplace, in the
justice system, and anywhere else.

In our current society, although it isnt as bad as the past, race still serves as one of the main
factors for discrimination. Racism can still be seen in multiple places. In the workplace, white
people have consistently earned more money than black people. Also, applicants with
black-sounding names have been shown to get less calls back compared to white applicants.
Hate groups still exist such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Aryan Nation. In the justice system,
black people are seven times more likely than white people to get shot by a police officer. In
prison, although black people only make up one-third of the total US population, they make up
two-thirds of the entire prison population. In the U.S., over half of all murder victims are African
American, yet less than 15% of the people were executed since 1976 for this crime. This is
similar to how in The Stranger, Meursault is not being judged on the fact that he killed an Arab
man, but instead mostly on how he acted during and after his moms funeral. In France around
Meursaults time, the act of killing an Arab wouldnt have been a big concern, but the fact that
the mistreatment of his mother is worse than a murder is an example of racism. Also, the Arab is
not given a name, which could mean that Arabs are represented just by their race in T he
Stranger.