Gun Control: Rational Decision Making By J. Stone

Introduction:
Gun control is an important issue in the United States. The big issue with gun control is some people want stricter gun laws. On the other side of the argument people that supports the usage of a firearm thinks that it is an individual’s right under the Second Amendment and guns are needed for self-defense.
Law and Policy/Society Literature: Identification of Author:
The author I am going to talk about is Stone. Stone uses the approach Rational Decision Making. Rationality means choosing the best means to obtain a goal. Stone stated in her article how the rational decision model portrays a policy problem as a choice factoring a political actor (pg. 249). Under the rational decision making, there are four steps the actor goes

through to finally make a decision. Those steps are defining a goal, imagining alternative means for attaining the goal, evaluating consequences of each alternative and choosing the alternative that would attain the goal. The author mentions how decision making in polis differs from the rational decision model. Under polis, to make ones outcome appear as the only alternative. Also, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were mentioned as in example in the article. Basically, under polis policy makers are concerned with how policies are perceived. Cost-benefit analysis is also a big issue in the author’s approach. On page 264, Stone how in polis a critical strategy is declining which consequences to include in analysis.
Law and Policy/Society Literature: Theory Application:
The author would probably talk about my issue in terms of liberty, freedom, and social justice.

The author talks about selecting alternatives and I think that is how she would incorporate my issue in her study. The term issuing framing makes me think of gun control. A frame is a boundary that cuts off parts of something from our view while focusing attention on other parts (Stone, 252). The way we think about problems is sensitive to the language to describe them. Stone believes that rational decisions should be based on the objective of consequences of actions. In terms of gun control people have their different feelings on gun control and its restrictions. I think that Stone would say that with my issue people have freedom and under the second amendment guns control is

supported.
Decision making is the big issue with gun control because the question of whether or not people should be able to own firearms. The goal to attain is to see if restricting gun control is supported. Many people refer back to the Second Amendment when thinking about gun control and others feel as if there should be more restrictions. When thinking of Liberty, freedom, and social justice, some people who live in certain areas are able to own guns because of their type of neighborhood where as others have a lot more rules they have to go through and follow. I think Stone would also talk about the third step in making a decision which is, evaluating the likely consequences of pursuing each alternative. I say that because there are all different alternatives that can be brought up with gun control and if you pursue all different alternatives there may be consequences because not everyone will feel equal or happy with certain decisions.
I think she would include opinions of the public and information about gun control laws within an analysis of my issue.

Also I think the different kinds of restrictions and why people feel the way they feel about gun control would be beneficial for Stone.
Conclusion:
The application of Stone’s theory makes me think of my issue differently because I never thought about how important decision making was in terms of rationality. Also when thinking about the consequences that can come with certain alternatives also made think of gun control in a whole new light. People have to understand how important certain things are in the world and how certain things play a role in people’s decisions.
I can’t really think of new aspects that are highlighted about gun control other than making sure you choose the best way to go about the issue. When connecting gun control back to polis, since most issues involve strategy it is up to the person with the most authority to make the decision just so everything is negotiated in the right manner. After connecting gun control to Stone’s I now I have a new understand on gun

control.