Gama

Hopefully @TheMissingno.; will accept this title. I'm not brave enough to be a 100% pioneer D:

Anyway, I got to another semifinal on Saturday. It's a really good feeling that this is starting to become a bit more of a regular thing now. I've put a lot of time into debating so it's really nice to feel like it's not been a waste: I have actually been approving. All the more rewarding is that I managed to get to the semifinal with my old speaking partner, who I never managed to get to the knockout rounds with before. It's great to know that me and him speaking together as much as we did wasn't a wasted effort after all.

Also, Round 4 (the final preliminary round before the knockouts) was This House (as the United States government) would ban firearms. [PLEASE NOTE: THIS BLOG IS NOT NICOLETA'S CAMPAIGN BUS. PLEASE DO NOT ARGUE ABOUT FIREARM LEGALITY HERE. THERE IS A THREAD FOR THAT.] We were in opposition for this (we don't get to choose our positions), which meant me and my partner had to argue that the US should not ban firearms. I managed to build and deliver a really really good case on this that I was super proud of, I managed to hold my own against some of the best speakers at that tournament and in the UK. (I did this not just in that round, but I did do it in that round.) I want to say a massive thank you to @Big Lutz; and @Mako; for helping me understand the best arguments against the criminalisation of firearms in the US so I could deliver them, and another one to @Archaic; for helping me understand the best arguments for it so I could pre-empt and rebut them when the proposition brought them up.