We favor the registration of all firearms, regardless of type.

Question

We favor the registration of all firearms, regardless of type. The National Rifle Association has done a good job of persuading its members that registration is the first step toward confiscation of all weapons. Nonsense. Americans register, among other things, their cars, their dogs, and the births of their children. Yet, confiscation of cars, cocker spaniels, and infants has never been a great problem.

Which one of the following best describes the major flaw in the author’s reasoning?

(A) He ignores the danger to the general public posed by unregulated weapons sales.

(B) He ignores the potential for bureaucratic mismanagement of any such registration effort.

(C) He ignores the existence of dog catchers, tow trucks, and child-welfare officers.

(D) He ignores the differences between firearms and other items that make the former a more likely target for confiscation.

(E) He ignores the expertise of the members of the National Rifle Association.

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paragw · Answer

The major flaw in the author's reasoning is that he compares firearms registration to the registration of items like cars, dogs, and births, implying that registration will not lead to confiscation because it hasn't in those other cases. However, he ignores the fundamental differences between firearms and those other items, which could make firearms more likely targets for confiscation.

This corresponds to answer choice:

(D)  He ignores the differences between firearms and other items that make the former a more likely target for confiscation.

The author's argument fails to address why firearms may be treated differently from cars, dogs, or children once registered.

Dereno · Answer

The question statement speaks about the registration of all different types of firearms, regardless of the type. More over, it mentions the role played by NRA ( National Rifle Association) in the perusing the members towards registration of firearms. They register all cars, dogs, birth of children’s. Yet, these registration has not created any significant problems.

The major flaw in the reasoning is :

(A) He ignores the danger to the general public posed by unregulated weapons sales.

Option A is wrong as the question statement does not speak of unregulated weapons or it sales.

(B) He ignores the potential for bureaucratic mismanagement of any such registration effort.

Option B is wrong - Potential Bureaucratic mismanagement for registration of firearms cannot be considered as a valid reason for logical flaw. As prediction of future event and its outcome is not clear.

(C) He ignores the existence of dog catchers, tow trucks, and child-welfare officers.

The existence of personnel for various sectors is not a reason for logical flaw. Hence, wrong.

(D) He ignores the differences between firearms and other items that make the former a more likely target for confiscation.

Option D is correct, as the magnitude of power unleashed through the mismanagement of weapons will lead to a serious problem. Hence, registration of firearms is different from the registration of cats, births etc.

(E) He ignores the expertise of the members of the National Rifle Association.

The expertise of NRA is never a cause of doubt or challenge as per the question stem. Hence wrong.

Option D

CareerLauncherCL · Answer

Let’s analyze the argument step by step :

Argument summary:

The author supports registering all firearms.

The NRA claims registration is the first step toward confiscation.

The author dismisses this, arguing that Americans register cars, dogs, and births, yet no one confiscates these.

Step 1: Identify the flaw

The author assumes that because registering cars, dogs, and births does not lead to confiscation, registering firearms also will not.

But firearms are  different from cars, dogs, or children  — they are weapons and thus more likely targets for confiscation if the government wanted to do so.

Step 2: Match to answer choices

A:  Talks about danger from unregulated weapons → not the flaw being targeted.

B:  Bureaucratic mismanagement → irrelevant.

C:  Mentions dog catchers, tow trucks, child-welfare officers → irrelevant.

D:  Correct: ignores differences between firearms and other items that make confiscation more plausible.

E:  NRA expertise → irrelevant.

So, the final correct answer would be:- Option (D) - He ignores the differences between firearms and other items that make the former a more likely target for confiscation.

Bunuel · Answer

Official Explanation:

D

Step 1: Identify the Question Type

“Major flaw” in the question stem indicates that we’re looking at a Flaw question.

Step 2: Untangle the Stimulus

This author concludes that contrary to what the NRA argues, confiscation of registered firearms is not likely to be a problem. The author supports this conclusion by drawing an analogy: other items that are registered (e.g., cars, dogs, children) are not likely to be confiscated, so the same can be said for firearms.

Step 3: Predict the Answer

Flaws in arguments almost always result from the author making faulty assumptions. So what’s the assumption? In an argument that proceeds by analogy, as this one does, the assumption is always that the two things being compared are sufficiently alike. That is what the author is assuming. That assumption is probably not valid, since guns are very different from cars, dogs, and babies when it comes to the likelihood of confiscation.

Step 4: Evaluate the Choices

And that’s exactly what (D) says. As for (A), unregulated weapons sales aren’t an issue in this argument, which simply attempts to prove that registration of weapons won’t lead to their confiscation. Similarly, how the registration effort proceeds, an issue introduced by (B), is not integral to the argument in any way. (C) focuses on dogs, cars, and children. Any observation about dogs, cars, and children is secondary to the major flaw, which is that the argument ignores whether they are relevant points of comparison to begin with. (E) introduces the irrelevant issue of expertise. There’s nothing here to demonstrate that the members of the NRA are experts on the issue of registration and confiscation of weapons. Choice (D) is the correct answer.

We favor the registration of all firearms, regardless of type.

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We favor the registration of all firearms, regardless of type.

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