When our nation was young the founders came together to draft a new Constitution and form a republican government. Many had come to realize that the Articles of Confederation were flawed and the founders sought to find a solution. The new Constitution was accepted by the people on the premises that a bill of rights would be put in place to insure the natural rights of the people and of the states. One of these rights is explained in the Second Amendment to the Constitution as the right to a militia and the right of the people to keep and bear arms. In recent years this right has come under scrutiny and attack from those who oppose this freedom. Attacks on the Second Amendment are a problem. Attacks on the Second Amendment are a problem because …show more content…
When war broke out and the Revolution began a number of rights that we take advantage of were striped from the colonist. Many of these rights that were attacked by the British government are listed in the Declaration of Independence. Some of these rights that were striped of the colonist are the right to a fair trial, the right to assemble, the right to protest, the right to free speech, and oddly enough the right to keep and bear arms. In fact, the Royal marines mission at the battle of Lexington and Concord was to confiscate arms that the colonists possessed. This deprivation of human rights is what the founders understood as tyranny. In many other countries around the world and throughout history one can see that before a government deprives its people of their rights the government effectively nullifies the people of the one right they have to change the direction and outcome of their government. This is the right to possess and bear arms. Many dictators such as Hitler or Stalin took the initiative to deprive their own people of arms before they committed unspeakable and horrendous acts upon the people they saw as enemies or as political opponents. Within these same countries one can see that the rights of free speech or even the right to a trial was forcefully taken. When a people is well armed and well …show more content…
When the founders wrought the constitution they intended for the people to poses the ultimate authority over the government. They believed that any form of government could become corrupt and tyrannical. When this occurred it becomes up to the people to put an end to the wrongdoing of the government. The government is reminded that the American people disagree with their gun control acts because every time they bring it up the American people set a new record on firearm purchases. Take a look at the National Rifle Association. Many people on the opposing side believe that they have too much power. What they do not seem to understand is that the NRA receives its power from the American people. People who wish to remind the government that over stepping its bounders will not be tolerated. Another way that the American people remind the government that the people hold the power is through their vote. The government understands that because of the Second Amendment that if they took the power from the people through a dictatorship or some other form of tyrannical government that they would have an uprising of well-armed angry American patriots on their
On December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights was ratified effective by Congress. These first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America promised the states certain rights and freedoms which could not be infringed by the government. After all, the founding fathers knew from experience that men in their weakness were often tempted by power. They had become all too familiar with this when under the control of King George in England. Therefore, in order to protect the future people of their beautiful country, they promised certain liberties which could not be taken away. Every single one of these freedoms is important for the United States of America. However, the second amendment is especially important to our nation because it allows the people to protect their freedom and defend themselves and the common good against an overreaching government.
1776 was the year when the USA was created, built on a charter of freedom. Resulting from their history, Americans believe that they can have such freedom because of laws and charters. They believe they are allowed to protect themselves and use weapons accordingly, as they have the right to ‘bear arms’. Extreme amounts of un-necessary violence has occurred resulting from this right. Some people who have possession of a firearm may use it not in defense but rather to kill and harm resulting in the USA having more than five times the amount of homicides by gun per capita then Canada. There seems to be unnecessary shootings in the US because of such a law which can be manipulated and used in a bad manner. When the past leaders of this country let Americans protect themselves by letting them have
The U.S. should not have gun control laws. The Second Amendment to the Constitution states that, “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” This amendment has been around since 1791, and there has been gun control almost as long as it's been around. The National Rifle Association is an advocate of the Second Amendment and an opponent of those who propose restrictions on guns. Even Presidents Reagan and Bush are members, and Nixon, Eisenhower, and Kennedy were also members. Why do people feel the need to own a handgun? One reason is heritage. For as long as this country has been around, there have been gun owners, to defend themselves and to hunt for food. Buying, owning, or carrying a handgun doesn't hurt anyone. Until a person commits a crime, he/she is free to choose what he/she wants to do. Even if guns were completely banned from the U.S.A., people would still find a way to get them. Criminals would get guns. They would have their way, and there would be nothing we could do about it. We would have no way to defend ourselves. What is gun control to you? To me, it is the unconstitutional regulation and banning of guns to try to keep the crime rates in this country down. Does it work? Some gun laws are okay and they may work to some extent, but not to the extent that was intended. As for most of these gun laws such as the Brady Law, it serves no purpose. It is only there to make our lawmaking bodies and those of us who are too naive to see the truth feel better. Do you really think that the Brady Law keeps handguns out of the hands of criminals?
The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states "a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
history with a right to bear arms. Finally one can see the conflict of views
The Second Amendment states, “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” This statement basically means that people should be able to own guns for their own security and that right should not be taken away. The Second Amendment was added to the Constitution because the creators of the Constitution wanted to make sure that it protected basic rights, including the right to bear arms. It was also added to the Constitution because shortly after it was ratified, James Madison wanted to give more power to the state militia and to give more power to the people to give them the ability to fight back against the Federalists and the tyrannical government they were creating. After fighting off the British, the Second Amendment was created to give citizens the opportunity to fight back against controlling government and protect themselves with their own weapons.
The Second Amendment to the Constitution(Second Amendment) of the United States of America(USA) is one of the most controversial. The Second Amendment specifically grants that, "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed"
we had no legally protected rights of free speech in anything like the form we
The American Constitution is sacred in that it hasn’t changed for hundreds of years, but it has come to our attention that some of the amendments are outdated. The second amendment states that everyone has a right to bear arms which sounds righteous and fair, but we live in a far different time than our fathers that wrote the Constitution did. Today, we have real problems with guns because it is so easy to obtain and so many misuse the power of such a dangerous weapon. It has always been American culture that owning a gun as a household self defense tool is considered a norm. The many cases of mass shootings made some people demand stricter regulations on gun or even ban guns completely. However, it would be illegal for the US government to ban guns, as laid down in the Constitution. It would seem “unamerican” that a man doesn’t have the right to buy a gun if he wanted to. It is also difficult to make any changes on gun laws, because of the National Rifle Association. It is an incredibly powerful organisation that represents gun owners ' rights. It is also known as one of the most influential lobbying groups in Washington. In order to lay stricter laws on guns, the government would have to go through them first. “[The NRA] have the ability to recruit and fund competitors for politicians who don’t listen to them. Lawmakers like their jobs and most try to keep them for life” (Culhane, 2015, p.2). The NRA have many wealthy members, and it is corrupted. Whenever congress tries to restrict any gun rights, the NRA will help any campaign financially to defeat them. Even though majority of the people in America want to change the gun laws, they are not as strong as the NRA. The NRA is strongly supportive of the American gun culture. Therefore, any suggestions that disadvantage gun right will be drowned to
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” is stated in the United States Constitution as the Second Amendment. Several Americans wish to rid of guns from citizens, disobeying and disrespecting the Constitution. I shot my first gun when I was young and have always been surrounded by them. My neighbor does not leave the house without carrying one, nor does my eighteen year old friend. Never once have I felt unsafe or uneasy knowing that there was a gun close to me. The right to bare arms has become a popular local battle in which some people want to reduce the freedom of one owning firearms while others wish for the
The Second Amendment states “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” As America was once dependent on England, Americans looked to England’s governmental institutions as a base on how to govern the United States. America configured the Second Amendment based off political ideologies that originated in England. In 1181, King Henry issued the Assize of Arms, stating citizens were to possess weapons at all times to secure that England citizens would be protected against foreign invasions. In England, males as young as seven were required to bear arms to ensure an extensive defense for their country; it was considered an Englishman’s obligation to his country. In addition, Militias became vital to English life, as they leveled monarchial rule...
Fresh off of their separation from Great Britain, the Founding Fathers realized they could be creating the same beast Britain had become. It was important to them that citizens should be in control of their liberties, avoiding any type of tyranny on the governments behalf. The main issue we are dealing with here is; is it safe for guns to be obtainable by seemingly any adult? The two main purposes for a firearm at the beginning of our country’s existence were protection, and hunting. The early Americans had to use their weapons against wild animal attacks, and to put food on the table for their family. At this point in our evolution as a country, guns are not as necessary as they once were. We no longer need to go hunting to put food on the table, but the right to bear arms includes protecting myself and my family. Thomas Jefferson was an advocate for the second amendment, in a letter to James Madison in 1783 he wrote, "What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance. Let them take
The second amendment states “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” The Founding Fathers included this in the Bill of Rights because they feared the Federal Government might oppress the population if the people did not have the means to defend themselves as a nation or individuals.
The topic of gun control comes with a widely spilt crowd. Some people believe that gun control is essential, especially in today’s world. Some people think gun control will help with decreasing crime and making the nation a safer place for us to live. On the other hand, there are people who speak of anti-gun control. These people believe the right to bear arms would make our nation a safe place to live due to the fact that we would have protection. Do you think the Government has the right to make something illegal like the right to bear arm? In my opinion, the Government cannot simply because it will be an offence to our founding fathers, who gave us the national right to bear arm. Also, for making
Does the Second Amendment protect the right of individuals to keep and bear arms? There are many modern debates but one that seems to be the top topic is about being about the Second Amendment. The right to bear arms was given to Americans by the founding fathers in 1791. This led to the right to bear arms being one of the first amendments to construct the bill of rights. The second amendment has recently became the hot topic for debate. The question now, however, was apparently never even discussed for a long time after the Bill of Rights was enclosed. The debate has recently shifted only because of consecutive developments in the Constitution and in constitutional law.