"How the Gun-Rights Lobby Won After Newtown." PBS. PBS, 10 Dec. 2013. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.
The right to bear arms protects “The Individual” rights from owing a firearm. The modern federal government easily accepted the 2nd Amendment with a widespread agreement that power of the federal government to infringe the Amendment that gives people the right to bear arms. If the government should not have the power to abbreviate from the free right to exercise of religion, than the government should not have the power to abridge the 2nd Amendment right (Lund & Winkler, n.d.). Over the past century, many restriction were supported to prevent criminal from possessing firearms as the law also limits the law-abiding people who respect the law also known as “Honest
The issue of gun control has always been a hot topic among the American public. Most everyone, if asked, will tell you that gun control is an issue needed to be dealt with because of the event that took place at Columbine High School back on April 20th, 1999. The American public has been wrestling with gun control long before then. If we take a look back at August 1st, 1966 at the University of Texas, a man armed with a hunting rifle committed one of the most violent mass murders in history. Gun control refers to the Government placing restrictions on the American public to buy, own and sell firearms. If we read the constitution, our second amendment right is the right to bear arms. This has been the ongoing controversy of this issue. We the people say our constitutional right to buy and own firearms is being seized from us. The government is using our society’s violent incidents as cover to place restrictions and bans on firearms. This essay’s purpose is to provide proof that buying and owning firearms is our legal constitutional right and that our government is trying to attack the wrong angle when trying to fight crime involving guns in the United States.
Those parties in favor of gun ownership and the freedom to use and keep weapons, rely on the fact that the facility for such rights is preserved in the constitution. In this climate of growing violence, common with chaos and crime, gun activists feel more than ever that their position is justified. As citizens of the “Land of the Free” owning a gun is an
The right to bear arms has been an important conversation in America for decades. As of recent tragedies such as the Sandy Hook shooting and the Aurora Colorado Theater shooting, the debate is more heated than ever. From large-scale massacres to single fatality shootings, gun violence is unwarranted and heartbreaking. However, the Second Amendment protects individual citizens’ right to own firearms: “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,” it states (Bill of Rights). Although this part of the Bill of Rights has not been changed in United States’ history, some citizens argue that, because the Constitution is a working document, this should be adapted to fit current needs and protect communities. Citizens who wish tip the scale in favor of the community’s protection argue that guns are dangerous, easy to access, popular weapons that allow disgruntled or mentally unstable citizens to “inflict mass causalities” and were originally only intended for use in a militia (Joe Messerli). On the other hand, those who wish to benefit civilians argue that taking away guns restrains individual liberty and that gun control would prove futile because criminals would find ways such as the black market to obtain guns, weapons can serve as self-defense prevent crimes, and reasonable restrictions would be more effective than an outright ban (Joe Messerli). Both arguments have valid, well developed ideas, and both sides tend to be passionate in debate.
Throughout the course of history, the gun control debate has been an issue that has been dealt with since the age of the colonial Americans and it is also being disputed today. The US currently holds over 200 million guns and has weaker gun laws in comparison to other developed nations, mostly because the Supreme Court has advocated gun control rights. Not many actions were taken until numerous gun shootings and incidents revolving around guns have occurred. These incidents have aroused a pleading to pass gun control laws, but the Supreme Court is against passing of the laws. Although the Supreme Court considers it unnecessary to have them, recent tragedies and past instances clearly support the implication of gun control laws.
The 2nd amendment “The Right to Bear Arms” has not been brought up to date in over 200 hundred years and it is time that we make the necessary adjustments. Handguns and assault weapons are to blame for many mass killings in America. Each year, more than 30,000 people die in the United States in firearm-related incidents. Handguns and semi automatic weapons have been used in these massacres. The choice of rules such as exercising the right to further background checks and limit the availability of automatic weapons should be the first and foremost concern of both federal and state legislators.
There is an American consensus for some form of gun control. “…[F]irearms were involved in two-thirds of all murders in the United States and [t]he United States leads the world's richest nations in gun deaths…murders, suicides, and accidental deaths due to guns - according to a study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the International Journal of Epidemiology” (Lepore). There might be some far extreme people who think that all guns should be banned but most sane Americans do not think that gun rights should be abolished. Americans regard self-defense as the most compelling reason to have a gun and twenty-two percent of households have handguns in the United States. However many people do think that gun control laws must be enacted and enforced. Pro-gun extremists and the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) must understand that there is a real for many people at the uncontrolled s...
Multiple mass shootings such in Aurora, Colorado, Roseburg, Oregon and Newport, Connecticut has sparked massive gun control disagreement. The media has influenced two point of views regarding this topic. One side argues that increasing gun control decreases casualties of mass shootings, while the other side claims decreasing gun control increases self-defense. In a US News article by Susan Milligan, she argues that “although gun control does not stop criminal activity, it decreases accidental deaths and suicide”, thus saving lives. LA Times writer and social policy professor, James Wilson claims gun control does not solve gun violence and makes it harder for law-abiding citizens to defend themselves. Both authors use language to convince the
"Newtown Conspiracy Theory; Gun Control Debate." Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees. 12 Jan. 2013. Gale Power Search. Web. 3 Apr. 2014. .
Talbot, David. "The Assassination: Was It a Conspiracy?: Yes." Time. 169 (7/2/2007): n. page. Print.
On December Fourteen 2012 Adam Lanza allegedly drove to Sandy Hook Elementary, his old elementary school, and shot and killed twenty-six students and faculty, then turned the gun on himself before apprehension by police. The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary was a tragic event, it’s hard not to sympathize with the families of those killed. There is a movement, however, that claims the shooting was fake (Spaeth). IT’s believed the shooting was staged in order to pave the way for stricter gun control (Salazar). Conspiracy theorists, calling themselves Truthers, have provided evidence to support their claims numerous times in attempts to convince the general population.
Blackman, Josh, and Ilya Shapiro. "Keeping Pandora’s Box Sealed: Privileges or Immunities,The Constitution in 2020, and Properly Extending The Right to Keep and Bear Arms To The States." Cato Institute. 8:1 (2010): 1-90. Rpt. in CATO Organization. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. .
With the recent increase in gun-related tragedies, politicians have adjusted their stumping to address America's gun laws. Taking a strong position on the gun laws is understandable, as a majority of the American people find themselves on one side of a political dichotomy; the two sides of which seek either to preserve the current gun laws, or to restrict the American people's right to bear arms. The answer to the current hysteria surrounding gun laws lies not on the side of restriction, but on the side of preservation.
The gun control debate has been in the news a lot lately. Their are two clear sides to the debate. One side states that they don’t want their second amendment rights taken away. While the other side sees guns as dangerous and wants reforms set in place so that certain people can’t have access to them. Some are against reform that, “private citizens who own guns are constantly told by gun-control advocates that only fully trained government agents should be allowed to possess and use guns” (Krey 41). The pro gun reform advocates see this because of the number of shootings that have happened in the past years. They also attribute our violent culture to one of the reasons the shooting rates have gun up. The pro gun reform advocates have used different outlets throughout the media to get their message out and try to start a movement, in which they are trying to get the public to have the same view point as them. This goes for the pro gun reform and anti gun reform groups. The media has a huge impact on how the public views gun ownership through their coverage.