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.” What does the second amendment to the Constitution to the United States really mean? Does every citizen have the right to own a gun? Should there be limitations on who can possess a gun? Gun right advocates believe they have the right to possess a gun without restrictions. Gun Control advocates on the other hand support more limitations on the accessibility of guns and also want to ban certain types of guns. They argue that the more guns there are the more crime there will be. Is either one of these arguments justified? Which party is right in their interpretation of the second amendment? …show more content…
Self-defense is the most common reason for owning a gun. Research has shown that a gun kept within a house is 43 times more likely to kill a member of the family, a friend, and rather then an intruder. Dr. Arthur Kellermann and Dr. Donald Reay published this following information in The New England Journal of Medicine: “A study of 743 gunshot deaths found that 84 percent of these homicides occurred during altercations in the home. Only two of these 743 gunshot deaths occurring in the home involved an intruder killed during an attempted entry, and only nine of these deaths were determined by police/courts to be justified” (Jason 2002). Approximately eleven percent of gun owners and about thirteen percent of handgun owners use their firearms for protection (Gun Control 2002).
Guns were a major cause of accidents. In 1995, firearms were responsible for 1.5 % or 1,400 fatal accidents. They were responsible for 2.7% or 181 of accidents that involved children under 14. There were 259 fatal firearm accidents for teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19 (Gun control 2002). Dr. Roth, a research director in Bethesda Maryland, says “ In short, people are not always thinking rationally, and when there is a gun around, it is easier for an irrational person to do greater damage” (Jason 2002).
Guns are used as the primary weapon
According to James Madison in his Federalist Papers, “Americans have the right and advantage of being armed – unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms,” (Raymond). Madison may be correct about Americans having more rights than many other countries, but sometimes the government has too much trust in the American people. Taking away all privately owned guns is not the answer, because doing so would consequentially create a communist state. Instead, the best solution is to control who buys guns and for what purpose. There are over 283 million licensed guns in the U.S. (Herbert p1), which does not include the unregistered and illegal guns people own, buy, and sell from the underground
A shooting here; a shooting there; an every day occurrence heard in the newspapers and on the news channels on television. New media are reporting a shooting somewhere. Whether the shootings are accidental or intentional; they are happening across the United States. Nevertheless, in today’s society, gun violence is sparking debate and controversy on how to control gun violence. Throughout the country, thousands of laws and regulations have been created to aid in the control of guns. Through much study, the gun laws and regulations in place have very little effect on the number of gun related injuries and deaths. More needs to be done to establish an effective way to control gun violence.
There are gun control laws to try and reduce the number of violent shootings that occur. They are trying to put limits on weapons that Americans can own. The government is trying to take our guns away mainly because of people that are criminally insane. Most of the people who commit crimes don’t even have the weapons legally. If the government takes away the rights of people who are allowed to have firearms in their possession, it will most definitely cause an outrage. Most people believe that the people should be more capable of maintain proper use of the firearms instead of having them all taken away. Taking the firearms from Americans away would cause a lot more problems than there actually are. The people will be upset with the
Gun control has become more of a hot topic in recent years. Some believe that there is no need for additional gun control. On the other hand, we have some that believe that the government can improve gun laws. Although many believe that gun control will violate their rights, the idea of stricter gun control laws can help communities.
When looking at all of the important issues of today’s society, one of the most neglected issues revolves around guns. Guns serve two different purposes: to defend and to kill. Even though I’ve been on this Earth for only 21 years, I’ve become keen and have taken an interest in the study of guns and how they pose more problems in society than any other issue. My interest all started around the time of the Columbine shooting in Colorado and how society has taken steps since that point in history. Going back to the two different purposes, both have been used to help explain the differences in the distinctions of different gun related events that continue to occur, such as mass shootings. Problem analysis, as stated, will help to explain how
President obama said at a press conference on October 01, 2015 “The solution to such violence is obvious. It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun.” (Simple Minded Gun Control). Gun control is a controversial issue worldwide. The reason why this has attracted so much attention is because not everyone is in favor of gun control and each side brings up excellent points about the issue. Research related to this issue strongly supports the claim that there SHOULD be more gun control laws. Three arguments that prove this position are (1) Incidents like Sandy Hook will be less likely to occur (2) It reduces the high rates of accidental deaths (3) As the years pass by and technology updates the laws should be up to date as well. Members from the National Rifles Association state that No law-abiding American should be forced to face evil with empty hands. I say I agree with President Obama there SHOULD be more gun control laws because it should not be as easy as it is for someone who wants to inflict harm on others to get their hands on a weapon.
News is all around us and is readily available to everyone. There are many flaws in the system that hurts the authenticity of the news when you see it. The media is indirectly part of the political system. Most news is either considered liberal or conservative by many.
Gun control in the United States has been a controversial issue for some time now. So much so that the Supreme Court even refuses to address this issue directly. Gun control really boils down to the the Second Amendment of the Constitution. Many people have different interpretations of the Second Amendment and the trenches are dug in deep on this issue. The Second Amendment can not provide the right to bear all types of arms to protect the people from governmental tyranny. If the Second Amendment was absolute, then we would allow the public to possess nuclear weapons, missiles, and other such arms, because like the 9 mm handgun that is an arm, a nuclear warhead is also a type of arm. The more our government restricts our rights to own
C. Thesis Statement (position on topic – preview main ideas – outline of speech); A Pew Foundation report found that 79% of male gun owners and 80% of female gun owners said owning a gun made them feel safer, and 64% of people living in a home in which someone else owns a gun felt safer.The Centers for Disease Control listed firearms as the #12 cause of all deaths between 1999 and 2013, representing 1.3% of total deaths. They were also the #1 method of death by homicide (66.6% of all homicides) and by suicide (52.2% of all suicides).
What is the Second Amendment of the Constitution? The Second Amendment is, “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” (Arnold 481). What this translates over to is that people should be able to own guns and keep them their household. For some time now there has been an enormous controversy over this amendment and whether it should still be implemented. People need guns for safety or for if the police can not respond right away. There are many reasons why you should own a gun and there are many solutions to solving the problems of owning guns.
Guns have been the weapon of choice for some of the most brutal massacres on America soil. Since early history guns have been used mainly for militia and defense purposes. But, the development of new gun technology has made firearms more accessible and deadly. Although the second amendment gives the right to bear arms, guns should be controlled and monitored by the government because guns have contributed to a lot of killings in America and will increase crime rates.
Gun control has become an increasingly controversial topic in the nation due to the continuous debates relating to gun control and whether or not laws should be passed to make it harder for guns to be obtained. Guns serve for a variety of purposes that range from good to bad. Guns are not for everyone. Some individuals cannot handle guns properly, and some choose to use guns inappropriately. Lately, guns have become more of a problem in our society. There has been an increasing amount of shootings that have taken many lives and have wounded people emotionally, not just physically. Although guns are used for protection, firearms are reportedly used more in crimes. More and more shootings are breaking out across the nation. As a result, the
Guns do not kill people, people do. The American Dream is being able to work towards and achieve whatever makes you happy, whether it be owning your own business, joining the military, or staying at home raising a family, but the only way to reach your dream is to do it without living in fear that your dream will be taken away. In the last couple years mass shootings and attacks on schools have sadly become a common tragedy. Those who have been victims of public shootings or any other life scarring event due to a criminal, along with anyone else who has watched the coverage of the tragedies on the news is somewhat living in fear, but if concealed carry laws were passed then living in fear would be significantly lowered along with crime
According to James Madison in his Federalist Papers, “Americans have the right and advantage of being armed – unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms,” (Raymond). Madison may be correct about Americans having more rights than many other countries, but sometimes the government has too much trust in the American people. Taking away all privately owned guns does not solve anything because doing so would consequentially create a communist state. Instead, the best solution is to control who buys guns and for what purpose. There are over 283 million licensed guns in the U.S. (Herbert 1), which does not include the unregistered and illegal guns people own, buy, and sell from the
Living a life in America, we all get to have all the rights that included in the Constitution. One of those was the Second Amendment which is the rights to bear arm, the purpose was to protect ourselves from danger but nowadays a lot of people have take advantage of it and use it in the wrong way. I believe our government need to have a strict limit on guns possession.