America is the most well armed nation in the world, with American citizens owning about 270 million of the world’s 875 million firearms (Marshall). Indeed, this is more than a quarter of the world’s registered firearms. The reason why Americans own so many guns is because of the Second Amendment, which 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.” (Rauch) This amendment guarantees U.S. citizens the right to have firearms. Since this amendment is relatively vague, it is up for interpretation, and is often used by gun advocates to argue for lenient gun laws. Hence, gun control is a frequently discussed controversial topic in …show more content…
Unlike the colonists of the 1700's, the modern citizen simply has no need for firearms. During the Revolutionary War period, colonists viewed the right to bear arms as a natural right, and rightfully so. They faced legitimate dangers such as a tyrannical British rule, Native Americans, and wild animals. Hence, the Founding Fathers included in the Constitution the right to own firearms in 1791 (Brown). The colonists needed firearms to actively defend themselves against these dangers and eventually overthrow their British oppressors. Furthermore, it made sense for colonists to be armed because the colonial militias were composed of volunteer minutemen. These soldiers had to be quick to act and transform from a civilian to a soldier within minutes, which is where the term originates. Interestingly, immediately after the British were defeated by the colonists, we see an immediate abuse of the right to bear arms in Shay's Rebellion, where an unruly group of farmers in economic crisis tried to hijack a militia armory (Shay’s Rebellion). Shay's Rebellion is evidence that the right to bear arms is not always a good idea, especially during times of peace without clear and present dangers. In relation to modern times, there is no justifiable reason to possess arms; we do not face dangers such as a tyrannical oppressor, Native Americans, or wild animals. We live in arguably one of the safest
Despite the fact that the Anti-Federalists’ position looking into firearm privileges might have been more welcomed to the American perspective, their interpretation of the right to keep and bear arms exposed the new country to hazard. The Federalist’s idea of a standing army regulated by the Government would the more appropriate to a new country. If the right to bear arms would be restricted and given just to whom the Government authorized and trained the radicalism through arm use would be avoided, the population would not be exposed to a hazard society in which everyone who could afford could have and use arms. And the Government would have a better control on gun issues and their owners, what would help to the prosperity and safety of the
The right to bear arms is a birth given right to all Americans by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Second Amendment has become controversial recently due to the technological advancement of firearms. Modern firearms are capable of both high rates of fire and greater capacities of ammunition, unlike the single shot muskets that were available at the time of the Second Amendment’s conception. American liberals view these improvements in firearms as dangerous and unnecessary. However, no matter how dangerous firearms may be, the Second Amendment is a necessity for one factor alone: protection from one’s own government and it must be upheld. The Second Amendment provides a physical tool for Americans to defend themselves against a tyrannical government, it allows Americans to form militias against a tyrannical government, and it allows Americans to maintain comparable firearms of the U.S. government in order to prevent the potential loss of American freedoms in the future.
From the start of the colonist’s settlement, they used guns for protection and survival. England attempted to seize and take away their guns, they were acting like tyrants. For example, according to document 4 a young Englishman visited and thought that the colonies were in chaos. He believed that the colonists were overreacting and that they were acting as if the king was going to make them into slaves. However, document 7 states that “The Declaration of Independence” was a call to war that explained that the British were Tyrants who influenced the colonists to go to war. If the colonies were given guns when they first came to the unknown land, then the colonists should be able to keep their guns instead of England imposing tyranny. Therefore, document 4 claims that the colonies were overreacting and were in chaos, document 7 maintains that the British were inflicting tyranny on the colonies and that was the calling for war. Because of the authority that was put on the colonists the colonists had to respond back with
(Lott 12) in the United States there are 80,000 to 82,000 defensive uses of guns during assaults, robberies and household burglaries. Out of the 1,000,000 times guns are used for defensive reasons in the world 400,000 of theses cases have saved lives or prevented lives from being taken. (Lott 2) The use of guns by law-abiding citizens may create a positive externality for others. Therefore, when a person is going to commit a unlawful act on someone they might be reluctant because they have no way of telling if they are carrying a weapon or not. Our country is very restrictive when granting the public to own or carry guns. Therefore, our government came up with the "Shall Issue" law, which prevents anyone to own, or posses guns that have a record of criminal injustices or a record of mental illness.
In the beginning our forefathers knew that without arms there could be no long lasting liberty or freedom. “The English republican views on the relationship between arms and democracy profoundly influenced the
In the 1700’s the founding fathers created the Constitution. The 2nd Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: "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." Today guns are a lot different than in the 1700’s. Back then they didn’t have mini Uzi’s and AK-47’s. They had simple muskets.
Anti-Federalists, as proponents of states’ rights asserted on a dissent that no law should be passed for disarming the people, unless for crimes committed, or real danger of public injury from individuals. One Federalist in response to the opposition asserted that “no nation could survive without an effective military, and that there was little danger to be apprehended from such a force when it was controlled by the government in which the people enjoyed full representation” (Cornell 45). Hence, the vast exposure of arms and the easiness to obtain them was jeopardy to the liberty and the safety of the new country. Once people had the right to bear and keep arms for self-defense, they were willing to fight for what they believed and their rights using arms if necessary. For example, the Whiskey Rebellion, a riot caused by the taxes imposed on whiskey and affected farmers from Pennsylvania and Kentucky, was a radical response that the population adhered against the government because they felt that that was their right. A group of farmers decided to oppose the tax imposed on whiskey by force of arms. It stopped being a simple protest and became an armed riot. An armed population out of the control of the government is a Hazard. This idea came up because they were able to possess arms and use them if
To add to the list, us Americans have had the right to have firearms since the birth of our country. Our founding fathers made it in the second amendment saying we could have firearms. Also at one point the first president of the united States George Washington made it so if you were 16 to 60 a male, and able for the military you had to have a firearm. However some people
Guns became available for purchase to the common civilian after the Bill of Rights came into existence. The Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights, passed by the Congress on September 25, 1789, states that people of this country have the right to own arms and that this right cannot be infringed by anyone. According to an interpretation of the Second Amendment, “Many in the Founding generation believed that governments are prone to use soldiers to oppress the people” (Lund), which suggests that the one of the reasons behind forming a provision for people to bear arms was to safeguard the people if there was ever a chance of federal oppression on them, a lesson America learned with their encounter with the English in the past. To support this, in 1871, The National Rifle Association was formed with the objective to help improve the American civilians’ marksmanship in preparation for war (National Rifle Association). From the very beginning, guns were meant to be a form of protection, whether it was from the fear of a federal oppression or fear of a revolution. In this context I see guns as a means to surviving, something that people of that past would’ve used only under dire consequences. But some well known facts would suggest otherwise.
Second, from the beginning of our country’s creation we’ve had the right to bear arms as our second amendment. This right was so important that the founders felt that it was necessary enough to put in the bill of rights. The U.S. Court
Guns have been undeniably a part of most American lives. " The Bill of Rights pronounces a well-regulated militia is necessary to produce a free state in which the people
Patrick J. Charles, a former legal analyst, presents an illustration from eighteenth century England, Thomas Erle, a former general, brought to the attention of the Parliament that “every substantial householder in any town or city should be provided with a good musket in case of invasion”. Other beliefs of the people in this era were that firearms were for the purpose of suitable protection, which both gun rights and gun control advocates are in support of.
The main reason for the focus on the aim of the amendment as argued above, was from the fact possession of firearms by the population may pose a challenge to the army in place. This he quotes the arguments of Noah Webster that for an army to rule adequately the people must be disarmed. He also referred to George Mason’s remarks that during the colonial period British focused on disarming their subjects in order to be able to easily exploit them. On the same note, Tench Coxe says that empowering the masses to check on the army may encourage adoption of absolute powers.
The uses of Firearms by civilians are very dangerous, and its history needs to be studied. Many wars and accidents in civic life made many countries prohibit keeping guns and firearms by individuals, but there are some other countries that continue to keep guns, such as the United States and the United Kingdom. I will focus on the gun culture in the United Kingdom from 1689 to 1997. Because the Unite King start allowing individual keeping guns by Bill of Rights in 1689, the 1689 Bill of Right guaranteed British subject certain rights. People consider that it was a manifestation of their right and freedom, but after some guns accidents that made citizen scare, they change their constitution in 1997. After 1997, the Unite Kingdom enacted
In our country today, there are so many violent crimes involving the use of firearm. However, with the declaration of in September 1947, there was a mark decline in violent crimes. The first year of military rule revealed that crimes involving firearms could be relatively deterred. A great number of unlicensed and unregistered firearms owned by so many irresponsible individuals were surrendered.