History Of Gun Control In The United States

Guns have been in the government system even before the United States has been a country. But guns have been used for misconduct in the past twenty years due to school shootings public shootings and other killings due to guns. There has been a lot of commotion of how guns are supposed to be handled ever since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. One reason guns are being part of why gun control is being debated are scenarios that require mass shootings in both schools and public places. Major school shootings such as Columbine High School Shooting in 1999, Virginia Tech Massacre in 2007, and Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012, and major public shootings such as the Tucson Shooting in 2011 and the Aurora Movie Theater Shooting in 2012 became large factors on what should be done to limiting guns use. But since the Second Amendment does say that the US citizens have a “right to bare arms”, it’s harder to put a restraint on what people in the National and State Governments can do. Since the United States has the most gun ownerships per capita (almost ninety out of a hundred people own some kind of gun), it has the most violence coming from the different uses and interpretations on how guns are supposed to work. Guns in the United States tend to go hand in hand when it comes to violence and homicide. The Federal Government’s role is very poor in what should be done. There are not a lot of “federal laws” that

“The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” A gun license grants a user the right to own and use a firearm. Gun-right supporters strongly oppose federally mandated licensing or registration. They see both as dangerous steps toward revoking Second Amendment rights. They say that with mandated licensing or registration, a right guaranteed by the Constitution becomes a privilege granted by the government (Doeden). The topic of gun control/rights in the United States has a long history, which some see as unconstitutional, and could easily be relaxed by requiring background checks.

Gun control is a frequently debated topic in the United States. It is often defined as any sort of law or regulation that restricts or forbids the use, the sale, or ownership of a firearm. People argue that because the constitution allows citizens the right to bear arms, that citizens should be allowed to carry weapons, however, this is often taken out of context. The Second Amendment says that citizens have the right to bear arms in an organized militia, “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” (US Const. amend. II, section 8). Over the last few years, there have been many events that sparked additional debate about gun control. Numerous school shootings demonstrate that weapons need to be regulated and controlled.

Gun control in the United States is a controversy that is talked about every single day. The topic of gun control tracks back from when the second amendment was created. Since 1791 when the second amendment was instituted, individuals of the United States have had no issue with it until the 20th century. When people started speaking about open carry and talking about which kinds of guns were allowed to be bought and registered for civilian usage. Questions ranging from why it was necessary for a civilian to carry an AR-15, was controversial because people thought that there was no reason for someone to carry that unless you were in the military and have a thorough background check.

The topic of gun control was ignited by the misuse of firearms by criminals during the early 1900's and in response the federal government felt obligated to control the spread of weapons into the general population. The first federal gun-control legislation was the National Firearms Act (NFA) which encompasses two specific types of guns: machine guns/short-barrel firearms, it is important to note that handguns were included into the original draft, but was removed at the last moment. This statute charged $200 dollars which represented a very large amount of money back in 1934 and directly taxed Americans on their constitutional right. Legislation that has enacted more gun control measures does exactly what it is designed to do: keep guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens (Kehoe). As citizens we should fight to preserve our constitutional right and free ourselves from the notion that inanimate objects dictate human behavior.

Gun control has been an extremely controversial issue in the United States, and even the world for decades. The issue resurfaces every time there is a mass shooting or some other form of violence that involves guns. Texas recently passed a new law that allows open carry in, creating even more controversy than before. Additionally, the nation remains split on the issue of guns and if there should be stricter or more lenient gun laws to lessen the rate of gun crimes.

The shootings that has happened throughout the Unites States has created a great divide among Americans on what should our nation do to prevent further shootings from happening. Many people believe that forcing new laws on how people purchase weapons should require background checks. Gun Control in the United States of America is a topic that has had lots of criticism and support by many citizens. The critical people of this topic believe that the guns do not kill people, it is the people that kill people. The supporters of this topic believe that guns lead to violence and a feeling of power over others. They also believe that if guns were eliminated from the public, then violence and death would decrease heavily in this country. These two opposing views leave the federal government open to a decision on whether or not to abolish one of our Constitutional rights, or to keep allowing people the right to own a gun. There are many issues that need to be looked at in order to decide which laws are necessary.

The segment of American politics know as gun control came about in the 20th century with the passing of the National Firearms Act (NFA) in 1934. Congress passed this act in response to Prohibition-era gangs and the extreme violence that they caused. With the passage of the NFA the federal government set into motion the beginning of gun politics in America. The history of modern gun control has been fiercely fought in and out of the courts by parties on both sides of the issue with several key court rulings. Gun control politics is primarily made up of two sides with several groups on both sides. On the one side you have gun rights activists and the other you have the gun control activists.

In the United States, gun control laws are one of the most controversial debates currently. Regularly, there are arguments and outbreaks caused by this topic. Some people believe that gun laws should not be as strict as they are, while others believe that gun laws need to be more strict. A popular argument against more strict gun laws is that guns don’t kill people, people kill people (prospect.org). As this argument is valid, I strongly disagree with it. It is true that a gun can’t kill a person on it’s own, but the person doing the harm got their hands on a gun, slipping through the law. The fact that multiple people in a negative mental state gets their hands on a gun is unacceptable. People are getting injured constantly due to a firearm getting into the wrong hands. Gun laws need to prevent the possibility of guns getting into the wrong hands, rules need to be increased and gun control needs to become more secure.

“In 1939, Germany established gun control. From 1939 to 1945, six million Jews and seven million others unable to defend themselves were exterminated.” Joe Wurzelbacher. The history of gun control legislation started in the 1920s-1930, which made it so that the states and congress could make laws on guns, before this congress had no say on guns and this made it possible for them to create laws. The National Firearm Act of 1934 made it so that owners must register any sawed-off shotguns with the Treasury department and it also levied a $200 tax on the manufacturing or sale of machine guns. Then, just four years later they passed the National Firearms Act of 1938 requiring interstate gun dealers to be licensed and to record sales; this

Where did gun control begin? The efforts to do something about guns began as far back as 1968. According to AICGS (the American Institution for German Studies at John Hopkins University), efforts began with The Gun Control Act of 1968, which granted the federal, state, and local law enforcement officials powers to regulate gun control, in the effort to fight crime. This act made it illegal for any licensee to sell or deliver firearms or ammunition to, any individual they have a reasonable cause to believe is less than the age of eighteen; as well as, for the licensee to sell any firearm, that is not a shotgun or a rifle, to any individual under the age of twenty-one. Just like every other law or act, it comes with a couple of exceptions, including:

Gun culture is considered a part of American lifestyle since independence. People use and carry guns in everyday life for many purposes i.e. hunting, self-defense, sport etc. (Carter)

The United States created the second Amendment in order to ensure a well-kept militia for the states to protect their own interests against a possibly tyrannical federal government. Today, the vast modernization of society, and especially weaponry, has called into question the way in which the Second Amendment should be interpreted in creating policy. Many claim the gun control debate began after the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 due to a sparked public interest in the relative control and safety of guns in America. Prior to 1968, most guns and ammunition in the United States were sold over the counter or by mail order and gun control was essentially unregulated. The first major gun control effort in the United States was in 1837 when the state of Georgia banned handguns. This decision was quickly ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, which set a judicial precedent for a lack of government interference in the regulation of firearms (Longley). The long historical lack of gun control measures by the United States encouraged a large economy and manufacturing of weaponry in the United States. Lack of firearm regulation and increased weaponry production led the United States to become number one in the world in most guns per capita, averaging about 88.8 guns for every hundred people. A historical emphasis on protecting individual rights under the Second Amendment, and easy access to guns was emphasized in policy through gun

While gun control seems to be a relatively recent concept, it has been around for hundreds of years. Gun control in America began when the British made gun ownership illegal in 1744 for slaves, servants, Native Americans. They also confiscated everybody’s gun powder and firearms through whatever force necessary. It wouldn’t be until a couple hundred years later that Americans passed their own gun control laws. The first law that was passed was named the “Gun Control Act of 1968”. According to ATF.org,

What is gun control? Gun control is the government controlling what a person can and cannot do with their guns. In the United States there is about 200,000,000 guns, which is about as many people as there is in the country (Carter). If a person is deprived of all their gun privileges, crime would be at a major high, because people wouldn’t be able to defend themselves from others. If someone robs a person’s house in the middle of the night, many people would prefer a gun to defend themselves than whatever is closest, like an umbrella. People do not fully understand guns, or what gun control actually is; therefore people have to understand or society could be in trouble. Guns should be controlled but not to the extent that the government