Yet there is even more to the story, since the very founding of the United States of America, the United States has banned African Americans and minority’s from possessing firearms. Throughout most of American history, gun control was openly stated as a method for keeping African Americans, Hispanics, and other minorities "in their place.” This was so that whites could feel safe. In the United States with the fear of “blacks” owning guns they created statues that were designed for blacks only. This was to keep them in line and prevent them from revolting. “In Maryland, these prohibitions went so far as to prohibit free blacks from owning dogs without a license, and authorizing any white to kill an unlicensed dog owned by a free black, for fear that blacks would use dogs as weapons. Mississippi went further, and prohibited any ownership of a dog by a black person” (Wilson, 2016). Laws such as the black codes passed in 1865-66 which counteracted the 2nd amendment showed the fear many whites had especially in the south had towards blacks. These laws were designed to prevent African Americans from carrying guns to sustain control over them. These were former slaves that were know free and had just the right as any to own a gun, yet they were barred yet again due to them not being white. This continued into the civil rights era and in fact got worse, the system did not allow African Americans to even posses them.
States like California passed legislation to strip away gun rights from organizations. Groups such as the Black Panthers that are considered a terrorist organization were protecting themselves and other African Americans from the system that didn’t even want them to possess firearms because they were perceived as a threat to the white majority. Law makers didn’t want these types of groups or groups from any other minority from possessing guns that could go against the police or even them. Organization such as the Black Panthers were involved in cop watching to protect their community’s form the racist acts and violence that cops were committing in their community’s. States and congress eventually targeted small hand guns and guns used in crime or used by minorities. Ronald Regan the Governor at the time
The earliest forms of gun control in America had barred the sale of guns to Indians, African Americans, Catholic, and indentured servants. Now the anti gun movement uses these early forms of gun control to justify their actions against guns, but the early forms of gun control had targeted groups and ethnic minorities of people who being oppressed because they didn't want those groups to rise up against their racist and oppressive system. Spitzer, Robert J. “Five Myths about Gun Control.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 21 Dec. 2012. Even after the colonial period in America gun control such as the black codes were used to suppress African Americans right to bear arms and it also left them defenseless to the terror that was being imposed on them by white supremacist groups and corrupt local governments.
The gun control debates and issues started hundreds of years ago. First, in 1873 the State of Georgia passed a law to ban handguns and this law was thrown out, because it was ruled unconstitutional. Second, in 1865 several Southern States forbid Black people from possessing firearms in what was named at that time the “Black Code.” In 1871 the biggest movement in Gun Control in the United States happened when the National Rifle Association was established with a goal to train Union Soldiers for better rifle skills, until the State of New York banned the activities of NRA on NY State soil. (http://definitions.uslegal.com/g/gun-control/) US Legal Definitions.
Likewise, former President of the National Rifle Association David Keene said, “You know, when you go back in our history … the initial wave of [gun-control laws] was instituted after the Civil War to deny blacks the ability to defend themselves”.
Gun violence has risen in America tremendously. According to the White House.com, Over the past decade in America, more than 100,000 people have been killed because of gun violence and millions more have been the victim of assaults, robberies, and other crimes involving a gun. (Office of the Press Secretary). The most recent case where a gun was used to carry out an act of violence was the Las Vegas shooting that took place on October 1st,2017. During a concert, perpetrator Stephen Paddock opened fire on to the crowd: 58 fatalities, leaving 546 injured, and then turning the gun on himself. This is only one of the many mass shootings that has risen the call for gun control. On The other hand, Citizens continue to fight for their right to
Fears developed from historical events in the United States feed the ideas presented in David Frum’s, America’s gun problem is not a race problem, and John Blake’s, Does race shape Americans’ passion for guns? The “first gun control laws in the 19th century were rooted in racism” after the emancipation of slaves (Blake). Many whites of the 19th and 20th centuries found blacks to be a threat to society after they were freed and began to gain more rights; whites sought to guns as a mean of protection as some believed blacks could seek “revenge” from oppression. Laws and the process to owning a gun were then created to hinder blacks from owning a gun. The information from
Throughout American history, gun control laws were set up to keep the blacks from owning one (Winkler 2011). After the Civil War, the North began changing this. All of the North soldiers who served in the Civil War were allowed to keep and take their firearms home with them. Quickly, the South adopted the Black Codes. The Black Codes were basically codes laws that stated blacks could not possess firearms (Winkler 2011). Being that times were changing, many riots emerged. A rebellious group known as the "Black Panthers," began fighting for their rights. Riots and the assassination of two very important historical figures known as Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy caused the congress to pass the
Japan, June 8, 2001, 10:15 in the morning at Ikeda Elementary School. Thirty-Seven year-old former janitor Mamoru Takuma entered the school with a kitchen knife and began stabbing numerous school children and teachers. “It lasted just 10 terrifying minutes, during which the intruder killed eight children, injured 15 other pupils and two teachers and further eroded Japan's confidence that it is immune to the violence that it associates with the U.S.” (Tim Larimer) This proves that people wouldn’t need a firearm to create chaos. Japan is one of the strictest countries about firearms. No one is allowed to own a rifle or assault rifle. The Japanese community is allowed only to own shotguns and air rifles, but the process to own one of these is a very long and hard process to finish. What this has to do with America is to give an example that you wouldn't need a firearm to create chaos bringing up the controversy about gun control. Because so many U.S.
The right to own a gun has evolved over the years. Owning a gun is not just about possessing it, it’s about knowing you can protect yourself. Every person has the right to
Though some regulation for firearms are absolutely necessary, it would be imbecilic to say that firearms should be more regulated as if they were a privilege instead of a natural right. Gun control is a term that calls for the control and regulation of firearms owned by individual people. The often justifications for gun control by legislators who support it, is that guns are inherently bad in nature and that society should limit them as much as possible. However the issue is not the weapon being used, it is the individual who is using the weapon to begin with. Therefore it is for this reason in particular that gun control should not be as proposed by most left wing legislation.
Gun control in the United States all started with the N.F.A. of 1934. The N.F.A. (national firearm act) was an act imposed on a tax making and transfer of firearms. This law required many things like the registration of all N.F.A. firearms with the secretary of the treasury. It also only allows certain people of certain categories to own a firearm including people who have not been arrested, or had any kind of suspiciousness towards them. The N.F.A. is against all gun control whatsoever. Guns shall not be taken away because it's not the guns fault people are using them to shoot schools, and people need them to protect themselves.
The Gun Control Act of 1968 addresses this issue by regulating interstate commerce in firearms by generally prohibiting possession of guns except among licensed manufacturers, dealers, and importers. Sparked by the assassinations of past presidents and revolutioners, President Lyndon B. Johnson
The United States is known as a country that has a variety of different gun laws within it. Many civilians have been able to easily gain access to guns throughout America. “The Federal government started its gun control policies in response to the waging wars of the gangs in 1934 with the National Firearms Act of 1934” (Tim). However, that act was only toward short-barrel firearms and machine guns. The inconsistent enforcement of gun laws has caused controversy about crime rates, an effect on economic variables, and has created a public safety issue.
In America, we face a unique predicament. This predicament is different from those of other countries, because the rest of the world does not face this problem at such a large scale. Indeed, the United States citizen is often stereotyped around the world as an overweight, southern white male who loves hamburgers and guns. This is a very negative stereotype and shows how the other countries view the United States’ gun issues. Guns are so accessible to the public that many people own large numbers of them, along with ammunition, without a logical reason. Debates about gun violence often focus on the number of guns that are in circulation. However, the number of guns, while part of the problem, is not the only source of America’s gun epidemic. To combat gun violence, the United States needs to reduce the number of guns manufactured, require gun safety classes, and ensure mental stability for gun owners.
Then again, after the Civil War, “slave codes” were invented in the southern states to prevent African Americans from possessing firearms, which was later done away with the passing of the 14th amendment. The first federal gun control laws didn’t appear on the scene until the 1920s and 30s. Fully-automatic guns and advancements in technology forced congress to rethink the boundaries of gun control laws. Furthermore, in 1939, the Supreme Court declared without question that with the Second Amendment, personal gun ownership was not to be permitted. The rulings were ultimately sustained up until 2008 after which the Court decided that through the Constitution, individual’s did have a right to bear arms. After the deaths of Martin Luther, King, Robert Kennedy, and John F. Kennedy in the 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson won support for the passing of the
The gun control debate has always been one of the most debated issues of the contemporary system of justice. Years ago, everybody had guns in America, because