The 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, outlining the right for any citizens to bear arms, is considered a cornerstone of our culture, but given how weapons have advanced so much since the amendment was drafted, is the “right to bear arms” truly ethical? In the past several decades, the United States has witnessed an unprecedented number of mass shootings (372 in 2015 alone), increasing in deadliness as citizens gain access to more advanced tech. Despite the frequency of these shootings and the number of victims killed, there has been little effective action taken to curtail these shootings in the United States. While liberals argue that the solution is strict gun regulation, conservatives claim that it infringes on the rights guaranteed by the 2nd amendment. Effectively, we’re forced to ask whether our right to own weapons is ethical in light of these tragedies where many innocent lives are lost. In good faith, I will argue in favor of the liberal argument of strict gun laws.
Before addressing this question, we should consider the circumstances which lead the framers to include this amendment. First and foremost, the framers believed that an armed populace was a deterrent to a tyrannical government. Secondly, the 2nd Amendment was drafted when guns took approximately 20 seconds or more to reload and only fired one shot. In today’s society, an AR-15 can fire off multiple shots per minute without needing to reload. Comparatively, the damage caused by the 18th century
The second amendment is a very strong debate that usually doesn’t have a neutral view. In my opinion, guns should be harder to get but not completely taken away. The government was founded on freedom and specific laws that differed us from other governments. As it is the second amendment in the “Bill of Rights” that are always thought of being rights every single American has that can never be taken away. Although the amendment was created in a time that guns were actually for defense and used rather scarcely, the guns now are way too advanced for just anyone to buy.
The history of the second amendment and the laws that have come after are significant, dating back to 1971, when the Bill of Rights was ratified to the Constitution. The Bill of Rights is a list of amendments that gives rights to individuals and limits government power. The second amendment 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.” So, the original writing and intent of the second amendment was geared to militia and military only, and it did not address a specific type of weapon. The second amendments intent for individual Americans did not come into question until 1822. A Kentucky court case indicted a man for carrying a sword concealed in a cane. The man was fined $100.00. But it wasn’t until 1856, that the second amendment was affirmed by the US Supreme Court, that the ownership of a gun was extended to individuals as a right.
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.
In the Second Amendment, it gives people the right to bear firearms. This means that most people can own a gun legally and use it how they want. Some can use them for hunting, target practice, defense, or for a collection. As of now most people can go to a gun store, maybe pass a background check, fill out some papers, and come back with a weapon. If you buy it elsewhere, you might not have to pass or sign anything.
On December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights was ratified effective by Congress. These first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America promised the states certain rights and freedoms which could not be infringed by the government. After all, the founding fathers knew from experience that men in their weakness were often tempted by power. They had become all too familiar with this when under the control of King George in England. Therefore, in order to protect the future people of their beautiful country, they promised certain liberties which could not be taken away. Every single one of these freedoms is important for the United States of America. However, the second amendment is especially important
When talking about the First Amendment, the law protects us from freedom of speech and free exercise of religion and it also stops Congress from making any new law to prohibit free speech and free exercise. The case involving a Christian printer who refused to print gay pride T-shirts. The printer declined the printing job for T-shirts promoting a gay pride festival on religious grounds, but he did offer the customer to help them find other local printers to do the work for the same price. Based on the information that was provided the printer had a history of rejecting other orders for shirts promoting sexually explicit material/actions and violence.
The second amendment 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.” The second amendment and its purpose was to provide people with the privilege and right to carry a weapon in the event of a tyrannical government. When it was written, we had been oppressed by British rule. We were new to the concept of a republic and democracy, and looking back at history, democracy didn’t always work, and hadn’t had a great track record. This law was a good way to prevent the senseless killing in the event that our young republic didn’t make it. However, laws wouldn’t necessarily matter in that instance.
In this essay, I propose to amend the Constitution to modify the second amendment with: A well regulated State National Guard is necessary to provide safety of a free country when needed, the rights of people who pass the background check, shall not be infringed.
Your blog brought up many interesting points. It seems as though you are supporting the making of an amendment to counter the 2nd amendment in the Constitution. You stated that times have changed and you are absolutely right. There are not wild animals living on the streets nor are there state militias like there were in the 1700's. However, you also talked about the conservative view that many ignorant Republicans hold. I suggest that you check out this link http://heedinggodscall.org/content/pfctoolkit-10 as it has some astonishing numbers on injury or death related incidents due to firearms. Now check out this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate. As you can see, countries with little
We need to keep the second amendment the same and not change one thing to it. If we didn’t have the guns then we can’t defend ourselves. People want to change the amendment to where we can’t buy guns as easy, and they want to try changing it to where we got to have license to own one. If we keep the amendment the same then we can protect ourselves from any danger: “The first is that the amendment was meant to ensure that individuals have the absolute right to own firearms” (Mount, 2011). This means that we should have it to where we have the right to own guns and to keep it easier to buying and shooting them. Another reason, the military has guns, and they need them to fight: “The second is that the amendment was meant to ensure that States
The adoption of the Constitution depended on ratification, or approval, by 9 of the 13 states.
The second amendment states the right of the people to bear arms, but can giving this much freedom be threatening? "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." There is a lot of debate with the second amendment, are guns safe or threatening to the people of the United States. This issue greatly concerns me because now I think, is it safe to go out, to go to school, or the movies? This issue concerns everyone not only in the US, but around the world.
I am against the Second Amendment which is the right to bare arms for several reasons. Growing up from the city of Chicago which is one of the most violent city's in the world I have seen a lot of violence. I have heard of a lot of relatives and people I knew or my friends knew where either killed or was shot. There was a lot of violence even before they had the conceal to carry law, so being all for the second amendment would go against I believed in. Growing up I never wanted to bare arms because I felt it should have been in the hands of the law to take care of criminals etc. and not kids or people themselves. Since moving to Las Vegas things are 100% different from where I come from. You still hear about people you
The 2nd amendment of the U.S. Constitutions protects the rights of people to bear arms, such as assault rifles. Are guns to blame? Gun control isn’t the answer. It’s whoever is behind the trigger. I do believe that the United States needs better mental health reforms to help those in need that way no more mass shootings happen. Have you heard or seen the phrase “guns don’t kill people, people do”? As Americans our rights are established on the constitution and the amendments. The 2nd amendment has been a debate since Obama’s administration. After so many mass shootings, it still comes down to, whos fault is it?
The Amendment left open possibilities, that states could establish voter qualifications equally to all races. Many states took advantage of this position, establishing poll taxes and literacy tests among other qualifications, which were prohibited later with help of Voting Rights Act.