...The Right to Bear Arms One of the main controversies in America today is if people should have the right to bear arms. The true question being-do guns kill mores lives than they save? Even though some argue that people should have the right to bear arms, guns should not be sold or owned by citizens because guns account for a high number of crimes and the national guard is in place to protect the states and the people. The right to bear arms is placed in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The 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.” (“Right to Bear Arms”) A lot of people argue that the Second Amendment gives the people individual rights to own guns, and the government should not restrict this right. Many believe the people should have the right to protect themselves and their family by having a gun in their home in case of emergencies....
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...The invention of weapons have dated back to 1364 when human first recorded the use of firearm. However, many severe death results developed a dilemma that people had been debating about in the past century. A possible solution of this repeated problem is to add limitations on the right to bear arms or the means to keep a weapon. President Barack Obama recently stated that, “We know that states with the most gun laws tend to have the fewest gun deaths. So the notion that gun laws don’t work, or just will make it harder for law-abiding citizens and criminals to still get their guns is not borne out by the evidence.” This thus shows that there are issues disregarding whether fire arm restrictions have an impact on American citizens. As a result...
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...the free citizen have to give up their rights to the Second Amendment. It was written for a reason and therefore the citizens of this country should abide by it. 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." some might argue that only the regulated militia are to keep and bear arms, but to qualify for this all a person has to do be is a free citizen of this very country (The Second Amendment: Does the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Guarantee an Individual Right to Bear Arms?). Any citizen of the United States should not be denied the right to the Second Amendment,...
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...The Right to Keep and Bear Arms: A Right to Self-Defense Against Criminals and Despots by Robert Dowlut[*] If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. -- James Madison[1] INTRODUCTION A written constitution is a reminder that governments can be unreasonable and unjust. By guaranteeing that "[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 to the United States Constitution provides the citizens a means of protection against the unjust excesses of government.[2] The Framers placed this guarantee in the Bill of Rights because they considered the right to keep and bear arms peculiarly important and also uniquely vulnerable to infringement. The Amendment's command protects individuals against even popular conceptions of the public good. In addition to this protection within the United States Constitution,[3] the constitutions of forty-three states guarantee the right to keep and bear arms.[4] Despite the constitutional authority for this right, legislators and judges have consistently attempted to devalue it. Methods such as giving misleading labels to select firearms like "assault weapons"[5] or "Saturday Night Specials"[6] have been used to justify incremental disarmament.[7] American jurisprudence has deliberately devalued the right...
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...that the right to bear arms is unjustifiable, society’s moral obligation is to protect themselves at any cost and that includes the right to carry a concealed firearm, protection of their own lives, and the allowing of the right to own a firearm. The right to own a firearm should not be infringed on and should never be ratified. The right to own and carry a firearm has been a right of Americans since December 15, 1791. The second amendment has been a part of America for over 200 years. This right allows Americans to own a firearm for their own safety and protection. It also allows people to own a concealed handguns license.” A concealed handgun license is a license to carry a sidearm” in public for safety reasons. The...
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...Despite efforts to successfully enforce strict gun control laws, crime rates have not decreased, which nullifies the arguments of gun control supporters. Gun control supporters claim that making gun control laws stricter will reduce crime rates and get rid of gun violence mostly. They believe if guns are taken away from the public, then there would not be any guns to be used in violent gun crimes. The truth is that this would only take the guns away from the law abiding citizens, leaving the rest to be illegally transferred from criminal to criminal, most likely used against those who no longer have guns to defend themselves with. According to Gun Facts, most violent crime is committed by repeat offenders. “Dealing with recidivism is key to...
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...grants that, "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed" The way that an individual interprets the wording of the Second Amendment influences their point of view on who has the right to "keep and bear arms" (Amendment 2). The controversy brought on by the Second Amendment is because the Second Amendment does not clearly define whom "the people" are. This ambiguity has left room for action by legislative bodies and the courts to pass laws and make interpretations that influence the way this Amendment is applied and enforced. The Second Amendment says, "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." (Amendment 2). A central argument put forth by gun-control advocates is that since there is no longer a "militia", that individuals should lose their rights to own a gun. They often assert that the term "militia" should now be defined as each state's National Guard or Reserves. On the other hand, anti gun control advocates argue that the Second Amendment clearly states that the people have the right to own and bear arms even if they are not part of an organized militia. II. ANTI GUN CONTROL ACTIVISTS VIEWS AND BASIS Anti-gun control activists interpret the Second Amendment as saying that any individual, weather he be in the military or not, should be allowed to own firearms. Anti-gun control activists believe that the constitutional right granted by the...
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...our Second Amendment right which allowed us to carry and bear arms in the United States. Gun control has been a big topic in the united states for years now. Taking away any right to bear arms is a huge breach in our second amendment constitution rights. If these constitutional rights keep being challenge, this country will no longer be the land of the free. These rights are ours as Americans. It is our decision of whether we support them or not. That decision cannot and should not be made for us. I am for carrying and gun ownership. The first gun law to be passed in the US was in Georgia in 1837 which banned handguns in that state, later ruled unconstitutional and thrown out. Then in 1927 the Mailing of Firearms Act banned the shipping of concealable weapons. Throughout the years the gun laws have been altered in many ways in an effort to keep citizens safer. So should U.S. Citizens have the right to carry arms? What affect have the current/past gun control laws had? Is the government focusing on the wrong means for a solution? Is it possible that people just need to be better educated with firearms and firearm safety? These are some of the questions that I will answer in this speech. Should United States citizens have the right to carry arms? The answer is clearly “YES” This is our second amendment “the right of the people to keep and to bear arm” as stated in the United States constitution. It is our right and privilege to carry arms if we choose. Some...
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...Senior Research Project: Is the right to bear arms ethical? Lucas Van Duyn Senior Seminar: Business Ethics Dr. Jewe July 31, 2012 Introduction to the Project: In the United States, research into firearms and violent crime is fraught with difficulties, associated with limited data on gun ownership and use, firearms markets, and aggregation of crime data. Research studies into gun violence have primarily taken one of two approaches: case-control studies and social ecology. Gun ownership is usually determined through surveys, proxy variables, and sometimes with production and import figures. In statistical analysis of homicides and other types of crime, which are rare events, these data tend to have poison distributions, which also presents methodological challenges to researchers. (Just Facts, 2010) Americans own an estimated 270 million firearms, approximately 90 guns for every 100 people. In 2009, guns took the lives of 31,347 Americans in homicides, suicides and unintentional shootings. This is the equivalent of more than 85 deaths each day and more than three deaths each hour. 66,769 Americans were treated in hospital emergency departments for non-fatal gunshot wounds in 2009. Firearms were the third-leading cause of injury-related deaths nationwide in 2009, following poisoning and motor vehicle accidents. Between 1955 and 1975, the Vietnam War killed over 58,000 American soldiers – less than the number of civilians killed with guns in the U.S. in an average...
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...the United States must bear arms. The right was so important that it is in the United States Constitution. The second amendment gives citizens of the US the right to bear arms. Times have changed, and the interpretation of the constitution has changed also. Numerous organizations wholeheartedly still support the right to bear arms. However, many believe that in recent times the right to bear arms should be more stringent and selective. The media has shown the US public countless examples of how guns have been used to massacre citizens by the masses wantonly. Every American should not be allowed to carry a gun; there are individuals who do not merit the right to bear a weapon. The Mentally ill should not be permitted to carry guns. Mental illness has been proven to immensely affect cognitive function, which affects decision-making, empathy, self-restraint, self-awareness, and critical thinking. Any person who does not exhibit the latter traits...
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...Arms, Militia and the Rights of the People Craig Parry, Jody Strickling, Quinton Farmer, Nathan Farmer, Robert Oldham University of Phoenix HIS/301 Instructor: William Gillespie June 29th, 2009 Arms, Militia and the Rights of the People “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.”(2nd amendment, U.S Constitution) The framers of the Constitution wanted to create a government that was governed by the people. They felt the best way to control the government was through “checks” to make sure the government did not have too much power. The founders decided one way to check the government was to allow each citizen the right to bear arms. Originally, Section one; Article eight of the Constitution was written to give the Federal Government power to raise, organize and maintain a militia. This was vital to keeping the freedoms they had secured from Brittan. However, they did not want the Government to have “a standing army” that could impose on the rights of the people. On one side, the government had to be powerful enough to defend the country, but not so powerful that it would infringe on the liberty of the people. The leaders felt by allowing each person the right to bear arms would keep the government in check from imposing its will on the country. After the Constitution was written, the leaders had to convince each state to ratify the Constitution. Many of...
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...debated issue especially after the events that have transpired in the past year in our nation. Many believe that if there are stricter regulations for guns that violence will be reduced traumatically. The constitution 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." This gives the American the right to own a weapon. Of course this was written in the beginning of our country and times have changed. These days you cannot use it for unlawful use. Not saying that people will not use them unlawfully because it has happened in the past year and many are now trying to eradicate guns on a national scale. If our beloved country decided to remove the right to bear arms, the effect would be, if anything, negative. The people who want guns for illegal purposes would discover ways to get them, while the rest of us would have no way to protect ourselves against them. Our country should continue to have the right to bear arms. I believe that stronger restrictions should be made. I believe that every state should regulate the gun laws in their prospective state but on a federal level restrict what type of weapons should be allowed for sale. For example on the federal level the laws would regulate that assault rifles would only be used by our military and law enforcement. I used assault Rifles as an example because we are not in a state where we have militias like in the beginning’s of our nation...
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...Gun Control in the United States Gun control is a very controversial topic. Many believe that the people of the United States have the right to bear arm. Others believe that guns in general should be banned from our country. Is it the people or the weapons that are causing violence in our society? The Second Amendment to the Constitution, which concerns the right to bear arms, is always a major, debated issue. Gun rights and gun control groups have been lobbying Congress for decades to change legislation in their respective favors. Both in 2008 and in 2010, the gun issue has reached the nation’s highest court. In the 2008 Supreme Court case District of Columbia v. Heller the court ruled that the Constitution protects an individual’s right to own a gun for personal use. But the 5-4 decision only applied to federal laws but not local and state laws. A major key case to gun debate was in 1939, United States v. Jack Miller 307 U.S. 174. In this case, the Supreme Court was asked whether the Second Amendment protected Miller's right not to register a "sawed off" shotgun, despite a federal law requiring it. The Supreme Court examined the original records of Congress to determine why the Second Amendment was written into the Constitution. The Supreme Court then ruled that Miller's shotgun was not for a militia-type purpose and that it therefore was not protected by the Second Amendment. The Supreme Court further explained that at the time the Second Amendment was adopted...
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...Right To Bear Arms Violence in a hometown is what hit home for Brent Staples as he talks about the violence, murder and all the bad things that can come of in “A brother’s murder”. There is always going to be violence while some get wounded others like his brother are murdered. Senseless acts of hatred for different reasons or just violence over losing your temper. The right to bear arms is given to everyone as a US citizen. First, Guns provide protection from any unwanted violent situation in this world. There are some bad people in this world such as murderers, rapist and yes even your spouse. When someone goes out and buys a gun there is extensive background checks and yes even classes to own a fire arm. Let’s say a woman who has been married to the same man for a number of years and even has young children with him. One morning she wakes up after a long night of being hit by her husband. She looks in the mirror and saw the damage he has done to her and swore, this is the last time he lays his hand on her or the kids. Knowing if she called law enforcement it would only make matters worse. This woman evoked her right to bear arms to protect her kids and herself from this evil person....
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...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 has been the subject of controversy only for roughly the last 80 years. Even though, as some argue, the Framers themselves argued over its wording, the almost universally accepted opinion was that it guaranteed an individual right. It was in 1934 that the first attempt at universal gun control on a national level occurred. In 1934, the United States was at the height of the Great Depression (Kangas, 1997). In 1933, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution had finally been repealed, marking the end of the noble experiment known as “prohibition”. The fourteen years of prohibition had nurtured an atmosphere of speakeasies, bootlegging, gangsters, and mafia. The year following the repeal of prohibition was marred by some of the worst gangster violence in American history. John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson were on the run. Bonnie and Clyde were killed in that year (1934 in the United States, 2013). The nation had just finished its war with Al Capone’s gang (Al Capone, 2013). The people were tired of the unrestrained violence and, in an apparent classic effort to obtain safety at the expense of liberty, were willing to accept limits on the right to bear arms. Although this discussion is not about the history of gun control but about the right to bear arms, it bears mentioning that, in almost all cases in which federal gun control...
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