Gun Control in America
Gun Control in America: Past, Present, & Future
Abstract
"Had Americans in 1787 been told that the federal government could ban… firearms… it is hard to imagine that the Constitution would have been ratified,” these words were used by the National Rifle Association in a court brief where it challenged the most restrictive gun control laws in the country at the time, those is Washington, D.C. (Schwartz, 2008, Individual freedoms section para.4). Cities, such as Chicago, New York, and the District of Columbia, have held fast to the collective right interpretation of the Second Amendment and enacted laws which support the collective right view (p.1). While others such as the National Rifle Association (NFA) believe that the individual right to bear arms is stated in the Second Amendment (The Right to Bear Arms, 2008).
Gun Control in America: Past, Present, & Future
Does the Second Amendment right “to keep and bear arms” apply to you as an American citizen, so that you can protect your family? If you think so, you might be wrong. According to the article Gun Control in World of Sociology (2001), the answer depends on the interpretation of the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. Throughout the history of America, the twenty-seven words of the Second Amendment have drawn great passion from citizens who support and those who oppose gun control (Schwartz, 2008). Those twenty-seven words which draw such passion are, “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 Constitution). Groups or individuals who are proponents of gun control contend that the Second Amendment does not apply to you or me, only to the state in which we live (Gun Control, 2001). In contrast, groups and individuals who interpret the Second Amendment as applying to individual rights are opposed to gun control (p. 1). No matter on which side of the
Abstract
"Had Americans in 1787 been told that the federal government could ban… firearms… it is hard to imagine that the Constitution would have been ratified,” these words were used by the National Rifle Association in a court brief where it challenged the most restrictive gun control laws in the country at the time, those is Washington, D.C. (Schwartz, 2008, Individual freedoms section para.4). Cities, such as Chicago, New York, and the District of Columbia, have held fast to the collective right interpretation of the Second Amendment and enacted laws which support the collective right view (p.1). While others such as the National Rifle Association (NFA) believe that the individual right to bear arms is stated in the Second Amendment (The Right to Bear Arms, 2008).
Gun Control in America: Past, Present, & Future
Does the Second Amendment right “to keep and bear arms” apply to you as an American citizen, so that you can protect your family? If you think so, you might be wrong. According to the article Gun Control in World of Sociology (2001), the answer depends on the interpretation of the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. Throughout the history of America, the twenty-seven words of the Second Amendment have drawn great passion from citizens who support and those who oppose gun control (Schwartz, 2008). Those twenty-seven words which draw such passion are, “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 Constitution). Groups or individuals who are proponents of gun control contend that the Second Amendment does not apply to you or me, only to the state in which we live (Gun Control, 2001). In contrast, groups and individuals who interpret the Second Amendment as applying to individual rights are opposed to gun control (p. 1). No matter on which side of the
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