Right To Bear Arms Essay
Mehak Saini
Expo-E15
Anthony Cashman
April 1, 2014
Essay 1.3
Imagine sitting at home one day, relaxing with your loved ones, watching your favorite TV show, all of a sudden you hear gun-shots, not intended towards you or any of your family members; a bullet accidentally pierces through the door and kills someone that had no part in that violent attack. They were as innocent as the many that have been victims of gun violence in The United States of America. The spread of handguns, and assault riffles in the country is growing every year, “More than 8.57 million guns were produced in 2012, up 31 percent from 6.54 million in 2011”(1), according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and …show more content…
Explosives, which has been tracking the statistics since 1986. Gun control has been an issue the United States of America has been engaging in for an ample amount of years. It’s an issue that in today’s generation has become very relevant. Gun control has become an educational, safety, racial and political agenda. Controlling who has the ability or stability to own a gun has become very critical argument in both federal and state legislation. Guns are the easiest way to kill others or one-self. Everyone in public is vulnerable to the pulling of a trigger, while anyone who feels threatened may reach out for a gun in fear or self-defense. When people are angry, they act in ways they do not normally act. They may also strike out at others: "the correlation between any-gun prevalence and the overall murder rate is .67, while it is .84 between handgun prevalence and overall murder rate . . . " (Carter, G. L. 1997: 3). The control on who has the right to own a gun and/or an assault riffle has to be regulated by federal and state authorities. 2012 witnessed a great amount of mass shootings in the United States, many of which lead to great debates over gun control. These shootings were committed by individuals with questionable mental stability most of which did not own a gun themselves, yet they had access to it through a parent, friend or family member. The second amendment affords each citizen the right to bear arms. This posits a serious concern to public safety. Such tragedies shouldn’t occur for the federal and state law to take action. The common factor in all these incidents was mental health. More guns leads to more homicides, access to more guns for mentally ill individuals had only lead to deadlier mass attacks. James Homes (Aurora, Colorado theatre shooting, kills 12; 2012), Adam Lanza (Sunnybrook Elementary Mass Shooting, Kills 20; 2012), Aaron Alexis (Washington Navy Yard, Kills 13; 2012 ), Seung-Hui Cho (Virginia Tech, Kills 32; 2007), Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (Columbine High School, Kill 13; 1999), all of them once upon a time struggled with mental issues, in the form of depression, bi-polar, schizophrenia, separation anxiety, Asperger-syndrome etc.… A survey by Mother Jones found that at least 38 of the 61 mass shooters in the past three decades; "displayed signs of mental health problems prior to the killings."(3). In 2012, there had also been an attack on 22 students in a Chinese elementary, however there was a key difference; the man only had a knife, and there were zero fatalities. The federal and state law officials need to enforce a ban on guns, from anyone that has immediate family members struggling with a mental illness. The first action, should require a “universal background check”, because around “40 percent of all gun purchases are conducted without it” (4). When conducting background checks, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) should examine not just the individual trying to attain a gun, but also the members of their family. Any immediate relation to an individual struggling with a mental issue should be refrained from ownership of this deadly weapon. I am not verbalizing, that every mentally unstable person, is capable of executing a mass shooting, however reminiscing back in history, most mass-shootings occurred due to the murderer struggling with a troubled mental state of mind. If access to guns was not readily available in the country, perhaps these incidents could have been prevented. The open access to ownership of handguns and riffles is the principal cause to these tragedies. The federal and state law needs to execute serious measures, on who is buying guns, and what their environment consists of. There needs to be more background check control, especially with those that have relations with mentally-challenged individuals with evil intentions, who have become a serious danger to our society.
Americans take a lot of pride in their equality and freedom rights; hence believe that having a gun is their right.
This concept stems due to the second amendment, which 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.”(5). Majority of Americans focus on “bearing-arms”, however the key to that amendment is “militia”. Arms are military weapons, firearms used by a well-regulated militia, at the time the Second Amendment was written, were mostly long arms that, like a smaller stockpile of pistols, could discharge only once before they had to be reloaded. Back in 1791, when the Amendment was put in place, it was to make sure; a citizen’s militia can defend the principles of the constitution. In 2014, guns are being used for “apparent” self-defense. Many believed that the case of Zimmerman vs. Martin was a discriminative incident. Zimmerman was proven not guilty, as he, an armed Latin-American male felt threatened for his life, from an unarmed African-American teenager. Yes, Americans should have their fundamental rights, however “the right to bear arms” shouldn’t be considered as a fundamental right. Americans enjoy guns, just like a lot of them enjoy illegal drugs, which does not mean, that drugs should be legally accessible, and be part of the constitution. Just like drugs are an issue in the country, so are Guns. The second amendment, should not defend citizens for …show more content…
abusing guns, and just like the District of Columbia VS Heller case, another trial should be upheld to rewrite the second amendment, or just eliminate it all together.
“In 2011, there were 32,163 firearm-related deaths in the US, with 11,101 homicides (69.5% of all homicides), and 19,776 suicides (51.6% of all suicides) [1]. Rates of firearm homicides in the US (3.6 per 100,000) are over 7-fold of those in similar nations (e.g., Canada, 0.5; United Kingdom, 0.1; Australia, 0.1) [2]. Blacks are disproportionately represented in US firearm homicides (14.6 per 100,000), and would benefit most from improved gun controls”. (7) Research lead by Monash University in Australia and The University of Manchester show that most gun ownership is due to fear of African-American gun-violence. The negative perception of gun violence that whites have over blacks in the United States has widespread gun ownership in the nation. The report, published in PLOS One, said, “For each 1 point increase in symbolic racism there was a 50% increase in the odds of having a gun at home," as well as "a 28% increase in support for permits to carry concealed handguns."(7) It’s quite evident that gun ownership links to racism. Which can also mean, that if a white-armed male was walking down the street at later hours of the night, and came across an unarmed-black male, he was most likely to abuse his gun, as he feared his safety, much like the Zimmerman vs. Martin case, in my last argument (which occurred in broad daylight), which directly relates to racism playing a substantial role in gun ownership. If there was more gun control, whites would not have to worry about blacks owning guns and fear for their safety, and the African-American community will not be targeted and looked upon as “dangerous” individuals.
Open accessibility of firearms to the citizens of America is causing mayhem in the Nation.
From mass shootings, carried by mentally unstable pupils, to the Second Amendment being one of the most cherished fundamental rights for American citizens, followed by a large group of racist America targeting the African-American society. These arguments uphold a significant debate for the federal and state regulations to bring change in the policy of owing a handgun or riffle. Most countries, with ban on gun ownership have next to eliminated crime in their nations. Countries like Japan, that enforced strict Gun Laws, have almost wiped out gun crime, "Having a gun now is like having a time bomb," one Yakuza (Japanese mafia) boss told The Japan Times ' Jake Adelstein. "Do you think any sane person wants to keep one around the house?" (6). Furthermore, American citizens, shouldn’t have to be fearful of their safety when going to school, watching a movie, or just going to the mall to shop. Every individual in the United States of America has the right to roam freely without fear of accidently or intentionally getting shot. This is their fundamental right according to the American
constitution.
References
1) http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-20/record-u-s-gun-production-as-obama-demonized-on-issue.html
2) http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/16/us/20-deadliest-mass-shootings-in-u-s-history-fast-facts/
3) http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/335739/facts-about-mass-shootings-john-fund
4) http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/the-stale-claim-that-40-percent-of-gun-sales-lack-background-checks/2013/01/20/e42ec050-629a-11e2-b05a-605528f6b712_blog.html
5) http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html
6) http://rattlesnakepit.wordpress.com/category/law/crime/
7) http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=13072795-b15f-460b-bba1-66864d033115%40sessionmgr112&vid=1&hid=120
Racism, Gun Ownership and Gun Control: Biased
Attitudes in US Whites May Influence Policy Decisions; PLOS One; Oct 1, 2013, PG 1, Para 1
8) Gun Control Overview Prevalence of Gun Use and the Regulatory Response; Congressional Digest; March 1, 2013
9) GUNS AS SMUT: DEFENDING THE HOME-BOUND; SECOND AMENDMENT Darrell A.H. Miller*; Columbia Law Review; October 1, 2009
10) http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011
11) Hoyert DL, Xu J (2012) Deaths: preliminary data for 2011. Natl Vital Stat Rep 61: 1–65.
12) UN Office on Drugs and Crimes website. United Nations surveys on crime trends and the operations of criminal justice systems. Available: www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/Homicide/Homicides_by_
13) Foley, John. "Federal Gun Control Requires IT Overhaul." InformationWeek 1 Feb. 2013: 3. Academic OneFile. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.
14) Lawrence, Jill. "Gun-Control Success Is in Sight for the Brady Campaign." National Journal (2013). Academic OneFile. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.
15) The Second Amendment in law and history: historians and constitutional scholars on the right to bear arms / edited by Carl T. Bogus ; with contributions by Michael A. Bellesiles; New York New Press; C. 2000
16) http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/19/us/politics/mental-health-again-an-issue-in-gun-debate.html
Expo-E15
Anthony Cashman
April 1, 2014
Essay 1.3
Imagine sitting at home one day, relaxing with your loved ones, watching your favorite TV show, all of a sudden you hear gun-shots, not intended towards you or any of your family members; a bullet accidentally pierces through the door and kills someone that had no part in that violent attack. They were as innocent as the many that have been victims of gun violence in The United States of America. The spread of handguns, and assault riffles in the country is growing every year, “More than 8.57 million guns were produced in 2012, up 31 percent from 6.54 million in 2011”(1), according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and …show more content…
Explosives, which has been tracking the statistics since 1986. Gun control has been an issue the United States of America has been engaging in for an ample amount of years. It’s an issue that in today’s generation has become very relevant. Gun control has become an educational, safety, racial and political agenda. Controlling who has the ability or stability to own a gun has become very critical argument in both federal and state legislation. Guns are the easiest way to kill others or one-self. Everyone in public is vulnerable to the pulling of a trigger, while anyone who feels threatened may reach out for a gun in fear or self-defense. When people are angry, they act in ways they do not normally act. They may also strike out at others: "the correlation between any-gun prevalence and the overall murder rate is .67, while it is .84 between handgun prevalence and overall murder rate . . . " (Carter, G. L. 1997: 3). The control on who has the right to own a gun and/or an assault riffle has to be regulated by federal and state authorities. 2012 witnessed a great amount of mass shootings in the United States, many of which lead to great debates over gun control. These shootings were committed by individuals with questionable mental stability most of which did not own a gun themselves, yet they had access to it through a parent, friend or family member. The second amendment affords each citizen the right to bear arms. This posits a serious concern to public safety. Such tragedies shouldn’t occur for the federal and state law to take action. The common factor in all these incidents was mental health. More guns leads to more homicides, access to more guns for mentally ill individuals had only lead to deadlier mass attacks. James Homes (Aurora, Colorado theatre shooting, kills 12; 2012), Adam Lanza (Sunnybrook Elementary Mass Shooting, Kills 20; 2012), Aaron Alexis (Washington Navy Yard, Kills 13; 2012 ), Seung-Hui Cho (Virginia Tech, Kills 32; 2007), Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (Columbine High School, Kill 13; 1999), all of them once upon a time struggled with mental issues, in the form of depression, bi-polar, schizophrenia, separation anxiety, Asperger-syndrome etc.… A survey by Mother Jones found that at least 38 of the 61 mass shooters in the past three decades; "displayed signs of mental health problems prior to the killings."(3). In 2012, there had also been an attack on 22 students in a Chinese elementary, however there was a key difference; the man only had a knife, and there were zero fatalities. The federal and state law officials need to enforce a ban on guns, from anyone that has immediate family members struggling with a mental illness. The first action, should require a “universal background check”, because around “40 percent of all gun purchases are conducted without it” (4). When conducting background checks, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) should examine not just the individual trying to attain a gun, but also the members of their family. Any immediate relation to an individual struggling with a mental issue should be refrained from ownership of this deadly weapon. I am not verbalizing, that every mentally unstable person, is capable of executing a mass shooting, however reminiscing back in history, most mass-shootings occurred due to the murderer struggling with a troubled mental state of mind. If access to guns was not readily available in the country, perhaps these incidents could have been prevented. The open access to ownership of handguns and riffles is the principal cause to these tragedies. The federal and state law needs to execute serious measures, on who is buying guns, and what their environment consists of. There needs to be more background check control, especially with those that have relations with mentally-challenged individuals with evil intentions, who have become a serious danger to our society.
Americans take a lot of pride in their equality and freedom rights; hence believe that having a gun is their right.
This concept stems due to the second amendment, which 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.”(5). Majority of Americans focus on “bearing-arms”, however the key to that amendment is “militia”. Arms are military weapons, firearms used by a well-regulated militia, at the time the Second Amendment was written, were mostly long arms that, like a smaller stockpile of pistols, could discharge only once before they had to be reloaded. Back in 1791, when the Amendment was put in place, it was to make sure; a citizen’s militia can defend the principles of the constitution. In 2014, guns are being used for “apparent” self-defense. Many believed that the case of Zimmerman vs. Martin was a discriminative incident. Zimmerman was proven not guilty, as he, an armed Latin-American male felt threatened for his life, from an unarmed African-American teenager. Yes, Americans should have their fundamental rights, however “the right to bear arms” shouldn’t be considered as a fundamental right. Americans enjoy guns, just like a lot of them enjoy illegal drugs, which does not mean, that drugs should be legally accessible, and be part of the constitution. Just like drugs are an issue in the country, so are Guns. The second amendment, should not defend citizens for …show more content…
abusing guns, and just like the District of Columbia VS Heller case, another trial should be upheld to rewrite the second amendment, or just eliminate it all together.
“In 2011, there were 32,163 firearm-related deaths in the US, with 11,101 homicides (69.5% of all homicides), and 19,776 suicides (51.6% of all suicides) [1]. Rates of firearm homicides in the US (3.6 per 100,000) are over 7-fold of those in similar nations (e.g., Canada, 0.5; United Kingdom, 0.1; Australia, 0.1) [2]. Blacks are disproportionately represented in US firearm homicides (14.6 per 100,000), and would benefit most from improved gun controls”. (7) Research lead by Monash University in Australia and The University of Manchester show that most gun ownership is due to fear of African-American gun-violence. The negative perception of gun violence that whites have over blacks in the United States has widespread gun ownership in the nation. The report, published in PLOS One, said, “For each 1 point increase in symbolic racism there was a 50% increase in the odds of having a gun at home," as well as "a 28% increase in support for permits to carry concealed handguns."(7) It’s quite evident that gun ownership links to racism. Which can also mean, that if a white-armed male was walking down the street at later hours of the night, and came across an unarmed-black male, he was most likely to abuse his gun, as he feared his safety, much like the Zimmerman vs. Martin case, in my last argument (which occurred in broad daylight), which directly relates to racism playing a substantial role in gun ownership. If there was more gun control, whites would not have to worry about blacks owning guns and fear for their safety, and the African-American community will not be targeted and looked upon as “dangerous” individuals.
Open accessibility of firearms to the citizens of America is causing mayhem in the Nation.
From mass shootings, carried by mentally unstable pupils, to the Second Amendment being one of the most cherished fundamental rights for American citizens, followed by a large group of racist America targeting the African-American society. These arguments uphold a significant debate for the federal and state regulations to bring change in the policy of owing a handgun or riffle. Most countries, with ban on gun ownership have next to eliminated crime in their nations. Countries like Japan, that enforced strict Gun Laws, have almost wiped out gun crime, "Having a gun now is like having a time bomb," one Yakuza (Japanese mafia) boss told The Japan Times ' Jake Adelstein. "Do you think any sane person wants to keep one around the house?" (6). Furthermore, American citizens, shouldn’t have to be fearful of their safety when going to school, watching a movie, or just going to the mall to shop. Every individual in the United States of America has the right to roam freely without fear of accidently or intentionally getting shot. This is their fundamental right according to the American
constitution.
References
1) http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-20/record-u-s-gun-production-as-obama-demonized-on-issue.html
2) http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/16/us/20-deadliest-mass-shootings-in-u-s-history-fast-facts/
3) http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/335739/facts-about-mass-shootings-john-fund
4) http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/the-stale-claim-that-40-percent-of-gun-sales-lack-background-checks/2013/01/20/e42ec050-629a-11e2-b05a-605528f6b712_blog.html
5) http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html
6) http://rattlesnakepit.wordpress.com/category/law/crime/
7) http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=13072795-b15f-460b-bba1-66864d033115%40sessionmgr112&vid=1&hid=120
Racism, Gun Ownership and Gun Control: Biased
Attitudes in US Whites May Influence Policy Decisions; PLOS One; Oct 1, 2013, PG 1, Para 1
8) Gun Control Overview Prevalence of Gun Use and the Regulatory Response; Congressional Digest; March 1, 2013
9) GUNS AS SMUT: DEFENDING THE HOME-BOUND; SECOND AMENDMENT Darrell A.H. Miller*; Columbia Law Review; October 1, 2009
10) http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011
11) Hoyert DL, Xu J (2012) Deaths: preliminary data for 2011. Natl Vital Stat Rep 61: 1–65.
12) UN Office on Drugs and Crimes website. United Nations surveys on crime trends and the operations of criminal justice systems. Available: www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/Homicide/Homicides_by_
13) Foley, John. "Federal Gun Control Requires IT Overhaul." InformationWeek 1 Feb. 2013: 3. Academic OneFile. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.
14) Lawrence, Jill. "Gun-Control Success Is in Sight for the Brady Campaign." National Journal (2013). Academic OneFile. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.
15) The Second Amendment in law and history: historians and constitutional scholars on the right to bear arms / edited by Carl T. Bogus ; with contributions by Michael A. Bellesiles; New York New Press; C. 2000
16) http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/19/us/politics/mental-health-again-an-issue-in-gun-debate.html