Through court cases like District of Columbia v. Heller, the Second Amendment was clarified to extend the right to possess firearms for “traditionally lawful purposes” from simply militia related services. McDonald v. Chicago further expanded the application of the Second Amendment by holding that it was applicable to states through the Fourteenth Amendment. Furthermore, these two cases were tied together as the Supreme Court held in District of Columbia v. Heller that the right to self-defense was a “fundamental” and “deeply rooted” right which in turn allowed the Supreme Court to rule that based on the 14th Amendment and the precedent established in the Heller case that the 2nd Amendment’s guarantee of the right to bear arms was applicable to states for the purpose of self-defense. There are three …show more content…
Regulation, moderate and anti-regulation supporters each have valid arguments on this topic. Pro-regulation advocates argue that regulation is needed in order to ensure that firearms will not fall into the wrong hands, which in turn will reduce gun violence crime rates. President Barrack Obama is a huge supporter for this side with his “Now is the time” plan detailing executive actions such as the appointment of a director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Detailed logistics plan out the removal of armor piercing bullets from circulation, limiting magazine capacity to 10 rounds each. Preventive measures such as extensive background checks and increased education for children in schools is also included in this plan. It also aims to create quality coverage for mental treatment for convicted criminals or those who are deemed to be a risk. More extreme pro-regulation advocates wish to see all firearms banned despite the fact that the Supreme Court has ruled that
This form of treatment takes care of the dangerous criminals such as terrorist from gaining access to firearms which would help prevent mass attacks even potentially as recent as the Las Vegas shooting even though the suspect allegedly was not on any wanted list nor had a major criminal background the point still stands that there are people who are blocked from doing things like things. Andrew Cuomo and U.S senator Charles Schumer both had came out to agree on this issue and are working to make it more
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right of the individual to keep and bear firearms. When the Second Amendment was written it was for the right to arm oneself as a personal liberty to deter undemocratic or oppressive governing bodies from forming and to repel impending invasions. Furthermore, gun advocates proclaim that guns are for the right to self-defense. Some people try to participate and uphold the law. We have seen how guns in the hands of children can cause fatal accidents and people have committed mindless crimes leading to
Heller (2008) District of Columbia made it illegal to own a firearm without a license and if you had one it must be unloaded and have a trigger lock. Dick Heller was a special police officer who wanted to keep gun in his home. The district of columbia denied him when he applied for a license so he sued the district of Columbia saying this violated his second amendment. Verdict: 5-4 decision for Heller, majority given by Antonin Scalia.they argued that banning the registration for firearms within the household violates the second amendment. McDonald v. Chicago (2010)
Igor Tutelman Bryan Ashkettle AP US Government 2 November 2015 District of Columbia v. Heller In San Diego, California on August 2, 2009 several members of the Lincoln Park gang opened fire on a rival gang in a drive-by shooting. Among these Lincoln Park members was David Leon Riley. After the shooting, Riley and his crew got in his Oldsmobile and fled the scene. Not one month later Riley was driving a different vehicle and was pulled over for having expired tags, this along with the fact that his license was suspended gave police the authority and obligation to impound the car and take Riley in. When a vehicle is impounded police perform a search to inventory everything in the vehicle to protect against future liability cases and to check
C. Precedent The law is unconstitutional not only due to the meaning of the text itself, but also from many cases of precedent. District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008) and McDonald v. City of Chicago, 130 S. Ct. 3020 (2010) have already established the importance of the Second Amendment, but there are other cases as well that back up the courts decision claiming the ban on carrying a concealed weapon is unconstitutional. In Bliss v. Commonwealth, 2 Litt. 90, (KY 1822), established that the right to bear arms was for defense against themselves and the state. This case consisted of a man carrying a concealed weapon in his cane and it is similar to the one in which we face today.
In my first case, I will analyze the Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller. In this case, in a 5-4 decision, the Court overrules its decision in United States v. Miller, in which, it stated that the Second Amendment only protects the right to keep and bear arms in relation with service in a well-regulated, government sponsored militia. In the majority opinion of Heller, Scalia divides the Second Amendment into two parts: the prefatory clause and the operative clause. The prefatory clause is the first half of the Second Amendment, it reads: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,” while the operative clause is the second half of the Amendment: “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall
Nicholas Willoughby English Comp I Prof. Cook December 17, 2015 We Cant Eliminate It, But It Can Eliminate Us Gun control has been a hot topic in the past few years. Making guns unavailable is only going to cause more crime. Criminals will not stop trying to get their hands on them, illegal or not. The government should not be able to take away our “freedoms”; gun control is one of them. Choosing to remove our weapons will only make our America a more hostile environment to live.
Chicago (State Case) 5-4 under the opinion, Justice Samuel A. Alito writing for the majority, the Court reasoned that rights that are "fundamental to the Nation 's scheme of ordered liberty" or that are "deeply rooted in this Nation 's history and tradition" are appropriately applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court recognized in Heller that the right to self-defense was one such "fundamental" and "deeply rooted" right (McDonald v. Chicago. (n.d.)). The previous cases are what gives people the right to bear arms in the United States with the injunction of the constitution.
Since the signing of the United States Constitution, the dividing of powers in the United States has been based on the sharing of powers between the national government and the local governments (state governments in the case of the United States), which became known as Federalism. Amendment II states “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” The Second Amendment has most recently been interpreted to grant the right of gun ownership to individuals for purposes that include self-defense. At first it was thought to apply only to the Federal government, but through the mechanism of the Fourteenth Amendment, it has been applied to the states as
Constitution, the Second Amendment, ratified in 1791, has been the most publicly contentious of late. With the spate of mass shooting tragedies that made headlines in the past year, the meaning and intentions of the Second Amendment is once again being openly debated. As Voice of America reports, the framers of the Constitution wanted to ensure the protected basic rights, including the right to bear arms, that they enjoyed as Englishmen. In fact, English laws even required that men practice using their firearms should they ever be called to defend the nation
versus Heller was a landmark case that dealt with the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. The question asked by the court was whether or not the D.C. provisions that regulate firearms violate the Second Amendment? In a five to four decision made by the Supreme Court of the United States, it was affirmed that the Second Amendment, pertaining to federal enclaves, safeguards a person’s right to own a firearm for “traditional lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home” (Syllabus). This marked the first case by the Supreme Court that determined Second Amendment rights for individuals to keep and bear
The second amendment states that people have a right to bear arms under a well-regulated militia. This amendment was added to the Bill of Rights because the Americans had just finished fighting The American Revolution with the British government for independence-- Gun control by the British was one of the catalysts of this war. With the revolution fresh in mind, the Americans had registered that there was a need to unite and form a union; however, some Americans felt that a union could result in something similar to the tyranny that the British had imposed on them. They were hesitant of placing the power on a small handful of people-- The second amendment helped take some power from the government and give it to the people.
The Second Amendment protects the right of people to keep and bear arms. This amendment was a controversial among different people in the government. It was between letting the people keep their weapons or to not let the people keep their weapons. This amendment was important to the framers of the Constitution because it provided the country with a well-regulated militia. 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.
Strict regulations and limitations have been pursued already and clearly do not suffice. Statics brought to attention by gun control opponents, show that gun control laws have done little to reduce crime rates. Several restrictions have been made on certain guns, considered as overly dangerous, though in the hands of an unstable criminal even a legal hunting gun can be deadly. Countless restrictions have been made, however people have still found ways around them. If people are unstable and determined enough, they will find a gun, regardless of the restrictions or regulations.
Everyday in the United States, ninety families are changed forever; guns claim an average of ninety lives every day in the United States, 33,000 lives in a single year. Gun control has been a debate in the United States for many years and is constantly thrusted back into the public’s attention by horrific shootings. These shootings constantly cause individuals to petition the government to place stricter and stricter regulations of guns. However, these policies cannot be the solution to this problem. To determine a solution that will be both effective and constitutional, we must look at statistics and research that has been conducted to determine the best course of action.