The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution states 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." Some people who advocate for the stronger gun control and extremists who go as far to claim that all guns should be illegal dwell on the part that talks about gun rights in relation to the militia. In a court case dating back to 1939, the Supreme Court ruled that because “the possession of a sawed-off double barrel shotgun does not have a reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia, the Second Amendment does not protect the possession of such an instrument” (United States V. Miller, 1939). …show more content…
Furthermore in the 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller court case, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm even if it is not related to service in a militia as long as the firearm is utilized in “traditionally lawful purposes, such as self defense within the home” refuting the claim that since militias typically are no longer utilized, fire arms should be prohibited or at least regulated on those grounds. The impact of the District of Columbia v. Heller court case extended to a later case that took place in 2010. The McDonald v. Chicago court case dealt with the application of the Second Amendment to states because of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Privileges and Immunities or the Due Process clauses. The Supreme Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment does indeed extend the Second Amendment to states and that the District of Columbia v Heller case recognized that the right to self-defense in traditionally acceptable ways unrelated to the service of a militia through the use of firearms is a “fundamental and deeply-rooted …show more content…
In 2013 following the devastating Sandy Hook Elementary School and the Aurora movie theater shootings the Obama administration has a released a plan detailing the President’s plan to “reduce gun violence”. This plan explicitly states that the President strongly believes in the Second Amendment and it’s protection of the right to bear arms. The plan includes a mix of initiatives, executive actions and legislative actions that are preemptive – making it harder for firearms to fall into the wrong hands. This plan includes but not limited to extensive background checks, stronger bans on assault weapons, limitation of ammunition magazines to 10 rounds, getting rid of armor piercing bullets, initiating extensive research on gun violence and quality coverage of mental health treatment. Through this plan, President Obama aims to reach potential criminals early by incorporating education about gun violence into high school curriculum. Many people applaud this plan as it is well planned and it not only attempts to prevent crimes through heavier restrictions but also expands to cover mental health treatment and aims to get rid of some of the more dangerous aspects of firearm use like armor piercing bullets and limiting the number of rounds a magazine can hold. In addition, it also includes altering law enforcement to make it stronger by creating serious repercussions for gun
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.
The second amendment states 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.” (1 GOVT 6., Sidlow/Henschen). Often because of the social and political demands for gun control, the second amendment seems to consistently conjure claims of personal violation of rights, whether in agreement or disagreement of gun
The Court concluded in D.C. v. Heller (2008) that the Second Amendment does not protect the right to own “any weapon whatsoever,” and “dangerous and unusual weapons” may be prohibited. The Court agreed that such bans do not infringe the Second Amendment, for the prohibition of semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines do not disarm individuals or affect
As previously stated, this amendment refers to the right of the people to form groups and have guns in order for a democracy to truly work. Another conflict with citing the Second Amendment as a piece of anti-gun control evidence is the lack of historical context when applying it to today’s gun controversy. The Second Amendment was passed on September 25th, 1789, and was ratified on December 15th, 1791 (Lund and Winkler). At the beginning of the 18th century, the flintlock was the predominant gun machinery (Battista). This blueprint was a smooth, long design for a gun (“Early Firearms History”).
amendment is also not granted by the US constitution. To many people, the second amendment is not clear. It confuses a lot in that some people argue that those that have the rights to possess firearms for self-defense are only the military. It does not specify that the citizens have the right to own firearms for self-defense and personal use. A study conducted by a Yale Professor showed that the “shall-issue” laws resulted in a rise in the rates of the violence, crimes, rape, and robbery hence with this it could be concluded that ownership of firearms by citizens lead to an increase in the crime rates.
Its enduring impact is through controversy and many debates. The Denotation and Speculation of the Second Amendment Amendment II 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.” “Amendment 2 legal definition of Amendment” a website talking about the amendment, acknowledges that the amendment says it allows firearms, but with
The Second Amendment, "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." –James Madison, The Second Amendment. The founders of our country as well as our constitution believed that without weapons in the form of firearms, there is no freedom from the harsh rulings of a corrupt government. These founders had just been freed from the duty of war from a corrupt and harsh government, without their weapons or the weapons of the people; this country would not be where it is today.
The articles I chose to compare and contrast were, “Scrutinizing the Second Amendment” by Adam Winkler and “Nothing to debate: Second Amendment, legal gun in my purse saved our lives” by Lynne Russell. While there was not much to compare, aside from the articles both relating to the Second Amendment, it was quite obvious that one article was strictly opinionated, while the other was a solid analysis. In Russell’s article, she describes an event that occurred when she and her husband were traveling across the United States. They stopped at a motel for the evening and were ambushed by a deranged, armed man inside their motel room.
Two years ago, in June of 2008, the Supreme Court ruled in District of Columbia v. Heller that District of Columbia’s law which banned its citizens from keeping a handgun in their home violated the Second Amendment, which protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms. When looking back on this case, it must be noted that the Supreme Court did not clearly define whether or not the Second Amendment applied to the States, since the District of Columbia is a federal territory, run solely by Congress. Fast forward to today in Oak Park, which is a suburb of Chicago, they have laws in place that ban almost all citizens from possessing a handgun. Otis McDonald, Adams Orlov, Colleen Lawson, and David Lawson filed a suit against the city, stating this ban has left them without a proper tool for self-defense against criminals, and that it violates their Second and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
The debate on the Second Amendment, and many cases have been reviewed by the Supreme Court to determine what exactly it means. 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.” The debate is over what the Second Amendment means when it says “the right of the people to keep and bear arms”. Those in favor of gun control believe that putting more restrictions on guns will make America safer and reduce the number of deaths in our country.
In 2008, the Supreme Court stated that the Second Amendment specifically protects people’s right to own a gun for protection. This means that every citizen has
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.
January 4th, 2016; former president Barack Obama proposed a new system to reduce gun death rates and to keep firearms out of “the wrong hands”. For some citizens (and to congress), this was an act of triumph and courage. To others, this system as a whole is tampering with and stealing their rights as an American citizen, and from a survey taken by ‘pollingreport.com’ that’s exactly how 52% of U.S citizens feel. Evidently, these proposals have done anything but their purpose.
The Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights is the right to bear arms, which gives American citizens a constitutional right to own and purchase guns. It states, "A well-regulated
Nutter goes on to reveal some surprising information, stating that out of the average 100,000 people that are shot each year, over 30 percent end up dying, while only 10 percent were intentional homicides (Lane 2015). Every year approximately 18,000 children are shot, only further proving the school shooter epidemic our country faces. This sort of violence is nearly exclusive to urban areas, as cities make up 15 percent of the population but account for 39 percent gun related murders and 23 percent total homicides. Nutter is proposing a ban on assault weapons, quite similar to a 1994 ban that decreased total gun murders by 6.7 percent and the types of shootings they were most often used in, specifically ones with multiple victims and police officers as victims. Nutter proposes to ban the sale, manufacture, transfer, and importation of 157 common types of assault rifles, ban large capacity magazines, and prohibit the sale or transfer of high holding ability ammunition dispensing