THE SECOND AMENDMENT Essay Example For Students

THE SECOND AMENDMENT: Essay What Role Should The Government Play in Gun Control?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. Gun control is a real issue with Americans today. Many people have different opinions about how to handle our growing dilemma concerning guns. There are those who believe we should ban guns altogether and those who believe we should not ban or restrict the peoples right to own guns at all. Both sides have valid arguments, but neither side seems to know how to compromise because of their very different opinions. I personally believe guns should be banned. However, those against gun control have very good arguments. The Second Amendment was written because of the colonists fear of an all-powerful central government taking over, but there are many interpretations of how the Second Amendment reads. The court has never found the Second Amendment to clash with the Fourteenth Amendments Due Process clause which states that, No state shalldeprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law (McClenaghan 522). This gave each state the right to set up their own rules and regulations, which I believe, is one reason why we have the problems that we do. There have been four major cases heard by the Supreme Court which found that the fire-arm control laws are constitutional; United States v. Cruikshank (1986), Presser v. Illinois (1886), Miller v. Texas (1894), and the United States v. Miller (1939) (Strahinich 41). United States v. Miller was the most important. It supported a section of the National Firearms Act of 1934, basically stating that it is a crime to ship sawed off shotguns, machine guns, or silencers across state lines unless registered with the Treasury Department (McClenaghan 522). The United States already has more than twenty thousand gun laws, but they do not seem to be making an impact. The first American gun control laws were written before the Revolutionary War. The most effective and more recent laws have been the Gun Control Act of 1986 and the Brady Law. The Gun Control Act of 1986 has a lot of impact on our rights concerning firearms today. It requires federal licensing and inspection of dealers with new and stricter guidelines. It restricted the sale of ammunition and firearms between states and completely banned importing Saturday night specials. Citizens could no longer own destructive devices such as bazookas and machine guns (Strahinich 51). This mainly attempts to prohibit high risk groups from obtaining firearms. The Gun Control Act of 1986 created new and greater penalties for using firearms to commit federal crimes. The Brady Law of 1994 required a buyer to wait at least five days before receiving a handgun, therefore giving the seller adequa te time to do a background check. The opposition argues that since there are over two million handguns in circulation today it would be nearly impossible for every single buyer to be checked. Those gun control believe that neither the Brady Act nor the Gun Control Act of 1986 are strong enough. Its revision in 1998 expanded required waiting periods on handguns, to requiring waiting periods on all firearms (Netzley 32). Some have suggested limiting guns and ammunition. Virginia Governor Doug Wilder proposed limiting gun purchases to one per person per month (Roleff 65). However, in 1982 Kennesaw, Georgia created an ordinance that required every head of household to own a gun and ammunition (Strahinich 48). Washington DC has the countrys most extreme gun law. It states that No civilian may buy or carry a handgun, nor may any gun be kept assembled or loaded in ones home for self defense. Yet, Washington has one of the highest homicide rates in the United States (Roleff 47). It is my be lief that no single state can accurately decide what is best for the nation as a whole. It is said that any gun control measure that makes it harder to obtain guns would tend to produce more gun violence rather than less because the law abiding citizens will be defenseless against the criminal types. To gun control activists, repressive gun control laws are not at all effective. If anything, it will nurture the spread of firearms. Just look at how the repressive gun laws of Chicago, New York, and Washington DC sent responsible gun use underground. T.V. A Violent Baby-Sitter EssayOne issue frequently debated is gun violence that affects children. Each day in the United States fourteen children are killed in accidents, suicides, and homicides, and hundreds more are injured. Those against gun control claim that gun accidentsinvolving both children and adults have fallen since the 1970s (Roleff 66-67). One solution either way would be to teach our children about proper and responsible gun safety. Every year more than thirty four thousand Americans are killed with handguns in homicides, suicides, and accidents. Only three hundred are listed as justifiable homicide (Roleff 22-23). This category includes shooting a burglar, rapist, or mugger. Police kill close to 330 innocent people annually. Citizens kill only thirty people a year because they are mistaken for an intruder (Lott, 1-2). It has been proven that a gun in the home is forty three times more likely to kill its owner, a family member, or friend rather than an intruder (Roleff 23). In 1992, more people in Texas were killed by guns than car accidents (Roleff 25). Those who do not favor gun control argue that those figures do not include citizens whose lives were saved because an intruder was scared off by a gun. They claim that close to 82,000 people use firearms in defense for themself, someone else, or their property (Roleff 117). There are two basic approaches to controlling this problem. Either let everyone have access to guns, except those prohibited by law, or do not let anyone have a gun except those permitted, such as those in the line if duty or law enforcement officials. I personally believe that all handguns and assault weapons should be banned and destroyed with the exception of law enforcement officials and military. We might not be able to stop all of this gun violence but at least we can close loopholes that control the sale and distribution of guns in America. Next to automobiles, guns are the second most deadly consumer product on the market. There are over two hundred million guns in circulation today, compared to the mere fifty four million in 1950 (Roleff 142). Works CitedDolan, Edward, Margaret Scariano. Guns in the United States. New York, New York: Moffa Press, Incorporated, 1994. pp.. 29-30, 55. Lott, J.R. More Guns Less Crime. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, 1998. pp.. 1-2. McClenaghan, William. American Government. Needham, Massachusetts: Prentice Hall, 1993. pp.. 489, 522. Netzley, P.D. Issues in Crime. Sandiego, California: Lucent Books Inc., 2000. pp.. 32Roleff, T.L. ed. Gun Control, Opposing Viewpoints. Sandiego, California: Greenhaven Press Inc., 1997. pp.. 22-23, 25, 45, 47, 65-67, 76, 85, 117, 142. Strahinich, Helen. Guns in America. United States: Walker Publishing Company, 1992. pp.. 41, 48, 51. http://www.alphadogweb.com/firearms/gun_control_is_a_nice_phrase.htm