The meaning and extent of the Constitution Second Amendment has been a cause for controversy and debate for numerous years. Every special interest group and individual has their own opinion on the application of “the right to keep and bear arms” in a modern society. With such subjects there also arises discussion over associated legislation including the “Stand-Your-Ground” law and what locales should be considered “gun free zones”. Events happen on fairly regular basis that question one or two issues concerning gun laws and especially questioning the psychological or sociological minds of those behind them. However, on January 13, 2014 the culmination of all three issues as well as the perpetrator behind them all, simultaneously, came under attack in the city of Wesley Chapel, Florida.
While the name Curtis Reeves may not strike a chord in some individuals memories, the headlines he generated almost certainly will. On that day in January, in a Florida movie theater, Reeves took the life of another man. Court proceedings have barely begun and testimony, analysis, and examination yet available but facts printed surrounding the case and individuals involved continue to keep coming up to the present. In the event that persons are not familiarized with the case, the subsequent bullets are a brief outline of some key facts and information that have become pertinent to beginning to understand; those key facts are as follows:
• Assailant identified as Curtis Reeves, a 71-year old retired Tampa police captain and former Director of Security for Busch Gardens
• Victims are Chad Oulson (fatally wounded) and wife Nicole Oulson (injured)
• Incident occurred over the victim texting during previews for the movie Lone Survivor
• Website of the...
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... a “Stand-your-ground” defense at first also does not correlate this. It seems the most fitting assessment lies in analyzing the actions of Reeves from a different perspective in both events leading up to and immediately after the altercation. It is reasonable to believe that labeling Curtis Reeves did not cause him to commit this act but instead he committed the act to eliminate a cause of frustration and aggression that he previously controlled in other ways.
Works Cited
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Schmalleger, F. (2014). Criminology. In Criminology (p. 68). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.
In 1979 two black assailants forced a man and a women at gun point into the man’s car at a drive-in grocery store. As they were going down the highway the perpetrators robbed both victims, then forced the man out of the car. After a failed escape attempted by the woman, the two men drove her to a nearby
Seigal, L. J., & Worrall, J. L. (2012). Introduction to criminal justice (13th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
On March 12, 2012 Bill Lee, the Chief of Police for Sanford Florida, explained Zimmerman had not been arrested because the police found no evidence to refute Zimmerman’s self-defense claim (Timeline of events: Trayvon Martin shooting case). Then the media decided to bully the state of Florida into bringing Florida by influencing public opinion. One of the ways the media achieved this was by making it seem like the reason there was no evidence to refute Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense, and Zimmerman’s eventual acquittal, was because of the controversial law in several states, including Florida, known as “Stand-Your Ground.”
On April 24th 2009, Richard Moore was severely beaten by two Toronto police constables, Edward Ing and John Cruz. Moore’s injuries consisted of fractured ribs and his scalp was cut which he needed to get stitches for (Edwards). This encounter between poli...
Hickey, T. J. (2010). Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Crime and Criminology, 9th Edition. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Even though there was a complete lack of physical evidence against Steve Titus and the victim’s initial description of the perpetrator did not match him, he was convicted based on the eyewitness testimony given by the victim. Titus was cleared of his charges before sentencing due to the actual perpetrator being caught and positively identified (Loftus & Ketcham, 1991). This case is a prime example of how pressure from the police and relative judgement conceptualization can attribute to misidentifications.
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In the play Twelve Angry Men, a boy is on trial for supposedly murdering his father after a night of arguing. Rodney King, twenty-five, was beaten by four caucasian Los Angeles Police Department officers on March 3, 1991 (CNN Wire 1). On this day, King was pulled over for exceeding the speed limit while intoxicated (Kaplan 1). The jury of both of these cases played a major role in the verdict of each case. In the play Twelve Angry Men, the twelve men that make up the jury are faced with a difficult decision to make; deciding whether or not a nineteen year old boy was guilty of murder. Fast forwarding forty-three years later, twelve jurors were given the Rodney King case in which they had to decide the fate of the four Los Angeles officers that brutally beat Rodney King, an African-American citizen. Being a member of the jury on the Rodney King case must have been a difficult task given the evidence surrounding the trial.
2011. “Serial Killers and Mass Murderers.” American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 9:
...ebrooks, Chris Richardson, Latonya Wilson, Aaron Wyche, Anthony Carter, Earl Terrell, Clifford Jones, Darren Glass, Charles Stephens, Aaron Jackson, Patrick Rogers, Lubie Geter, Terry Pue, Patrick Baltazar, Curtis Walker, Joseph Bell, Timothy Hill were all victims of this ruthless killing. Regardless of who was behind this killings, each one of them got their lives cut short due to someones cruelty. In conclusion, the Atlanta Missing and Murdered case, a major breakthrough to an investigation which had seen 29 African- American children and adults murdered in a series of killings came with the arrest of 23 year old Wayne B. Williams, who was convicted of the crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment. This was one of the darkest moments in the history of Atlanta, a period of darkness which will forever live in the minds of both the victims and the people of Georgia.
As violence and murder rates escalate in America so does the issue of gun control. The consequence of this tragedy births volatile political discourse about gun control and the Second Amendment. The crux of the question is what the founding fathers meant when they wrote, “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.” Since the writing of the Second Amendment the make and model of firearms has changed dramatically and so has the philosophies of the people. A rifle is no longer defined as a single shot, muzzle-loading musket used to primarily protect families or solely for food. Should the weapons we use today be protected by an amendment written nearly 222 years ago? Should the second amendment be rewritten? Does the Second Amendment apply to individual citizens? These questions spark extensive debates in Washington D.C. regarding what the founding fathers intended the amendment to be. The answer to this question lies in the fact that despite hundreds of gun control articles having been written , still the gun control issue remains unresolved. History tells us gun control debates will be in a stalemate until our judicial system defines or rewrites the Second Amend. This paper will examine the history of the Second Amendment, and attempt to define the framers intent, gun control legislation and look at factors that affect Americans on this specific issue...
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