Brave New World

Brave New World
"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." second amendment to the United States Constitution, 1791. Within this famous paragraph lies the right that Americans both cherish and fear, the right to have a gun. Of all the civil rights endowed by Bill of Rights and it’s amendments, none has been as been opposed so hostile and defended so staunchly as the Second Amendment.
Besieged in courts, bogged down in legislation, the Second Amendment as our forefathers intended it is constantly in limbo. "To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them." (Richard Henry Lee, Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress, initiator of the Declaration of Independence, and member of the first Senate, which passed the Bill of Rights.) "The great object is that every man be armed ... Everyone who is able may have a gun." (Patrick Henry, in the Virginia Convention on ratification of the Constitution.) "The advantage of being armed ... the Americans possess over the people of all other nations ... Notwithstanding the military establishments in the several Kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." (James Madison, author of the Bill of Rights, in his Federalist Paper No. 26.) The Second Amendment was not the first of it’s kind. Under the laws of Alfred the Great, whose reign began in 872 A.D., all English citizens from the nobility to the peasants were obligated to privately purchase weapons and be available for military duty. Under the Assize of Arms of 1181, freemen between the ages of 15 and 40 were required by law to possess certain arms. They were required twice a year to demonstrate to Royal Officials that they were appropriately armed. In 1662, Gunsmiths in England were ordered to deliver to the government lists of all purchasers, as has been the case in recent years. In 1623, Virginia outlawed its colonists to travel unless they were "well armed"; in 1631 it required colonists to engage in target practice on Sunday and ...

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...Kennedy were also members. Aren't drugs banned? Your normal citizen doesn’t have drugs, but criminals do. If guns are taken away, only the good people won’t have them. With some 20,000 firearms regulations now on the books, we do not need still more gun-control laws. Ultimately, it is people choices to use firearms to commit violent crimes. So criminals should be controlled, not the guns which they share with millions of law-abiding citizens. Owning a gun is a right, not a privilege.

WORKS CITED

Lee, Patricia. "Fighting for Freedom." Guns & Ammo Sept. 1992: 26.

Schmidt, Shelly, and Bardes "AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS TODAY" West Publishing Company, 1991-92.

Adams, Les "The Second Amendment Primer" Odysseus Editions, 1996.

Report of the Subcommittee On The Constitution of the Committee On The Judiciary U.S. Senate Ninety Seventh Congress Second Session

U.S. Department Of Justice

From the Internet, The National Rifle Association, Handgun Control Inc., Violence Policy Center, The Department of Transportation, The Journal of Firearms and Public Policy, Gun Owners of America, USA Today, The 2nd Amendment Law Library,