The Gun Control Debate

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"I have a very strict gun control policy: if there's a gun around, I want to be in control of it." -- Clint Eastwood Gun control has a history dating back to 1791, when the Second Amendment of the Constitution was ratified. However, more recently, the debate over gun control has escalated into a much more public issue to which many citizens can relate. After all, stories about incidents involving guns appear frequently today in newspapers and on television or the radio. One could say that the debate started with the passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968, which banned ownership of guns by certain groups of people and regulated the sale of guns. Since then, two main groups have gradually appeared: people who oppose strict federal regulations on guns, and people who favor those federal regulations. The Second Amendment to the Constitution 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.”1 Because the “militia” is composed of ordinary citizens that may take up arms when the country needs, all Americans should be constitutionally able to own a gun. This is one of the beliefs that proponents of gun ownership, including the National Rifle Association (NRA), hold. They feel that most people—excluding certain groups of people, such as criminals should be able to buy a gun with little trouble and without a waiting period. Also, they think that limiting gun ownership would restrict law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves from criminals and violent crime, and that people need to be able to protect themselves and their families. An article from the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action actually rep... ... middle of paper ... ....S. Constitution Online. 2 "More Guns, Less Crime (Again) in 2007." National Rifle Association of America. 3 "Gun Control." Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia. WORKS CITED Adams, R. J. "Gun Control." Awesome Library. 2014. Web 30 Apr. 2015. . "Gun Control." Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia. Microsoft Corporation. Web 30 Apr. 2015. . "More Guns, Less Crime (Again) in 2007." National Rifle Association of America. 23 Sept.2008. Institute for Legislative Action. Web 30 Apr. 2015. . "The United States Constitution." U.S. Constitution Online. Web 30 Apr. 2015. Clint Eastwood Quote http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/gun_control.html#XShIErUHLBztRpl0.99

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