Is the second amendment outdated; or misinterpreted for recreational use? The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right citizens have to keep and bear arms. The Second Amendment was added to the Bill of rights in 1791. It was one of 10 original amendments in the Constitution. The Second Amendment 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.” The English Bill of rights 1689 has very similar rights listed and is thought to have heavily influenced the Second amendment. The Second Amendment has been interpreted in many different ways. The people leave it up to the Judicial system to interpret the Second Amendment.
Miller, an interesting precedent was set. The courts ruled some restrictions and regulations on guns (Short barreled Shotguns and short barreled rifles) as constitutional. This court case was one of the earlier Supreme Court decisions dealing with the second amendment.(United States V. Miller) It set a limit on the freedom citizens have with guns and really started gun control. The court case District of Columbia vs. Heller also set a very interesting precedent. The Supreme Court ruled the Firearms Regulations Act of 1975 as unconstitutional and also ruled the right to own firearms as an individual right to self defence.(DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA) The right to bear arms will not be infringed, even if there is no modern militia to be registered in. This idea is really solidified in the Presser vs. Illinois court case. The court 's rulings were very clear again stating that the right to bear arms is an individual
However, despite the United States being the number one country in gun ownership, it is number nineteen in gun related homicides rates.(Wikipedia) Even at number nineteen, there are still nearly 12,000 gun related crimes/homicides per year.(FBI) In Australia, Finland, and the UK, there are less than 40 gun related crimes/homicides. The solution to less crime now seems to lean towards banning guns. However when looking at the overall violent crime rate in the United States, the numbers are 367.9 violent crimes per 100,000 people.(FBI) The violent crime rate in America is also going down every year. However, the amount of guns in the United States goes up every year. The top 3 countries in violent crime rates are Australia, South Africa and the UK. All these countries have banned guns and nearly triple the violent crime found in the United States.(James Slack) So for a law abiding citizen, having the right to a gun might not be such a bad idea. If citizens have a right to protect themselves and the tools necessary to do so, crime rates actually seem to go down. Crime rates decreasing with the presence of the second amendment solidify that the right to bear arms is not outdated at all. Modern America enjoys the benefits of safer
The right to bear arms protects “The Individual” rights from owing a firearm. The modern federal government easily accepted the 2nd Amendment with a widespread agreement that power of the federal government to infringe the Amendment that gives people the right to bear arms. If the government should not have the power to abbreviate from the free right to exercise of religion, than the government should not have the power to abridge the 2nd Amendment right (Lund & Winkler, n.d.). Over the past century, many restriction were supported to prevent criminal from possessing firearms as the law also limits the law-abiding people who respect the law also known as “Honest
In conclusion, the second amendment is very important for the United States of America in order to protect our freedom and the common good. Our founding fathers gave us this right to ensure us the ability to protect those self-evident truths. Further, our government has already taken away much of our freedom and we need our guns to protect ourselves from this overreaching government. Most of all, the reason the second amendment is important is in order to ensure us our freedom and make sure we are not enslaved by our government. For these reasons, we must protect and fight for our second amendment right to bear arms.
The Second Amendment of the U.S. 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.
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.” This statement basically means that people should be able to own guns for their own security and that right should not be taken away. The Second Amendment was added to the Constitution because the creators of the Constitution wanted to make sure that it protected basic rights, including the right to bear arms. It was also added to the Constitution because shortly after it was ratified, James Madison wanted to give more power to the state militia and to give more power to the people to give them the ability to fight back against the Federalists and the tyrannical government they were creating. After fighting off the British, the Second Amendment was created to give citizens the opportunity to fight back against controlling government and protect themselves with their own weapons.
We are entitled to the right to bear arms and taking that right away would be unconstitutional. Guns are not the cause for all the violence and crimes that have happened over the years. They do not increase the death rates. Children are more likely to die in a car or swimming pool accident then gun related deaths (VerBruggen). The weapons are needed for protection and hunting, owning a gun is not unconstitutional Taking the Second Amendment away or changing it would be unconstitutional and Un American, It is like any other right. This right is one of the reasons why we are the land of the free and home of the brave. “Any society that will give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both” - Benjamin Franklin
America probably has the highest rate of gun ownership in the world. In Canada, the percentage of Canadian households with a rifle is approximately equal to the level in United States. According to the statistics of gun murder rates around the world from ‘Bowling for columbine’, America has 11,127 gun accidents while Canada merely has 165. Is the number of gun ownerships a main factor behind a violent society? Indeed weapon does not commit crimes, the perpetrator does.
Throughout the years there has been an ongoing debate over the Second Amendment and how it should be interpreted. The issue that is being debated is whether our government has the right to regulate guns. The answer of who has which rights lies within how one interprets the Second Amendment. With this being the case, one must also think about what circumstances the Framers were under when this Amendment was written. There are two major sides to this debate, one being the collective side, which feels that the right was given for collective purposes only. This side is in favor of having stricter gun control laws, as they feel that by having stricter laws the number of crimes that are being committed with guns will be reduced and thus save lives. However while gun control laws may decrease criminals’ access to guns, the same laws restricts gun owning citizens who abide by the law; these citizens make up a great majority of the opposing side of this argument. These people argue that the law was made with the individual citizens in mind. This group believes that the Amendment should be interpreted to guarantee citizens free access to firearms. One major group that is in strong opposition of stricter gun control laws is the National Rifle Association (NRA). The NRA argues that having stricter gun control laws will only hinder law-abiding citizens. The final outcome on this debate will mainly depend on how this Amendment is going to be interpreted.
According to www.archives.gov, the second amendment of the United States Constitution reads 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.” This amendment is
“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 right of all Americans to bear arms is a right the Founding Fathers held to equal importance as the Constitution itself. Gun control laws directly violate this right and therefore should not even be under consideration. Even if that issue is overlooked, gun control advocates state that in order to reduce firearm related violence, gun control laws must be implemented to remove the violence caused by firearms. Although this may seem reasonable, the consequences of such laws are ironically counterproductive; they exacerbate the problem instead of fixing it. Besides the fact that the American Constitution guarantees its citizens the right to bear arms, the idea of restricting gun ownership in order to reduce firearm-related violence would ultimately fail given the previous experiments of gun control in England and in numerous states.
People have questioned gun control long time. Many people wonder if anyone, aside from those who join the law force, should be allowed to carry guns. Benjamin Franklin once said, “Those who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety” (Wright 4). Franklin understood that taking guns away from law-abiding citizens would not uphold their liberty. Some people who argue for gun control state many violent crimes involve guns. Others believe a child could find the gun and something bad could happen to the child or others when a gun is unsafely stored. People who argue against gun control might say there is a huge psychological gap between citizens who shoot to protect themselves or their property and those who go into schools and shoot at others. Criminals will always find a way around gun control laws and will be able to obtain and use guns illegally. The second amendment protects gun rights for individual citizens. Reasonable gun control laws and educational steps can be taken to protect the majority of U.S. citizens. Gun control does not only take guns away from criminals, gun control also limits law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves and their families when necessary.
The second amendment states “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” The Founding Fathers included this in the Bill of Rights because they feared the Federal Government might oppress the population if the people did not have the means to defend themselves as a nation or individuals.
The second amendment to the US Constitution shows that it is unconstitutional to have complete and total gun control. 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.” This means that it is the right of an American citizen, abiding by the constitution, has the right to bear arms. Currently, there are over three hundred and seven billion people residing as American citizens. Within the homes of these Americans, forty five percent have a registered gun in their household. As a diverse nation, there are many reasons why there are guns located within a household. Sixty percent stated the gun is used for protection against int...
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.” As America was once dependent on England, Americans looked to England’s governmental institutions as a base on how to govern the United States. America configured the Second Amendment based off political ideologies that originated in England. In 1181, King Henry issued the Assize of Arms, stating citizens were to possess weapons at all times to secure that England citizens would be protected against foreign invasions. In England, males as young as seven were required to bear arms to ensure an extensive defense for their country; it was considered an Englishman’s obligation to his country. In addition, Militias became vital to English life, as they leveled monarchial rule...
High homicide rate can be directed link to present of guns in family household. America is known to have the highest gun possession rate in the world. Due to the Second Amendment, American have easy access to guns. Anyone can
The Second Amendment of the United States protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms. It was adopted on December 15, 1791 along with the rest of the Bill of Rights. The United States Government should not infringe on those rights by the enforcement of gun control against law-abiding citizens. Gun control does not reduce crime, does not stop criminals from obtaining guns, and does not address the real issue of violent crime. There is no evidence that gun control affects the crime rate.