Right To Bear Arms. History of Gun Rights

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1 1 Stephen Metcalfe English 2010 March 5, 13 Right To Bear Arms Through out history our fore fathers have been in search for a better future, and have searched to give the people of this nation the right to live. Here within this nation civilians haven t always had a reasonable amount of rights, including the right to bear arms. These rights are actually backed by a long history of work, fighting, and protecting the people and their rights. So the question is, is it worth more to be free or control gun violence? The history of gun rights has proved that freedom has been a good and bad thing, so which is more important? History of Gun Rights 1791: The second amendment: In 1791 the second amendment was ratified. A committee for the reviewing of the amendments, assigned and authored by James Madison, the second amendment states: The rights to 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. According to the Bill of Rights. This granted citizens to own and bear arms, for the protection against threats. 1871: NRA: In 1871 the NRA (national rifle association) was founded; the association was founded by a group of Union veterans, which soon were to become the face of the 20 th centuries American pro-gun leaders. The NRA was formed to promote the

2 2 shooting of rifles and owning rifles. This includes hunting rifles, assault rifles both semi and fully automatic. 1822: Bliss v. Commonwealth: In 1822 Bliss v. Commonwealth brought some of the first questions on the second amendments right to bear arms. The questions came up because of a case where a man was fined $100 for carrying a sword that was concealed within a cane. By citing a provision in Commonwealth s constitution, Bliss was able to gain the majority vote by the court to overturn the conviction. The provision in Commonwealth s constitution states: The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the state, shall not be questioned. 1856: Dred Scott v. Sandford: Because of the safety of slaves when they were made free, in 1856 the second amendment would include, affording slaves full rights of American citizenship, the right to keep and bear arms wherever they went. 1934: National Firearms Act: In result of gangster violence and the Saint valentine s massacre, the first effort was made to ban private ownership of firearms. As they could not remove the second amendment, efforts were made to control guns through tax excise. According to Ben Garrett, The taxes were at $200 per gun. The targeted guns for control were fully automatic guns, sawed off shotguns, mainly guns that were considered to be gangster guns. 1938: Licensing for dealers: The Federal Firearms act made so that any dealers selling or shipping firearms were required to get a license through the U.S. department of commerce. This made anyone selling weapons would have to be thoroughly inspected to keep any illegal firearms from being sold.

3 3 Gun Rights or Gun Control? Whether the freedom stands to keep and bear arms or limits and barriers are set to control use and sales, violent crimes will still be committed. Because of this, questions about this freedom arise within government and communities throughout the nation. The questions of whether we should or should not allow this freedom. Considering these issues, what is more important, controlling gun ownership rights or protecting these rights? The Chart below shows the shooting from past years that have occurred both in the time that ownership was being protected and when attempting to control ownership. It shows that whether or not limits are set the shootings continue to occur.

4 4 Gun control When it comes to guns, no one wants to give the government to much control, the Second Amendment states The rights to a well regulated Militia, Being necessary to the security of a free state. If the government still has the right-to-use guns but when civilians lose that right, it would create chaos. When a criminal wants something, they won t stop at anything to get it, the biggest problem is that they do have the ability to get it even if they object is illegal. Gangsters continue to smuggle, sell and use drugs on a huge scale, as long as there is a buyer, there is always a seller, someone always willing to risk a little to make an extra buck. Even though drugs are illegal, they are still out there. Drugs have a way of working around walls, prison bars, and laws, so what will stop illegal firearms from doing the same? In many different shootings the shooter has been stopped or at least slowed down due to a victim being a gun carrier, now it doesn t happen in every situation but some is better then none. According to James Agresti and Ried Smith of, normally about 19% of adults own a hand gun, only about 2% of them have one concealed, this leaves a slim chance for a shooter to be stopped in every situation (Justfacts). A big issue with can control laws leave law enforcement with the most gun control, the problem with this is in a shooting situation, police cannot respond instantly. This gives time for the shooter to act. Allowing the shooter time to think and have a plan is dangerous and can result in more casualties. But where laws allow legal gun owners can cut this time down, not everyone is packing stopping power but even a slim chance

5 5 can stop a shooter. There aren t only negative views on control, as shootings continue to happen, gun freedom is questioned. It may not be the complete reason crimes are committed, but to much freedom and fuel the fire and makes crime easier to commit. That brings up the question how much freedom should be allowed? Also gun control has begun to effect businesses and jobs. For those who build and manufacture military style rifles, the laws being made have affected business. Which could shut these businesses down forcing all those in it to lose their jobs. PTR Industries of Bristol said the bill approved by the General Assembly was fraught with ambiguous definitions, insufficient considerations for the trade, conflicting mandates and disastrous consequences for the fundamental rights of the people of Connecticut. (PTR) Ownership Protection For years just about anyone has had the ability to own a gun, and those that pass certain requirements can carry a gun. Not only that, almost anyone can walk in a gun shop, sporting goods, or online shop and get a variety of different weapons, it doesn t take much to purchase a firearm. Getting a gun in today s world is incredibly easy; as long as you have the money you can purchase a gun. Of course there are certain guns that are illegal and you would have to have certain licenses to own certain weapons. People who don t qualify to carry them own even these firearms, as they are willing to push and climb every wall and law they face. America has become souse to firearms that freedom is expected, not that freedom is bad. The figure below shows the gun-related murders in America.

6 6 This huge amount of gun-related murders aren t completely caused by freedom we have with firearms, but it doesn t necessarily help that out of any country America has the most gun owners. In the next chart you will see a resemblance to the murders chart.

7 7 This chart shows the number of guns per 100 people, on the very right in red is America and as you can see, America is the leader by a long shot. The Washington post provides this information, and the two charts above. The pictures show that the different subjects re closely related when looking at the numbers, too much freedom could be a deadly option. Is There Any Solution? According to smart gun laws organization, over 600 bills to prevent gun violence have been introduced this year in the United States, a 63% increase over this time last year. Solutions are being put into place to help water down the violence, some bad ideas and some good. In order for a solution to be eligible, both sides have to be looked at very carefully to see every possible view of the situation. In the war for gun rights and gun control, each side is a one sided argument, most aren t looking at both sides to see the cons and pros of the situation. The smart bills being introduced are taking a look into keeping the gun rights alive and breathing, but aiming more towards stopping the mentally unstable from purchasing dangerous weapons. For assault weapons fully automatic firearms, setting background checks and setting the standards higher for more credibility to own and fire these weapons are being set into place to protect us from those that are unstable. Giving freedom to bear arms is important but setting limits to keep our rights in balance is the right road to fixing the problem. Senator Feinstien is working to take weapons of war of the streets, she fought for our safety and introduced a new ban on assault weapons

8 8 weapons designed for combat that continue to make battlegrounds out of our movie theaters, shopping malls, and elementary schools across the country. The Photo above is of Senator Feinstien on smartgunlaws.org. The constitutionality of purposed firearms legislation talks about banning certain weapons like, semi-automatic and automatic military style firearms, as well as high capacity magazines. Also requiring background checks for all firearms, not just federal dealers. Last but not least setting higher penalties on trafficking firearms. Conclusion Even though its just about impossible to please both sides of this issue, something does need to be done to help lower violence. Steps are being put into place to help fix the issues, some are considerably good solutions and some aren t exactly fair solutions. As long as those that are looking for a solution are looking into the good and bad of both sides, then we will start to see some progression. Its not likely that we will have are freedom completely stripped from our possession, and it is good if we aren t allowed to much freedom. To have a solution work, there needs to be balance. Considering that America has the highest gun related murders, and the most gun owners, doesn t necessarily mean that is the problem and that is why the murder rates are so high. Even if guns became illegal, they will still be bought and sold by someone and there is no perfect solution to get rid of this problem.

9 9 Works Cited 2 nd amendment Argument on the debate Writer: Ben Garrett, 2013 About.com Viewed: Utah gun rights: viewed Posted by Max Fisher on December 15, 2012 at 2:14 pm Viewed "Gun Control Facts." By James D. Agresti and Reid K. Smith. Just Facts, September 13, Revised 2/11/13 Viewed: Viewed The constitutionality of purposed firearms legislation. Winnie Stachelberg, Arkadi Gerney and Robyn Thomas Febuary 12, 2013 Gun Manufacturer leaving Connecticut over new gun laws. Mark Green. April 10,