Second Amendment Vs Gun Control

The Second Amendment; Gun Rights versus Gun Control Our government is involved in a balancing act which deals with gun rights versus gun control. O’Connor explains that “There has been a longstanding dispute about whether the Second Amendment had been written to assure for the preservation of a well-trained militia, or whether the right to own a weapon also extended to ownership for private use” (110). One side believes the Second Amendment was written to form a militia during the early years of our country and does not mean everyone may own firearms. Then, there are those who believe in favor of gun rights and believe the Second Amendment explicitly grants them those rights. To express an understanding of these two views, I will describe
Any time a disturbed gunman opens fire and harms people, the public starts to wonder how this could have been prevented. “Inevitably, there are calls for tougher gun control, and routinely they are followed by arguments about Second Amendment rights, along with protestations that “guns do not kill people; people do” (Schwartz 41). It is after tragedies such as what happened at Columbine High School and the Virginia Tech massacre that it becomes evident how divided Americans are when it comes to guns. After tragedies committed with guns, people’s emotions run high. At these times more legislation is brought to Congress or State Legislatures. No matter how strong emotions are running in the wake of tragic crimes committed with guns, resistance is very strong from gun right activists. In favor of gun right activists, in 2001, Attorney General John Ashcroft affirmed that the meaning and intent of the Second Amendment is to protect individuals rights (La Pierre
Further evidence from Gun Violence and Gun Control states “On an annual basis, about 30,000 Americans are killed with guns each year, about 80,000 seriously injured…and an estimate in 2000 concluded that gun violence costs the nation a total of $100 billion annually in direct and indirect costs, including medical costs and lost productivity (805-806). The need for Americans to be able to protect themselves appears to be well documented. According LaPierre, Vice President of the NRA “Some 2.5 million times a year, according to well founded research, Americans defend themselves with firearms” (LaPierre 153). In contrast, Gun Violence and Gun Control states that “most analysts believe guns are used in legitimate self defense situations approximately 100,000 times per year” (806). The difference in figures and opinions reflects the vastness in the differing opinions as well as how high their emotions run. Nonetheless, there does appear to be a need for Americans to defend themselves and a need for regulation. The preceding statistics, along with examples of the obvious failure of banning firearms, and the number of firearms kept out of criminals hands due to the Brady Bill offers evidence for a need for a balance in