Second Amendment Pros And Cons

The United States Constitution is nearly 250 years old and since then, the founding fathers have left it up to future generations of Americans to interpret the meaning of the first rights that they established, commonly referred to as the bill of rights. Most Americans believe that they have a complete understanding of the first amendment. If asked, most people will correctly state that the first amendment includes the freedom of speech, the freedom of religion, and the freedom of press. Unfortunately, there is misunderstanding among most other amendments. The most commonly misunderstood amendment is the second amendment. The Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788. The second amendment of the new constitution …show more content…
We are furthering ourselves from the principles of the constitution. It is true that we live in a different era, but our country was founded on the people controlling the country, not the government. Some lawmakers wish to regulate gun ownership, some seek to preserve ownership, and others are looking to prohibit ownership altogether. The gun debate is well warranted, there is an increase in gun violence and it is causing mass confusion among lawmakers. Since the rise in gun violence, the second amendment has been subject to stricter regulation. It seems that once a month there is yet another national tragedy on the news concerning a gun issue. Specifically, there has a been a focus on assault and semi-automatic rifles. Mass murderers, including Omar Mateen, Adam Lanza, Eric Harris, and James Holmes, have impacted American society greater than they may have …show more content…
Anti-gun advocates claim that when the founding fathers wrote the second amendment, they were referring to guns being owned by militias, and since there is no longer a need for militias, there is no longer a need for guns. The rebuttal to this argument is based on the word people. The amendment states “… the right of the people to keep and bare arms…” Another rebuttal against the argument that the second amendment is intended only for militias, is the Militia Acts of 1792. Gun-control advocates claim that the second amendment was intended for militias; however, in 1792 George Washington (considered to be the most influential founding father) passed a law requiring every man between the ages of 18 and 45 to own a gun and ammunition. (Klein 2012) This law alone proves that gun ownership is an individual right and the founding fathers intended that future generations understand the importance of

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