A634.8.3.RB.MELISSA BURNS

In Chapter 12, LaFollette (2007) discusses gun control. In recent years, we have witnessed many tragedies with respect to guns in the workplace. Do citizens have a right to bear arms? Answer the question in your reflection blog. State your opinion and follow up your position with supporting documentation. Next, present the opposing side to your stance. Use external sources to enhance your claims.

Gun Control

            Gun control in the United States is such a complicated issue as many Americans seem to think that it is somehow a threat to their personal freedom.  One arguement that I would like to propose is one of historical context and perspective. When the constitution was written, what types of guns were available to the public and why was it that the founding fathers felt it necessary to put the right to bear arms in the Constitution of the United States as a right to their citizens?  We do not have the right to drive, the right to fly, the right to do so many other things that are now considered as privileges, so why the right to bear arms?  We are using laws written in the 17thcentury to create policy in the 21stcentury, perhaps some perspective and understanding of the times would be appropriate.  

            One of the biggest perceived threats to the free nation of the United States was the standing army, an army of professional soldiers and generals who could order an attack on the citizens at any time (Shusterman, 2018).  The purpose of the second amendment was to ensure a militia that was made up of free people of the country (Shusterman, 2018).  This amendment was not written to ensure that each individual person could bear arms, it was written to protect the nation from the threat of a standing army by arming each person of the nation as a member of the militia (Shusterman, 2018).  In addition, the guns available to the public in the 17thcentury compared to the guns that are available to the public today are vastly different machines. A musket hardly compares to an AK-47. When put into context, the purpose of the 2ndamendment looks more like the modern-day Swiss approach to gun control than it does the that of the United States.  In Switzerland, students go through 2 years of service and training and are issued a military weapon and ammunition to be kept in the case of a need to be called to arms.  These weapons are not to be used for personal use, recreation or home protection; they are only to be used for military training.         

            Let’s look at how other free nations handle the issue of gun control in comparison to the United States.  We already briefly discussed Switzerland, how about Australia? American’s like to think of the Aussies as a free and almost wild west sort of a nation, but how much freedom do they have when it comes to gun control?  In Australia a person is able to own a gun, but it is not as easy as in the United States and far more strict measures are in place.  For one, there needs to be a purpose for a person to have a gun such as hunting or being in the military.  Even so, there are still guns that slip through the cracks and like most free nations there are still issues of gun violence despite their strict gun control policies.  

            One argument made by the March for Our Lives brief was to remind the courts that the right to bear arms isn’t the only constitutional commitment implicated in the guns debate, but also the right to public assembly and access to public education that are being threatened by the gun violence that is a direct result of the second amendment interpretation and policies (Feinzig & Zoffer, 2019).  So, do we have a gun control issue in the United States?  Let me finish without a direct answer, but instead with 2 charts comparing gun use in the United States to that of other high-income nations around the world to consider this question (Fox, 2019):



 

References

Feinzig, J. & Zoffer, J. (2019).  A Constitutional Case for Gun Control. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/10/constitutional-case-gun-control/600694/

Fox, K. (2019).  How US Gun Culture Compares with the World.  Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/03/americas/us-gun-statistics/index.html

 

Shusterman, N. (2018).  What the Second Amendment Really Meant to the Founders.  Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/02/22/what-the-second-amendment-really-meant-to-the-founders/

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