The Gun Control Debate

The Gun Control Debate-

The gun control debate in America is a battle between personal freedom and public safety.

For nearly 160 years, there were no limits to the Second Amendment, which guarantees “the

right of the people to keep and bear arms.”

In 1934, however, and especially in the last

four decades, Americans have begun to proscribe and debate the extent of that right. The

National Firearms Act of 1934 was the first restriction on gun rights in American history.

As a result, fully automatic weapons are available only after an extensive background check

on the owner.

In 1968, the term “gun control” gained new meaning with the passage of the federal Gun

Control Act. Ratified in the wake of two important political assassinations — Robert

Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. — the Act requires that all guns carry serial numbers

forever tied to the original purchaser. Additionally, it prohibited gun ownership by

convicted felons and, as a result of a 1990s amendment, it requires a criminal background

check for purchasers at the time of sale.

Certain states have their own gun control legislation, although all are governed by the

federal Act of 1968. Individual states can deem their own levels of restriction on

concealed weapons and open carry, or the visible transporting of a weapon. And restrictions

vary widely by state, with New York and Illinois seen as the most restrictive and Arizona

and Texas, the most relaxed.

The latest incarnation of the gun control debate has been in the form of the Assault

Weapons Ban of 1994, which Congress failed to uphold in its latest session. The law

prohibited the sale of any semi-automatic assault weapons manufactured after 1994.

Supporters of the ban said it helped keep violent weapons off the street, while opponents

claimed it imposed a confusing classification system, was overly restrictive and had little

effect on controlling violent crime.

Gun rights advocates argue that a well-armed public helps prevent crime and ensure personal

safety. Gun control proponents, on the other hand, fear that widespread gun ownership

actually increases crime rates and leads to other negative outcomes, both public and

private. Is the Second Amendment out-of-date, or does it guarantee an integral right?

The Gun Control Debate