Gun Control In The 1790s

In the 1790s, it was perfectly fine to own a slave, or two, or 50. In the 1790s, it was fine and dandy to marry your 12 year old daughter off to an old man for a couple acres of extra farmland. In the 1790s, Robespierre was going around ordering for thousands of people’s heads to be chopped off--and no one said a thing. In the 1790s, the Bill of Rights was supplemented into the constitution. The second amendment, ratified in 1791, summarily states that the citizens of the United States have the right to bear arms. In pure contrast to this, I believe that the need to stand for more gun control laws being enacted in the United States is more vital now than ever. Times have simply changed since the 1790s, and the need for the second amendment

The meaning, the purpose, and the need for the Second Amendment at the time are debatable. The amendment, as written in 1790, is stated as follows: 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. Adopted on December 15, 1791, these 27 words have been used as the main kindling for the ongoing national debate on gun control. The intended meaning behind these words has been debated in Supreme Court cases such as United States v. Cruikshank, wherein the Court stated, “The right to bear arms is not granted by the Constitution; neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence.” Because of the perspectively interpretational manner in which the amendment was written, it is not clear whether the constitution protects gun ownership for the purpose of maintaining a civilian militia, or for the purpose of protecting individual gun

A very common rebuttal to gun control is the fact that some people solely use guns for self defense. In my opinion, a fair assessment is that if there is no harm being caused to another person (and no reason to suspect otherwise), then owning a gun does not necessarily have to be a bad thing. Because there is an incredible amount of support for gun rights and gun control alike, it is obvious that compromise is necessary. In the United States, guns are cherished and will more than likely never be outright banned. What we can do, though, is be more strict and thorough when dealing with guns. Selling guns to a person that is mentally ill, with reason to believe that they are at risk of causing harm to themselves or others, should never, under any circumstances, be