Take A Stand: On Gun Control 2.Introduction This underlying issue began with the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment. Broadly, the amendment is concerned with security through self-defense; the key difference between the gun rights and gun control perspectives lies with precisely who is entitled to self- defense and how that defense is to be manifested. Supporters of gun rights believe that the Second Amendment applies to individual-level possession of firearms, whereas supporters of gun control argue that the intent was to provide for the formation and readiness of peacekeeping forces such as the army or state militias. (Since the federal Militia Act of 1903, individual state militias have been …show more content…
The opinion about gun rights and the Second Amendment is consistently reflected in public opinion polls on gun ownership. For example, a Gallup poll conducted in 2008 demonstrated that 73 percent of respondents believed that the wording of the Second Amendment indicates a guarantee of private ownership as well as the formation of state militias (Gallup 2008).
Take A Stand: On Gun Control 3.Argument 1 Legal opinion on the gun control issue seems divided, with both sides claiming victory. In some instances, both pro- and anti-gun advocates claim victory in the very same case. The case of United States v. Miller (1930), for example, is cited by the Brady Campaign (2007) as evidence of the courts’ interpretation in favor of gun possession by militia members only, whereas the same case is cited by the NRA (Tahmassebi 2000) as evidence of support for the constitutional guarantee of individual ownership. Dozens of other contradictory instances may be found in federal and circuit court opinions dating back more than a century. The use and