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Right To Bear Arms Argumentative Essay

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Did you know that in 2016, 33,000 people in the US died from firearms, nearly 1 in 3 of which are suicides? Gun legislation has been a controversial topic since the second amendment was added to the constitution in 1791. Ever since, organizations like the National Rifle Association (NRA) have gotten into arguments with the citizens of the US and the government involving laws regarding the people’s rights to own and bear firearms. Although gun advocates say that firearms are necessary for self-defense, these weapons have done more harm than good. The US should enforce stricter national gun laws because firearms are not effective for self-defense, the Founding Fathers of the constitution had different things in mind, and because it would decrease …show more content…

James Madison drafted the second amendment, which was added to the constitution in 1791. It says: “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.” Over time, people have taken “right of the people to keep and bear arms” as individuals’ rights to own guns, and the Supreme Court ruled it official in 2008 (Document A). However, from the context of the rest of the amendment, it was to allow states (not individuals) to form militias to protect themselves. What the Founding Fathers wanted was for the citizens to make up states’ militaries in an emergency. In current times, that would mean citizens would be allowed to own military weapons like automatic machine guns and even drones. However, in 1791, the military used muskets, and there were no machine guns or any other automatic weapons. It may seem logical that citizens today would only be allowed to own muskets, which is what people owned in 1791. This is far from practical though, as muskets are much harder to find. If the constitution’s authors had in mind that citizens should own firearms solely for the purpose of forming militias, then that’s how it should be

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