AbstractThe Second Amendment states, "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". Are the laws on gun control effective? Should the average American have the right to carry a weapon? If someone carries a weapon, is he or she prepared to use it? Do these pistol-packing citizens make society safer or more dangerous? These questions and many others like them are argued across the United States everyday.
It has been asked many times throughout history what "the right of the people to bear arms, shall not be infringed" actually means. Some Americans say that statement indicates that all Americans have the right to carry firearms whenever they please, and any laws that prohibit that are an infringement of their freedom. Other Americans point out that since the inception of the National Guard, states no longer have the need for militias and see no reason for common citizens to carry weapons.
United States
United States
History of handgun carry permit laws, 1986-present..."If the authors of the second Amendment could have foreseen the debate, they might have phrased the amendment differently" (usconstitution.net, 2006).
According to Cramer and Kopel, "before the Civil War, some statutes were in place to address concealed carrying, they did so by outlawing it entirely rather than setting up a system whereby concealed carrying would be lawful only with a permit" (1994). Since the 1920s The United States Government has entrusted each state to develop and enforce their concealed weapons laws. "In 1987 Florida became the first state to pass the 'shall issue' law under which an average citizen could acquire a permit to carry a concealed weapon" (1996, Richard). Following Florida's lead many other states also adopted the same type of laws that make it easier for adults to...