The Second Amendment
By: Reed Goebel and Tom Fleming
1st period
What is the Second Amendment?
Well the second amendment is the
right to bear arms.
“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.” as said in the Constitution
History
• It was adopted on December 15,
1791.
• It was ratified by ¾ of the states of
the time.
• Sir William Blackstone created it.
• It was placed in the Bill of Rights
to keep the government under
control.
Continued…
• The first major effort to eliminate
private ownership of firearms came
with the National Firearms Act of
1934.
• President Woodrow Wilson signs the
National Defense Act into law.
• Congress passes the National
Firearms Act, imposing a $200 per
gun tax on the sale of sawed-off
shotguns and machine guns.(1934)
Continued…
• President Lyndon Johnson signs
the Federal Gun Control Act in law.
(1968)
• President Ronald Reagan signs the
Law Enforcement Officers
Protection Act, making it illegal to
make or import armor piercing
bullets. (1986)
Facts
• Personal self-defense is the
primary purpose of the Second
Amendment
• The Second Amendment exists to
prevent tyranny
• The second amendment right
extends outside of the home
• The government cannot overturn
this amendment.
• The Second Amendment was
listed in a Supreme Court ruling as
an individual right.
• The Second Amendment codifies
a pre-existing right
• The Second Amendment protects
individual, not collective rights
• Every citizen is the militia
• As you can see by this chart the United
States has far more guns than other
countries
• This shows us that the 2nd Amendment is
very loose and lets every person own a
firearm
U.S. vs. Cruikshank
(1876)
The first Second Amendment case to reach
the Supreme Court. In brief, following
precedent, the court stated the Bill of Rights
only applied as a limitation on the National
government. Individuals could not file
charges against other citizens in federal
court regarding violations of their
constitutional rights. It was up to the states
to protect the fundamental rights of its
citizens when their rights were abridged by
other citizens.
Presser vs. People of Illinois
(1886)
Herman Presser was found guilty of
parading a group of armed men without
authorization in the state of Illinois. The
defendant claimed Illinois law violated
provisions in the Constitution including the
Second
Amendment. The Presser court expressed
the opinion that the states were prohibited
from disarming "all citizens capable of
bearing arms"
Miller vs. Texas
(1894)
Franklin Miller, convicted of murder, on appeal,
claimed his Second and Fourth Amendment
rights had been violated under the Fourteenth
Amendment. The court upholding the
conviction, reaffirmed Cruikshank v. U.S. and
stated: "And if the fourteenth amendment
limited the power of the states as to such rights,
as pertaining to citizens of the United States, we
think it was fatal to this claim that it was not set
up in the trial court."
Robertson vs. Baldwin
(1897)
The petition set forth, in substance, that
the petitioners were unlawfully
restrained of their liberty by Barry
Baldwin. Shortly thereafter they sued
out this writ of habeas corpus, which,
upon a hearing before the district court,
was dismissed, and an order made
remanding the prisoners to the custody
of the marshal.
U.S. vs. Miller
(1939)
United States v. Miller involved a criminal prosecution
under the National Firearm Act of 1934 (NFA). Passed
in response to public outcry over the St. Valentine Day
Massacre, the NFA requires certain types of firearms
to be registered with the Miscellaneous Tax Unit which
at the time was part of the Bureau of Internal
Revenue. Defendants Miller and Layton filed a
demurrer challenging the relevant section of the
National Firearms Act as an unconstitutional violation
of the Second Amendment.
Lewis vs. U.S.
(1980)
Title VII of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968 forbids the possession of
firearms by a convicted felon. Lewis, the
petitioner, was convicted of a felony in a 1961
state court "for breaking and entering with
intent to commit a misdemeanor". In 1977, in
Virginia, Lewis was charged with receiving and
possessing a firearm in violation of the above
act. Lewis, claimed his latest conviction violated
the Fifth and Sixth Amendments because he
had no counsel present during his 1961 trial.
Burton vs. Sills
(1985)
It originated when members of sportsman
clubs and gun dealers brought an action to
declare unconstitutional the state's gun-control
law, which imposed restrictive requirements.
Conjuring up an image of "political
assassinations, killings of enforcement officers,
and snipings during riots," the court expressed
exaggerated fears of a revolution. The New
Jersey Supreme Court restricted the definition
of militia to "the active, organized militias of the
states,"
U.S. vs. Verdugo-Urquidez
(1990)
This case dealt with whether
nonresident aliens, located in a foreign
country, were entitled to Fourth
Amendment rights. The Court ruled
they were not. Therefore the Court
viewed "the people" in the Second
Amendment to have the same meaning
as in the First, Fourth, Ninth, and Tenth
amendments.
District of Columbia vs. Heller
(2008)
Provisions of the District of Columbia Code
made it illegal to carry an unregistered firearm
and prohibited the registration of handguns,
though the chief of police could issue one-year
licenses for handguns. Dick Anthony Heller was
a D.C. special police officer who was authorized
to carry a handgun while on duty. He applied for
a one-year license for a handgun he wished to
keep at home, but his application was denied.
McDonald vs. Chicago
(2010)
Several suits were filed against Chicago
and Oak Park in Illinois challenging their
gun bans after the Supreme Court
issued its opinion in District of Columbia
v. Heller. In that case, the Supreme
Court held that a District of Columbia
handgun ban violated the Second
Amendment. Here, plaintiffs argued
that the Second Amendment should
also apply to the states.
Debate…
Is prohibiting gun
ownership compatible with the
2nd Amendment?
That’s all
Keep the government away from you
using the second amendment.
Bibliography
https://www.washingtonpost.com/n
ews/the-fix/wp/2015/10/08/how-toargue-about-gun-control/
http://kids.laws.com/secondamendment
https://www.oyez.org/cases/2009/0
8-1521
http://www.guncite.com/gc2ndsup.h
tml