State: Tennessee
Party: Democrat
Topic: Constitutional Limitations on the Right to Bear Arms
The debate over gun ownership is centered on the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which
protects "the right of the people to keep and bear arms." Although this summary of the amendment is
interpreted to grant the right to ownership of a weapon to all American citizens, this is clearly not so. The
exact statement of the amendment is, “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.”1 There are a vast number of
ways of comprehending The Second Amendment. Some argue that this amendment guarantees that every
American citizen should be able to bear arms and own a gun while others feel that the amendment was
anticipated not for the general public, but for national defense against the professional army of Red Coats
in Britain who have overthrown civilian governments and deprived people of basic rights prior to the
colonization of America. With this implicated the state of Tennessee feels that there should be a distinction
between the two interpretations, preferably among gun control and gun rights, and also state that the
Second Amendment is utterly outdated, thus losing its essence to advocate the right to mainly overthrow
the government if seen corrupt. Also, we feel that there should be some margin that draws the line of
federal reform and state reform. And additionally, we must tackle the issue of strengthening gun laws
pertaining to the youth of America.
The Second Amendment is one of the most controversial out of the Ten in the U.S. Constitution.
Numerous amounts of scholars have tried to infer its meaning, but many have failed due to the immense
amounts of interpretations it has conveyed. Doubtlessly, many can agree that its meaning has gone astray.
For one, when the amendment was proposed in 1791, its objective was to allocate the right to bear arms and
to form a well organized militia in the event of the people’s sovereignty depicted endangered by hostile
Native American tribes and other invaders. In contrast, the year 2007 has brought more than a few hostile
significant others. Firearms since the 19th century have been enhanced and improved to be more powerful
and lethal. Not only is the Second Amendment “protecting” the rights to guns, its giving the citizens of
Find Law – U.S. Constitution: Second Amendment.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment02/
1
America the rights to other weapons, weapons as fatal as nuclear weapons. With the Constitution protecting
such rights, the safety and security of our nation will eventually be infringed upon. Stating this, Tennessee
feels that there needs to be a norm or limitation to the kinds of weapons citizens are advocating the rights
to.
Everyday, Americans nation-wide are victims of gun violence. Even in schools, there have been
many incidents where children have become victims. For example, the Amish school shooting which
occurred on the morning of Monday, October 2, 2006, when a gunman took hostages and eventually killed
five girls (aged 7–13) and then killed himself at West Nickel Mines School, a one-room Amish
schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, a village in Bart Township of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United
States.2 Another famous school shooting, the Columbine shooting, that occurred on Tuesday, April 20,
1999, at Columbine High School in unincorporated Jefferson County, Colorado, near Denver and Littleton.
Two teenage students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, carried out a shooting rampage, killing 12 students
and a teacher, as well as wounding 24 others, before committing suicide. It is still considered to be the
deadliest school shooting and the second deadliest attack on a school in United States history after the Bath
School disaster.3 The massacre provoked debate regarding gun control laws, the availability of firearms in
the United States, and gun violence involving youths. Tennessee would like to address the issue for what it
is; a cry for more gun control among youths, specifically under the age of 18. Almost 30% of youth in the
United States (or over 5.7 million) are estimated to be involved in bullying as either a bully, a target of
bullying, or both. In a recent national survey of students in grades 6-10, 13% reported bullying others, 11%
reported being the target of bullies, and another 6% said that they bullied others and were bullied
themselves.4 It’s obvious that children are becoming more and more susceptible to harassment everyday.
The United States should not wait around until another Columbine Massacre occurs to finally realize that
our nation is in dire need of more strict guns laws for our youth. Other issues controversial to the topic of
the right to bear arms are the debate between gun control and gun rights.
2
SignOnSanDiego.com - "Six killed in Pennsylvania school attack" 2006 10 02.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20061002-1015-crime-schools.html
3
CNN- Columbine Report. 29 March 2007.
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/frameset.exclude.html
4
SafeYouth.org - Bullying Facts and Statistics. 14 November 2003.
http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/faq/bullying.asp
There are many arguments concerning where to draw the line between self-defense and premeditated crime. While Republicans uphold their policy that gives all U.S. citizens the rights to guns
without reform, Democrats feel that there should be some limitation and decree. Without laws, a nation will
plummet in chaos and disaster. Gun rights supporters argue that the phrase "the people" applies to all
individuals rather than an organized collective, and point out that the phrase "the people" means the same
individuals in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 9th, and 10th Amendments. They also cite the fact that the Second
Amendment resides in the Bill of Rights and argue that the Bill of Rights, by its very nature, defines
individual rights of the citizenry. Many proponents of gun rights also read the Second Amendment to state
that because of the need of a formal military, the people have a right to "keep and bear arms" as a
protection from the government. The cultural basis for gun ownership traces to the American Revolution,
where colonists owned and used rifles that were equivalent to those of the British soldiers to gain
independence.5
The problem with regulating such laws is that it generally depends on surroundings and the
environment that citizens reside in. For example, in a large city such as New York, gun control evidently
would become necessary to regulate due to the high crime rate in such a location where a need for a selfdefensive tool would be necessary. New York City is known for having some of the strictest gun laws in
the country. On May 24, 2005, the New York State Assembly passed a bill to change the definition of
'assault weapons' and calling for ballistic fingerprinting of all firearms. The bill does not appear to be under
consideration in the Senate.6 On the contrary, in a small and rural area like Vermont, the stress for gun
control wouldn’t be as great. Vermont is known to have no gun control laws aside from prohibiting
counties and other localities from making their own gun control laws (preemption). The only firearm laws
that apply in Vermont are federal ones.7 In this situation, we feel that gun control should be left up to local
governments and legislatures rather than on a federal or national level.
5
The New England Journal of Medicine - "Gun Ownership as a Risk Factor for Homicide in the Home." 7
October 1993.
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/329/15/1084
6
New York State Assembly - Bill Summary. 29 March 2007.
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A02466
7
NRA-ILA - Vermont Gun Laws. 29 March 2007.
http://www.nraila.org/GunLaws/StateLaws.aspx?ST=VT
In conclusion, the state of Tennessee believes that our nation should strengthen our gun control
laws to some declaration so that we can keep order and manage the crime rate in our country. By
distinguishing the difference between gun control and gun rights, the United States of America’s committee
of Energy and Commerce will be able to come to a consensus in order to pass effective bills to advocate
people’s rights “to bear arms” and also to regulate restrictions and legislature that prohibits organized
criminal activity. Conclusively, our nation is in calamitous need of an understanding that the Second
Amendment is obliviously outdated; therefore its meaning does not coincide with our country’s necessities.
Also, it is critical that legislation be held responsible for passing stronger Bills and Acts in order to restrict
the consumption of guns that are the catalyst of organized crime.
WORKS CITED
1. Find Law – U.S. Constitution: Second Amendment. 29 March 2007.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment02/
2. SignOnSanDiego.com - "Six killed in Pennsylvania school attack" 2006 10 02.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20061002-1015-crime-schools.html
3. CNN- Columbine Report. 29 March 2007.
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/frameset.exclude.html
4. SafeYouth.org - Bullying Facts and Statistics. 14 November 2003.
http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/faq/bullying.asp
5. The New England Journal of Medicine - "Gun Ownership as a Risk Factor for
Homicide in the Home." 7 October 1993.
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/329/15/1084
6. New York State Assembly - Bill Summary. 29 March 2007.
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A02466
7. NRA-ILA - Vermont Gun Laws. 29 March 2007.
http://www.nraila.org/GunLaws/StateLaws.aspx?ST=VT