The Second Amendment and the Right to Bear Arms - 550 Words

The Second Amendment and the Right to Bear Arms (Essay Sample) Content: THE SECOND AMENDMENT AND THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMSName:Course:Instructor:Date:Of all the amendment in the American constitution, the only one that has received massive attention from the time of its inception is The Second Amendment. This is an amendment that gives the American citizens the right to keep and bear arms. Over the years, the Americans have been caught in a social and political dilemma on the issue of whether every other person has a right to keep and carry around their guns. This debate has been further founded by the number of cases that graced the courts and the number of deaths that are reported on a yearly basis. As such there has been a lot of opinionated debates and scholarly material pointing to the topic at a subtle level.[Susan Milligan, 'We Need Gun Control To Stop More Than Criminals - US News', US News World Report, last modified 2014, accessed October 30, 2014, /opinion/blogs/susan-milligan/2014/01/16/we-need-gun-control-to-stop-more-than-crim inals.] Sam Harris, one of the world renowned writers has even written an opinion article debating the same on his blog, expressing his views on gun rights. To elevate the sensitivity of the issues there is a scholarly article on gun ownership on the Library of Congress. A critical review of the two articles brings out some interesting findings.[Harris, Sam. 'The Riddle Of The Gun'. Blog. Sam Harris, 2013. Accessed October 30, 2014. /blog/item/the-riddle-of-the-gun.] Sam Harris on his blog post, states the importance of the topic and how it preys on most peoples minds. In his opinion, there are extremists on both sides of the debate, however as far as he is concerned, he is to be found on both sides of the divide. According to him, he would support a nation with freedom to carry guns; at the same time he recognizes the need for stricter laws on the validity of those that carry the guns. Additionally, he points out that, he has never doubted the ability of the police to offer respons ive approaches to crime with reference to the 911 emergencies. However, he feels that people need more than a responsive unit, when a criminal comes bulging in to the safety of the home without warning. With reference to the timing between when an emergency call is placed and the reaction of a gun own to an intruder, the latter wins more points. According to Harris, this does not mean that one does not believe in the police. He also recons that, in the event that there is an altercation, the presence of a weapon can turn deadly swiftly and a murderer can claim self defense. As such, in his opinion, Americans should be given their right to own guns and carry them; however, better scrutiny is required to regulate mentally unstable persons owning them and misusing the right.[Harris, Sam. 'The Riddle Of The Gun'. Blog. Sam Harris, 2013. Accessed October 30, 2014. /blog/item/the-riddle-of-the-gun.] The article by Tom Welch does not dwell opinionated accounts of the gun rights according t o the second amendment, unlike the blog post by Sa Harris. Blogs are written in the writers views and thus are open to preferences and prejudice. This article is an academic article and states facts with supporting evidence from some of the myths that have surrounded the gun control and associated rights. That article starts off with a series of questions which form the basis for the people arguing against gun possession. Ideally, most of the people that feel that the government should control guns in the society cite that, gun increase crime incidences and tend to be more dangerous to the intended victims that the perpetrators. Additionally they cite that guns are dangerous in the presence of children. According to the article much of these believes are perpetrated ...