Gun Laws Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gun Laws - Research Paper Example It is also argued that the right to own guns has become a detriment to the safety of society which is in opposition to the intentions of the Founders. â€Å"Responsible gun owners† tell me that guns and bullets should be stored separately so that children in the house will not have access to firearms. How will this scenario help during a home invasion? The truth is gun owners stay locked and loaded. This is why guns kill many more children (75 to 1) than who (criminals) they were intended. (Kopel, 1993) The Second Amendment states â€Å"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† (â€Å"The Constitution†, 2006). This, as were all of the first ten amendments to the Constitution, was added by the Founding Fathers so as to provide a more clear definition of the specific rights guaranteed to Americans. Obviously, the right to own arms was of supreme importance to the Founders given that it was listed second only after the freedom of religion and speech was documented in the First Amendment. The Founders knew that by ensuring the right to own arms, citizens would have the ability to protect themselves from that which might endanger their life, liberty or pursuit of happiness. This could include bodily protection from persons and animals or from an oppressive government that threatened the freedoms outlined in the Constitution. â€Å"The Second Amendment reflects the found ers’ belief that an armed citizenry, called the ‘general militia’ was a necessary precaution against tyranny by our own government and its army. Those who advocate gun control consider the Second Amendment to be â€Å"obsolete; or is intended solely to guard against suppression of state militias by the central government and therefore restricted in scope by that intent; or does not guarantee a right that is absolute, but one that can be limited by reasonable requirements† (Krouse, 2002).