Gun Control

The U.S. Constitution is the only national constitution that guarantees its citizens the right to possess firearms. “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,” the Second Amendment (1791) enigmatically provides, “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” However, a state’s right to regulate the use of force within its territorial jurisdiction is integral to the concept of sovereignty.

Before the Revolutionary War (1775–83), each American colony had militia units for self-defense. As relations between Great Britain and the colonists deteriorated, they began taking control of these militias, made up of fellow colonists. Following the signing of the Declaration of Independence (1776), the thirteen colonies, which became states, adopted constitutions. Those for North Carolina (1776), Pennsylvania (1776), Virginia (1776), and Massachusetts (1780), as well as Vermont (1777 and 1786) (which would become a state in 1791, the same year the Bill of Rights was ratified), contained language allowing the citizenry to bear arms.

The Framers of the Constitution did not include a bill of rights in the Constitution itself, and it soon became evident to those supporting ratification of the Constitution that one would be [Page 263] necessary to win over doubters. The first twelve proposed amendments constituting a Bill of Rights were introduced in Congress in 1789 by James Madison. The last ten, including the one ensuring the right to bear arms, were ratified in 1791.

On May 14, 2000, a Million Mom March on the National Mall promoted support for stronger gun control laws. Attempts to restrict the use of firearms have faced powerful opposition from the National Rifle Association and other gun advocates. Reuters

Exactly why the framers included the right to bear arms in the Bill of Rights is uncertain. One reasonable theory is that after having fought a war to throw off the tyranny of Britain, Americans wanted to be able again to take up arms against any new tyranny that might arise. Moreover, the United States and its territory on a newly discovered continent was not a completely safe environment. Having citizens armed and trained would help ensure a readily available defense force in the event of attacks from British Canada, Spanish Florida, French Louisiana, or hostile Native Americans. And many Americans, especially on the frontier, relied on hunting for survival.

Given the Second Amendment, do the states and the national government have constitutional authority to limit or prohibit citizens’ possession of guns? This has become one of the most divisive questions in the United States. At one end of the spectrum are those who advocate that no citizen not engaged in law enforcement or the armed forces should be allowed to possess a gun. At the other end are those who believe that every citizen should be armed for self-protection.

Although the number is declining, each year nearly thirty thousand persons die, and many more are wounded, by firearms in the United States, far exceeding that of any other nation. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey in 2005, as reported by the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice, some 477,040 victims of violent crimes faced an offender with a firearm, and firearms were involved in nine percent of the 4.7 million violent crimes [Page 264] in the United States, including rape, sexual assault, and robbery. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 66 percent of the 16,137 murders in 2004 were committed by people with firearms. Moreover, in spite of the number of violent crimes involving guns, in 2004 Congress failed to renew a ban on semiautomatic assault weapons and ammunition clips holding more than ten rounds, except for military and police use, which was put in place in 1994.

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