Second Amendment to Reduce Gun Violence - Essay Example

? Second Amendment to Reduce Gun Violence s Gun violence is a normal debated political topicof interest in the United States. Poor urban areas are commonly associated with gang violence, frequently involving young male adults or male juveniles. High-profile mass shootings have increased debate over the gun policies although these events are rare. Murders involving the use of rifles in the USA are numerous on a yearly basis and have witnessed the assassinations of high-profile personalities from concealed locations. All gun- related deaths in the United States through suicides account for two-thirds. It is estimated that more than 31,000 people in the USA die yearly from gunshot wounds (Whitney, 2012). Gun violence is one of the leading causes of premature deaths in the United States because young victims are usually involved. Gun violence in the United States is highly extraordinary, and the homicide rate in the country is seven times higher than the combined homicide rate of 22 other high-income countries. There is a high prevalence of gun ownership in the country and less restrictive gun laws that are crucial contributions to the rates of violence as a result of crime in America compared to other countries with the same revenue levels with it. The American government is caught up in the firearm issue. Millions of American citizens own guns and use them responsibly but a few thousand gun owners on a yearly basis do not. There are huge economic costs associated with gun violence in the U.S because violent crime reduces tax revenues that local governments require to cater for the broad range of citizen needs. The second amendment should not be revised by the United States government in order to reduce gun violence. The second amendment preserves the fundamental rights of a citizen to possess a firearm for purposes that are within the law traditionally such as self-defense and self-preservation within the home and within Federal enclave (Levy, Karst & Winkler, 2000). The second amendment was consented to in 1791 and was the first Federal legislation relating to firearms. The second amendment allows for gun control and states that, the country is well protected by civilian militia and the right to possess and own firearms by law abiding citizens of America should not be violated. This means that although this right is regulated, people still have a right to have a gun. Policies at the federal, local and state levels have attempted to address gun violence through a variety of ways, including restricting firearm purchases by youths, setting waiting periods for firearm purchases, enforcing of laws and community policing strategies, strict penalties for gun law offenders, education programs on gun safety for parents and children and community-outreach programs. Federal legislation also aims to prevent the sale of weapons deliberately to criminals domestically and people involved in uprisings abroad through prohibition of ATF. The legislation also prevents the local law enforcement from accessing digital databases for identification purposes of weaponry sale places for weapons recovered at the scenes of crime. The second amendment should not be revised since it protects the people from despotism from their own government or invasion. The amendment removes the power of the government to regulate firearms and also prevents the president or whoever is in charge of authority from restricting the freedom of the people of the United States in case a martial law was declared. The second amendment also emphasizes that citizens have to possess enough arms and ammunitions in order to maintain a status of independence from any authority that might attempt to abuse them including their own government. The second amendment gives private citizens the right to have knives, swords, pistols, rifles or anything else they want to defend themselves from others or the government. The second amendment does not have the constitutional authority to work against the wants of the citizens because they permit or refuse the existence of gun controls (Tushnet, 2007). The second amendment should not be revised to reduce gun violence since its right to bear arms is unquestionable in presumed liberty and is deeply seated in the country’s traditions and culture. The constitution has established a ground for personal liberty. This means that the government carries a heavy burden to substantiate any regulations that would compromise the right. The right to bear arms is, therefore, principle. The other reason why the second amendment should not be revised is due to the fact that it poses no barriers to declaring weapons illegal that are notably dangerous and not in common use. Automatic weapons have and remain banned for a long time, and the task, therefore, is to identify those weapons not necessary for self-defense or commonly used and whose ban would improve on public safety. The right to bear arms in the second amendment enjoys a special constitutional protection and, therefore, caution should be taken when thinking of legislation that might burden that right (Carlson, 2002). The second amendment should not be revised since it provides a protection mechanism to an individual from other individuals. In order to reduce gun violence without revising the second amendment, new legislation and regulations that preserve the basic freedoms contained in the Bill of Rights must be made. The legislation must hold the view point that the privilege to possess weapons is only for life, property and liberty protection than any other selfish means. To be even, technology should be adapted to improve response times and stop intruders of any kind since regulating firearms alone cannot keep schools, streets and the public safe. Enhanced safety measures and armed security personnel would provide an effective deterrent to most would be assailants without limiting the rights of self-defense and access to guns for the law-abiding citizens. Guns are part of the American culture as is violence, and so chances of repealing the second amendment are nil (Uviller & Merkel, 2002). Gun violence cannot be reduced since the second amendment can hardly be revised and the guns can never be banned or confiscated. The American government should change the gun culture by making ownership of guns a cultural stigma, provide access to affordable mental health care, provide free and first class education to the poor to escape poverty and revise the drug prevention laws that intensify violence among the communities. The government can hence reduce the incidences of gun violence in the country and make the incidences of mass casualty shootings like in Newtown, Connecticut a rare occurrence. Lawmakers should make sure that any new gun control legislation conforms to the second amendment right to keep and bear arms, which is derived from the natural law rights of self-preservation and self-defense. Legislation can be made to prohibit the availability of guns to criminals and the mentally ill without putting off the inalienable rights of law abiding citizens to possess guns (Tushnet, 2007). The American government should seek to tackle the desire behind shootings and violence with guns than stopping a person in futility with malicious intent from possessing a rifle. The weight of gun violence on the society of America is significant, regardless of years of productivity lost of life, fear, physical or mental impairment or costs to the economy. The weaknesses in the present laws, in relation to guns, add up to the load of gun violence by creating low standards for lawful ownership of firearms, and many loopholes aimed withholding guns from unwarranted citizens. The American government through the lawmakers could remedy the current weaknesses in the gun control laws and ensure that the high-risk groups are prohibited from possessing firearms. The government should also adopt strict regulations to prohibit guns from ending up in the hands of forbidden citizens and hence reduce violence since fewer guns find their ways to criminals. References Carlson, A. (2002). The antiquated right: an argument for the repeal of Second Constitution Amendment. New York: P. Lang. Levy, L. W., Karst, K. L., & Winkler, A. (2000). Encyclopedia of the American Constitution (2nd ed.). New York: Macmillan Reference USA. Tushnet, M. V. (2007). Out of range: why the Constitution cannot end the battle over guns. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Uviller, H. R., & Merkel, W. G. (2002). The militia and the right to arms, or, How the second amendment fell silently. Durham: Duke University Press. Whitney, C. R. (2012). Living with guns: a liberal's case for the Second Amendment. New York: Public Affairs. Read More