Gun control and gun safety groups say focus is being shifted from gun safety as firearms laws are being loosened.
“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.”
The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees what may be the most uniquely American of all rights. Those 27 words have inspired millions of words in thousands of debates over the Amendment’s meaning and what, if any, limits may apply.
There is no question that firearms played a pivotal role in the birth and growth of the United States of America.
From the Pilgrims’ matchlock muskets and the six shooters carried by cowboys, to the modern semiautomatic rifles wielded by Korean business owners in the Los Angeles riots of 1992, guns are an integral part of American culture.
The right to keep and bear arms is unique, says Amy Swearer, a senior legal fellow with Advancing American Freedom and Second Amendment scholar.
“It’s an incredibly short list [of countries that recognize the right to own guns], and there are none of them have anything in theory or practice that is what I would say [is] a true equivalent of the American right to keep and bear arms,” Swearer told The Epoch Times.
Based on sales data, permit applications, background checks and other factors, there are an estimated 400 million to 500 million firearms in civilian hands in the United States, according to the Sixguns Fraternity. This is an average of two firearms for every person over age 18.
Yet, while America celebrates 250 years as a society that honors the individual right to keep and bear arms, gun ownership remains one of the nation’s most divisive issues.
Gun control groups did not respond to emails seeking comment for this article, but many have posted their concerns online. Gun control advocates say violence intervention strategies, strict gun control—including bans—and tighter regulation of the firearms industry are elements of common-sense gun laws.
They point to high-profile stories of mass shootings, school shootings, and violent crime involving firearms.
“The gun homicide rate in the U.S. is 26 times higher than that of other developed countries, but research shows that common-sense public safety laws can reduce gun violence and save lives,” Everytown for Gun Safety, states on its website.
The group, along with others, say gunshots are the number one cause of death for American children.
The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control reports that the top cause of death for children between 1- and 17-years-old are “unintentional injuries.” On the CDC website“>website. Matthew Garnett with the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, defines unintentional injury as, deaths from fatal injuries that were “unintended, unplanned, and did not occur on purpose.”
“Unintentional injury deaths include a wide array of mechanisms, with the four most common being: poisoning, motor vehicle crashes, drowning, and falls,” Garnett wrote.
Second Amendment activists say gun control policies harm law abiding citizens rather than criminals. They say the data presented by gun control organizations are cherry-picked or manipulated to get the desired result.
Gun Owners of America says Everytown skews its data on children killed by firearms because it includes 18- and 19-year-olds. Generally, most data involving children only includes children aged 1 to 17, while 18- and 19-year-olds are considered adults.
Public safety has always played a role in American gun legislation, says Robert J. Spitzer, professor emeritus at the State University of New York, College at Cortland.
This includes laws on where and how guns could be carried, who could own them, and which arms are protected by the Second Amendment.
Spitzer has written extensively on the Second Amendment. In a 2017 article published by Duke University, “Gun Law History in the United States and Second Amendment Rights,” he describes gun laws from pre-Revolutionary times to the modern day.
He contends that while America has a “wild west” reputation, it has also worked to tame that reputation. Spitzer wrote that “stand-your-ground” laws, the unlicensed carry of firearms, allowing those younger than 21 to legally carry a gun in public, and similar policies, do not align with America’s tradition of gun regulation.
“[These] laws are not a return to the past. They are a refutation of America’s past, and a determined march away from America’s gun regulation tradition,” Spitzer wrote. “And these changes have nothing to do with improving safety or security in society, but everything to do with politics.”
So, what did the founders have to say? How did they view guns and their impact on public safety? And what route have the courts taken in trying to answer those questions?
