Gun Control - Common Sense or Deprivation of Constitutional Rights?

Introduction
Americans enjoy a wide range of personal freedoms, guaranteed by the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights. These rights are given to all in an effort to guarantee fair and equal treatment for all citizens. In recent decades, however, an intense debate over the right to bear arms, more specifically firearms, has divided society and caused an important right of Americans to be put into jeopardy.

Constitutional Rights to Gun Ownership
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution reads: "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." In a literal interpretation of the Amendment, it can be argued that the framers of the Constitution clearly intended that private citizens have the right to own and use firearms, within the scope of legal behavior. Conversely, an argument can be made that this Amendment was created in a different era, before automatic weapons existed, before the proliferation of illegal drug turf wars, and before life became hectic and stressful to the point where people resort to shooting each other to resolve differences. Nonetheless, the Amendment exists, and as such, must be honored. In an effort to curb dangerous behavior with the weapons that Americans have the right to possess, gun control legislation has been instituted nationally and on the state level for decades.

Historical Perspective of Legal and Illegal Gun Ownership
In order to understand the gun control issue, a brief history of American gun ownership is helpful to review. United States gun ownership is quite extensive; since the late 1950s, then statistics on gun ownership were first kept, an average of 50% of American households reports having at least one firearm in it, with research indicating that this 50% is concentrated in large part in the American South and Midwest, with the typical owner being a middle aged, middle class male living in a rural area (Rosen, 2000). While the percentages of legal ownership have remained steady, the number of unlicensed, illegally obtained guns in the hands of criminals has increased steadily over time, as has the lethality of guns. Technology has led to automatic weapons that can fire many rounds of ammunition very quickly and accurately, creating an efficient killing machine. Gun supporters use the illegal weapons argument as a point against gun control, since criminals would most likely ignore gun control laws anyhow. Those in favor of gun control counter with the example that many of the dozens of school shootings that have taken place worldwide over the last decade or so were committed with legally obtained guns that children used in the crimes after taking them from their homes. Despite the debate, a 1993 Gallup pole indicated that more than 70% of Americans, many of whom are gun owners, are in favor of gun control legislation (Sileo, 1994).

The Heart of the Gun Control Debate
From a Constitutional standpoint, legal scholars have stated that gun control legislation does not violate the rights of Americans because no portion of the Constitution was ever intended to facilitate the breaking of the law or the harm of others. Purists of the Bill of Rights counter that the Second Amendment provides absolute rights for the bearing of arms, and any law that restricts that is an effort to take away someone's rights. In this context, one can clearly see the paradoxical nature of this heated debate. There are also documented examples where the lack of gun control legislation or the expiration of same has not made a difference. More specifically, in April, 2005, an automatic weapons ban in the City of New York expired and was not renewed. The absence of this ban did very little to change the number of crimes committed in the city with automatic weapons-for better or for worse (From Gun Control to Bullet Control, 2005). Strangely enough, this fact gives both sides of the debate "ammunition" to support their points of view. The White House has weighed in on the issue as well, when President George W. Bush approved legislation that protected gun manufacturers from legal consequences attributed to the misuse of their products, infuriating many in the American political arena.

Conclusion
While this brief paper cannot even begin to adequately explore this issue, it has made on thing abundantly clear-discussion and debate of this issue will continue for years to come and every effort must be made to protect people without killing vital rights that are guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and have made America the greatest superpower the world has ever known.

Works Cited
Bogus, Carl T. "What Does the Second Amendment Restrict? A Collective Rights Analysis." Constitutional Commentary 18.3 (2001): 485+.

"From Gun Control to Bullet Control." The New American 13 June 2005: 41. Rosen, Gary. "Yes and No to Gun Control." Commentary Sept. 2000: 47.

Sileo, Chi Chi. "Gun Control War Targets Our Worst Nightmares." Insight on the News 6 June 1994: 12+.