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{{Gun politics by country}} | |||
{{for|the context of these debates|Gun violence in the United States}} | |||
{{redirect|Gun Reform|current gun laws in the U.S.|Gun law in the United States}} | |||
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{{USgunlegalbox}} | {{USgunlegalbox}} | ||
'''Gun politics in the United States''' is characterized by two primary opposing ideologies regarding private ]. | |||
'''Gun politics''' is a controversial area of ] that is primarily defined by the actions of two groups: ] and ] activists. These groups often disagree on the interpretation of laws and court cases related to firearms as well as about the effects of gun control on crime and public safety.<ref name=PGC2012Ch1>{{cite book |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |year=2012 |chapter=Policy Definition and Gun Control |chapterurl= |title=The Politics of Gun Control |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=NSOquAAACAAJ |location=Boulder, Colorado |publisher=Paradigm |isbn=9781594519871 |oclc=714715262 |accessdate= }}</ref>{{rp|7}} | |||
Advocates of ] support increasingly restrictive regulations on gun ownership, while proponents of ] oppose such restrictions and often support the liberalization of gun ownership. These groups typically differ in their interpretations of the ], as well as in their views on the role of firearms in public safety, their impact on public health, and their relationship to crime rates at both national and state levels.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ingraham |first=Christopher |date=2021-11-24 |title=Analysis {{!}} It's time to bring back the assault weapons ban, gun violence experts say |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/02/15/its-time-to-bring-back-the-assault-weapons-ban-gun-violence-experts-say/ |access-date=2023-08-07 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=February 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180218051056/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/02/15/its-time-to-bring-back-the-assault-weapons-ban-gun-violence-experts-say/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Withers |first=Rachel |date=2018-02-16 |title=Jimmy Kimmel Cried Again While Addressing the Parkland Shooting, Desperately Pleading for "Common Sense" |url=https://slate.com/culture/2018/02/jimmy-kimmel-pleads-for-commonsense-gun-reform-through-tears.html |access-date=2023-08-07 |work=Slate |language=en-US |issn=1091-2339 |archive-date=August 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814162217/https://slate.com/culture/2018/02/jimmy-kimmel-pleads-for-commonsense-gun-reform-through-tears.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Bruce-Wilcox1998Ch1">{{cite book |last1=Bruce |first1=John M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VvNb5s8Z3b0C |title=The Changing Politics of Gun Control |last2=Wilcox |first2=Clyde |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=1998 |isbn=978-0847686155 |editor1-last=Bruce |editor1-first=John M. |location=Lanham, Maryland |chapter=Introduction |oclc=833118449 |editor2-last=Wilcox |editor2-first=Clyde |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VvNb5s8Z3b0C&pg=PA1}}</ref>{{rp|1–3}}<ref name="PGC1995Ch1">{{cite book |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |url=https://archive.org/details/politicsofguncon00spit |title=The Politics of Gun Control |publisher=Chatham House |year=1995 |isbn=978-1566430227}}</ref> | |||
Since the 1990s, debates regarding firearm availability and gun violence in the ] have been characterized by concerns about the right to bear arms found in the ], and the responsibility of the ] to serve the needs of its citizens and to prevent ]. Gun control supporters say that broad or unrestricted gun rights inhibit the government from fulfilling that responsibility.<ref name=Bruce-Wilcox1998Ch1>{{cite book |last1=Bruce |first1=John M. |last2=Wilcox |first2=Clyde |year=1998 |chapter=Introduction |chapterurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=VvNb5s8Z3b0C&lpg=PP1&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false |editor1-last=Bruce |editor1-first=John M. |editor2-last=Wilcox |editor2-first=Clyde |title=The Changing Politics of Gun Control |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=VvNb5s8Z3b0C |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |pages= |isbn=0-8476-8615-9 |oclc=833118449 }}</ref>{{rp|1–3}}<ref name=PGC1995Ch1>{{cite book |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |title=The Politics of Gun Control |year=1995 |publisher=Chatham House |isbn=9781566430227 }}</ref> Gun rights supporters promote firearms for ], ], and ].<ref name=Levan>{{cite book |last=Levan |first=Kristine |year=2013 |chapter=4 Guns and Crime: Crime Facilitation Versus Crime Prevention |chapterurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=h4aWFrgW74YC&pg=PA93#v=onepage&q&f=false |editor1-last=Mackey |editor1-first=David A. |editor2-last=Levan |editor2-first=Kristine |title=Crime Prevention |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=h4aWFrgW74YC |location= |publisher=Jones & Bartlett |pages=438 |isbn=9781449615932 |accessdate= |quote= They promote the use of firearms for self-defense, hunting, and sporting activities, and also promote firearm safety. }}</ref>{{rp|96}} Gun control advocates state that keeping guns out of the hands of criminals results in safer communities, while gun rights advocates state that firearm ownership by law-abiding citizens reduces crime. | |||
Since the early 21st century, private firearm ownership in the United States has been steadily increasing, with a notable acceleration during and after 2020.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Helmore |first=Edward |date=2021-12-20 |title=Gun purchases accelerated in the US from 2020 to 2021, study reveals |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/20/us-gun-purchases-2020-2021-study |access-date=2024-01-25 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> | |||
There is further unresolved debate regarding the relationship between guns and violence. For example, a 2003 study by the ] called for further study, because there was "insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of any of the firearms laws or combinations of laws reviewed on violent outcomes".<ref name=CDC2003>{{cite journal |author= |date=October 3, 2003 |title=First Reports Evaluating the Effectiveness of Strategies for Preventing Violence: Firearms Laws. Findings from the Task Force on Community Preventive Services. |url=http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/rr/rr5214.pdf |journal=MMWR |series= |location=Atlanta, Georgia |publisher=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |volume=52 |issue=RR-14 |pages=11–20 |issn=1057-5987 }}</ref> | |||
According to the National Firearms Survey of 2021, the largest and most comprehensive study of U.S. firearm ownership, privately owned firearms are involved in approximately 1.7 million defensive use cases annually.<ref>{{Cite web |last=English |first=William |date=May 18, 2022 |title=2021 National Firearms Survey: Updated Analysis Including Types of Firearms Owned |doi=10.2139/ssrn.4109494 |ssrn=4109494 |s2cid=249165467 |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4109494 |access-date=January 25, 2024 |archive-date=January 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125095400/https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4109494 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
Gun legislation in the United States is constrained by judicial interpretations of the Constitution. In 1789, the United States adopted the Second Amendment, and in 1868 adopted the ]. The effect of those two amendments on gun politics was the subject of landmark ] decisions in 2008 and 2010 respectively, that upheld the right for individuals to possess guns for self-defense. | |||
The survey also indicates a rise in the diversity of firearm owners, with increased ownership rates among females and ethnic minorities compared to previous years.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sullum |first=Jacob |date=2022-09-09 |title=The largest-ever survey of American gun owners finds that defensive use of firearms is common |url=https://reason.com/2022/09/09/the-largest-ever-survey-of-american-gun-owners-finds-that-defensive-use-of-firearms-is-common/ |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Reason.com |language=en-US |archive-date=November 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121173323/https://reason.com/2022/09/09/the-largest-ever-survey-of-american-gun-owners-finds-that-defensive-use-of-firearms-is-common/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-09-08 |title=Largest-Ever Survey of Gun Owners Finds Diversity Increasing, Carrying Common, and More Than 1.6 Million Defensive Uses Per Year |url=https://thereload.com/largest-ever-survey-of-gun-owners-finds-diversity-increasing-carrying-common-and-more-than-1-6-million-defensive-uses-per-year/ |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=The Reload |language=en-US |archive-date=January 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125095401/https://thereload.com/largest-ever-survey-of-gun-owners-finds-diversity-increasing-carrying-common-and-more-than-1-6-million-defensive-uses-per-year/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
U.S. gun politics is increasingly influenced by demographic factors and ], with notable differences observed in gender, age, and income levels as reported by major social surveys.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lizotte |first1=Mary-Kate |date=July 3, 2019 |title=Authoritarian Personality and Gender Differences in Gun Control Attitudes |journal=Journal of Women, Politics & Policy |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=385–408 |doi=10.1080/1554477X.2019.1586045 |s2cid=150628197}}</ref><ref name="PGC2012Ch1">{{cite book |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |title=The Politics of Gun Control |publisher=Paradigm |year=2012 |isbn=978-1594519871 |location=Boulder, Colorado |chapter=Policy Definition and Gun Control |oclc=714715262 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NSOquAAACAAJ}}</ref> | |||
==History== | ==History== | ||
], notable pioneer frontierswoman and scout, aged 43]] | |||
Political scientist ] says that the U.S. "] is generally recognized, rightly or wrongly, as a key component of the American mythic tradition."<ref name=PGC2012Ch1>{{cite book |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |year=2012 |chapter=Policy Definition and Gun Control |chapterurl= |title=The Politics of Gun Control |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=NSOquAAACAAJ |location=Boulder, Colorado |publisher=Paradigm |isbn=9781594519871 |oclc=714715262 |accessdate= }}</ref>{{rp|8}} Spitzer says that the modern American gun culture has at least two historical elements: the militia/frontier ] of the colonial era and the ], and the hunting/sporting ethos.<ref name=PGC2012Ch1/>{{rp|8–10}} Proponents of individuals' gun rights such as ] place them in a larger, even ancient context, arguing that the right to bear arms derives from the rights of ] under ] and of the citizens of a republic described as early as the time of ] and ]. According to Halbrook, common law construction came to establish the right of freemen to be armed, both before and after the ] of 1688, and were further enshrined in the ], and through long-standing ]. These English rights, says Halbrook, formed the basis for the belief shared by many Americans that common law guaranteed citizens the right to keep and carry arms.<ref name=Halbrook1984>{{cite book |last=Halbrook |first=Stephen P. |year=1984 |title=That Every Man Be Armed: The Evolution of a Constitutional Right |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=0tnsgq74x2QC |location=Albuquerque, New Mexico |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |isbn=0-945999-28-3}}</ref> | |||
Firearms in American life begin with the earliest attempts to settle and colonize the United States. Firearms were made, imported and provided for agrarian, hunting, defense and diplomatic purposes. A connection between shooting skills and survival among American men in the colonial expanses was often a necessity, and could serve as a ']' for those entering manhood.<ref name=PGC2012Ch1/>{{rp|9}} Today, the figures of the settler colonist, hunter and outdoorsman survive as central to American gun culture, regardless of modern trends away from hunting and rural life.<ref name=PGC1995Ch1/> | |||
Prior to the ], there was neither the ability nor political desire to maintain a standing army in the American colonies. Since at least the time of the ], English political ideology was strongly opposed to the idea of a ]. Therefore, the armed citizen-soldier carried responsibility. Service in colonial militia, including providing one's own ammunition and weapons, was mandatory for all men. Yet, as early as the 1790s, the mandatory universal militia duty evolved gradually to voluntary militia units and a reliance on a ]. Throughout the 19th century the institution of the organized civilian militia gradually declined.<ref name=PGC2012Ch1/>{{rp|10}} The unorganized civilian militia under current U.S. law consists of all able-bodied males at least seventeen years of age and under the age of 45—with some exceptions—who are not members of the National Guard or Naval Militia, as codified in {{UnitedStatesCode|10|246}}. | |||
], notable pioneer frontierswoman and scout, at age 43. Photo by ].]] | |||
The American hunting tradition comes from a time when the United States was an agrarian, subsistence nation where hunting was a profession for some, an auxiliary source of food for some settlers, and also a deterrence to animal predators. A connection between shooting skills and survival among rural American men was in many cases a necessity and a ']' for those entering manhood.<ref name=PGC2012Ch1/>{{rp|9}} Today, hunting survives as a central sentimental component of a gun culture as a way to control animal populations across the country, regardless of modern trends away from subsistence hunting and rural living.<ref name=PGC1995Ch1/> | |||
The militia/frontiersman spirit derives from an early American dependence on arms to protect themselves from foreign armies and hostile Native Americans. Survival depended upon everyone being capable of using a weapon. Prior to the ] there was neither budget nor manpower nor government desire to maintain a full-time army. Therefore, the armed citizen-soldier carried the responsibility. Service in militia, including providing one's own ammunition and weapons, was mandatory for all men—just as registering for military service upon turning eighteen is today. Yet, as early as the 1790s, the mandatory universal militia duty evolved gradually to voluntary militia units and a reliance on a ]. Throughout the 19th century the institution of the organized civilian militia began to decline.<ref name=PGC2012Ch1/>{{rp|10}} The unorganized civilian militia, however, still remains even in current U.S. law, consisting of essentially everyone from age 17 to 45, while also including former military officers up to age 64, as codified in {{UnitedStatesCode|10|311}}. | |||
Closely related to the militia tradition is the frontier tradition, with the need for self-protection pursuant to westward expansion and the extension of the ].<ref name=PGC2012Ch1/>{{rp|10–11}} Though it has not been a necessary part of daily survival for over a century, "generations of Americans continued to embrace and glorify it as a living inheritance—as a permanent ingredient of this nation's style and culture".<ref name=Anderson1984>{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Jervis |year=1984 |title=Guns in American Life |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=GycIAAAAIAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=ingredient |publisher=Random House |isbn=9780394535982 }}</ref>{{rp|21}} | |||
Closely related to the militia tradition is the frontier tradition, with the need for self-protection pursuant to westward expansion and the extension of the ].<ref name=PGC2012Ch1/>{{rp|10–11}} Though it has not been a necessary part of daily survival for over a century, "generations of Americans continued to embrace and glorify it as a living inheritance{{snd}}as a permanent ingredient of this nation's style and culture".<ref name=Anderson1984>{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Jervis |year=1984 |title=Guns in American Life |url=https://archive.org/details/gunsinamericanli00ande |url-access=registration |quote=ingredient. |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0394535982}}</ref>{{rp|21}} | |||
===Colonial era and the American Revolution=== | |||
Since the founding-era of American Federalist politics, debates regarding firearm availability and gun violence in the United States have been characterized by concerns about the ], as found in the ], and the responsibility of the ] to serve the needs of its citizens and to prevent ]. Firearms regulation supporters say that indiscriminate or unrestricted gun rights inhibit the government from fulfilling that responsibility, and causes a safety concern. Gun rights supporters promote firearms for ] – including ], as well as ] and ].<ref name="Levan">{{cite book |last=Levan |first=Kristine |year=2013 |chapter=4 Guns and Crime: Crime Facilitation Versus Crime Prevention |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h4aWFrgW74YC&pg=PA93|editor1-last=Mackey |editor1-first=David A. |editor2-last=Levan |editor2-first=Kristine |title=Crime Prevention |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h4aWFrgW74YC|publisher=Jones & Bartlett |page=438 |isbn=978-1449615932|quote= They promote the use of firearms for self-defense, hunting, and sporting activities, and also promote firearm safety.}}</ref>{{rp|96}}<ref name="Larry Pratt">{{cite web |url=http://gunowners.org/fs9402.htm |title=Firearms: the People's Liberty Teeth |author=Larry Pratt |access-date=December 30, 2008}}</ref> Gun control advocates state that restricting and tracking gun access would result in safer communities, while gun rights advocates state that increased firearm ownership by law-abiding citizens reduces crime and assert that criminals have always had easy access to firearms.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/11/us/how-criminals-get-guns-in-short-all-too-easily.html|title=How Criminals Get Guns: In Short, All Too Easily|last=Terry|first=Don|date=1992-03-11|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-12-08|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=August 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801135007/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/11/us/how-criminals-get-guns-in-short-all-too-easily.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>]. ''More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws'' (University of Chicago Press, 3rd ed., 2010) {{ISBN|978-0226493664}}</ref> | |||
], by ] stands at the town green of ].)]] Most American school children learn about the ] of ]: ].<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Daniel A. |year=1998 |title=Tax Crusaders and the Politics of Direct Democracy |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Dv1eeixQ99UC&pg=PA23#v=onepage&q&f=false |location= |publisher=Routledge |page=23 |isbn=0-415-91991-6 |accessdate=April 22, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Daniel A. |year=1998 |title=Tax Crusaders and the Politics of Direct Democracy |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Dv1eeixQ99UC&pg=PA174#v=onepage&q&f=false |location= |publisher=Routledge |page=174 |isbn=0-415-91991-6 |accessdate=April 22, 2014 }}</ref> In the years prior to the American Revolution, the British, in response to the colonists' unhappiness over increasingly direct control and taxation of the colonies, imposed a gunpowder embargo on the colonies in an attempt to lessen the ability of the colonists to resist British encroachments into what the colonies regarded as local matters. Two direct attempts to disarm the colonial militias fanned what had been a smoldering resentment of British interference into the fires of war.<ref name="Revwar75.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.revwar75.com/battles/primarydocs/williamsburg.htm |title=Primary Documents Relating to the Seizure of Powder at Williamsburg, VA, April 21, 1775 |last1=Reynolds |first1=Bart |date=September 6, 2006 |website=revwar75.com |location=Horseshoe Bay, Texas |publisher=John Robertson |type=transcription, amateur? |accessdate=November 21, 2010 }}</ref> | |||
Gun legislation in the United States has become increasingly subject to federal judicial interpretation of the Constitution. The Second Amendment to the U.S. 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."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/second_amendment|title=Second Amendment|last=Strasser|first=Mr. Ryan|date=2008-07-01|website=LII / Legal Information Institute|language=en|access-date=2018-10-27|archive-date=September 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911162147/https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/second_amendment|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1791, the United States adopted the Second Amendment, and in 1868 adopted the ]. The historical tradition bounded by these two amendments has been the subject of ] decisions in '']'' (2008), where the Court affirmed for the first time that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to possess firearms for traditionally lawful purposes (such as self-defense within the home), independent of service in a state militia, in '']'' (2010), where the Court ruled that the Second Amendment's restrictions are ] by the ] of the Fourteenth Amendment and thereby apply to state as well as federal law, and most recently in the '']'' (2022). As emphasized in ''Bruen'', the Second Amendment makes an "unqualified command" that the "individual-right" of firearms ownership, as opposed to the collective or militia-based theory of the right, is protected from all restriction unless a government authority can demonstrate their law is with the Nation's historical tradition of firearms regulation.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Williams |first1=Pete |title=Supreme Court allows the carrying of firearms in public in major victory for gun rights groups |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-says-second-amendment-guarantees-right-carry-guns-public-rcna17721 |access-date=June 26, 2022 |publisher=NBC News |date=June 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626001859/https://www.businessinsider.com/supreme-court-guns-decision-second-amendment-new-york-2022-6 |archive-date=June 26, 2022}}</ref> | |||
In 2018 it was estimated that ],<ref> Estimating Global CivilianHELD Firearms Numbers. Aaron Karp. June 2018</ref> and that 40% to 42% of the households in the country have at least one gun. However, record gun sales followed in the following years.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schaeffer |first1=Kathleen |title=Key facts about Americans and guns |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/09/13/key-facts-about-americans-and-guns/ |website=Pew Research Center |publisher= |access-date=October 14, 2022 |archive-date=October 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013212701/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/09/13/key-facts-about-americans-and-guns/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author1=Desilver, Drew|title=A Minority of Americans Own Guns, But Just How Many Is Unclear|url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/06/04/a-minority-of-americans-own-guns-but-just-how-many-is-unclear/|website=Pew Research Center|access-date=October 25, 2015|date=June 4, 2013|archive-date=August 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220817173925/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/06/04/a-minority-of-americans-own-guns-but-just-how-many-is-unclear/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915200955/http://www.gallup.com/poll/1645/guns.aspx |date=September 15, 2017 }}, Gallup. Retrieved October 25, 2015.</ref> The U.S. has by far the highest estimated number of guns per capita in the world, at 120.5 guns for every 100 people.<ref name=SmallArmsSurvey2017>. June 2018 by Aaron Karp. Of ]. See box 4 on page 8 for a detailed explanation of "Computation methods for civilian firearms holdings". See country table in annex PDF: . See {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117202015/http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/weapons-and-markets/tools/global-firearms-holdings.html |date=November 17, 2019 }}.</ref> | |||
These two incidents were the attempt to confiscate the cannon of the Concord and Lexington militias, leading to the ] of April 19, 1775, and the attempt, on April 20, to confiscate militia powder stores in the armory of Williamsburg, Virginia, which led to the ] and a face off between ] and hundreds of militia members on one side and the Royal Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, and British seamen on the other. The Gunpowder Incident was eventually settled by paying the colonists for the powder.<ref name="Revwar75.com"/> | |||
===Colonial era through the Civil War=== | |||
] were members of teams of select men from the American ] during the ] who vowed to be ready for battle against the British within one minute of receiving notice{{Citation needed|date=October 2011}}. On the night of April 18/April 19, 1775, minuteman ], William Dawes, and Dr. ] spread the news that "the Regulars are coming out!"<ref>{{cite book |last=Revere |first=Paul |year=1961 |title=Paul Revere's Three Accounts of His Famous Ride |others=Edmund S. Morgan (introduction) |location=Boston |publisher= Massachusetts Historical Society |isbn=978-0-9619999-0-2 |oclc=450449 }}</ref> Revere was captured before completing his mission when the British marched towards the armory in ] to seize the Massachusetts militia's gunpowder magazine which had been hidden there. Only Dr. Prescott was able to complete the journey to Concord.<ref name=Willis1999>{{cite book |last=Willis |first=Garry |year=1999 |title=A Necessary Evil: A History of American Distrust of Government |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Xs0u-NZ9bfoC |location=New York |publisher=Simon & Schuster |pages= |isbn= |oclc=41606289 |accessdate= }}</ref>{{rp|33}} | |||
In the summer of 1619 in ], leaders of the settlement came together to pass the first gun law:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |date=2023-08-12 |title=America's Original Gun Control |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/america-history-gun-control-supreme-court/674985/ |access-date=2023-08-13 |website=The Atlantic |language=en |archive-date=August 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813044317/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/america-history-gun-control-supreme-court/674985/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
{{Blockquote|text=That no man do sell or give any Indians any piece, shot, or powder, or any other arms offensive or defensive, upon pain of being held a traitor to the colony and of being hanged as soon as the fact is proved, without all redemption.}} | |||
], by ] stands at the town green of ].)]] | |||
In the years prior to the ], the British, in response to the colonists' unhappiness over increasingly direct control and taxation of the colonies, imposed a gunpowder embargo on the colonies in an attempt to lessen the ability of the colonists to resist British encroachments into what the colonies regarded as local matters. Two direct attempts to disarm the colonial militias fanned what had been a smoldering resentment of British interference into the fires of war.<ref name="Revwar75.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.revwar75.com/battles/primarydocs/williamsburg.htm |title=Primary Documents Relating to the Seizure of Powder at Williamsburg, VA, April 21, 1775 |last1=Reynolds |first1=Bart |date=September 6, 2006 |website=revwar75.com |location=Horseshoe Bay, Texas |publisher=John Robertson |type=transcription, amateur? |access-date=November 21, 2010 |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818064945/http://www.revwar75.com/battles/primarydocs/williamsburg.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
These two incidents were the attempt to confiscate the cannon of the Concord and Lexington militias, leading to the ] of April 19, 1775, and the attempt, on April 20, to confiscate militia powder stores in the armory of Williamsburg, Virginia, which led to the ] and a face-off between ] and hundreds of militia members on one side and the Royal Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, and British seamen on the other. The Gunpowder Incident was eventually settled by paying the colonists for the powder.<ref name="Revwar75.com"/> | |||
===Jacksonian era=== | |||
According to historian Saul Cornell, states passed some of the first gun control laws, beginning with Kentucky's law to "curb the practice of carrying concealed weapons in 1813." There was opposition and, as a result, the individual right interpretation of the Second Amendment began and grew in direct response to these early gun control laws, in keeping with this new "pervasive spirit of individualism." As noted by Cornell, "Ironically, the first gun control movement helped give birth to the first self-conscious gun rights ideology built around a constitutional right of individual self-defense."<ref name=Cornell2006>{{cite book |last=Cornell |first=Saul |year=2006 |title=A Well-Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=uTRF0UMZEuYC |location=New York, New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-514786-5 |oclc=62741396 }}</ref>{{rp|140–141}} | |||
According to historian ], states passed some of the first gun control laws, beginning with Kentucky's law to "curb the practice of carrying concealed weapons in 1813." There was opposition and, as a result, the ] interpretation of the Second Amendment began and grew in direct response to these early gun control laws, in keeping with this new "pervasive spirit of individualism." As noted by Cornell, "Ironically, the first gun control movement helped give birth to the first self-conscious gun rights ideology built around a constitutional right of individual self-defense."<ref name=Cornell2006>{{cite book |last=Cornell |first=Saul |year=2006 |title=A Well-Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America |url=https://archive.org/details/wellregulatedmil00corn_0 |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195147865 |oclc=62741396}}</ref>{{rp|140–141}} | |||
The individual right interpretation of the Second Amendment first arose in ''Bliss v. Commonwealth'' (1822, KY),<ref name="bliss v commonwealth">{{cite court |litigants=Bliss v. Commonwealth |vol=2 |reporter=Littell |opinion=90 |date=KY 1822 |url=http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/wbardwel/public/nfalist/bliss_v_commonwealth.txt |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20081211212146/http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/wbardwel/public/nfalist/bliss_v_commonwealth.txt |archivedate=2--8-12-12 }}</ref> which evaluated the right to bear arms in defense of themselves and the state pursuant to Section 28 of the Second Constitution of ] (1799). The right to bear arms in defense of themselves and the state was interpreted as an individual right, for the case of a concealed sword cane. This case has been described as about "a statute prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons was violative of the Second Amendment".<ref name = "1967hearing">United States. Anti-Crime Program. Hearings Before Ninetieth Congress, First Session. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off, 1967, p. 246.</ref> | |||
The individual right interpretation of the Second Amendment first arose in '']'' (1822),<ref name="bliss v commonwealth">{{cite court |litigants=Bliss v. Commonwealth |vol=2 |reporter=Littell |opinion=90 |date=KY 1822 |url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/wbardwel/public/nfalist/bliss_v_commonwealth.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211212146/https://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/wbardwel/public/nfalist/bliss_v_commonwealth.txt |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> which evaluated the right to bear arms in defense of themselves and the state pursuant to Section 28 of the Second Constitution of ] (1799). The right to bear arms in defense of themselves and the state was interpreted as an individual right, for the case of a concealed sword cane. This case has been described as about "a statute prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons was violative of the Second Amendment".<ref name = "1967hearing"> | |||
The first state court decision relevant to the "right to bear arms" issue was ''Bliss v. Commonwealth''. The Kentucky court held that "the right of citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State must be preserved entire,..."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pierce |first=Darell R. |year=1982 |title=Second Amendment Survey |url=https://chaselaw.nku.edu/content/dam/chaselaw/docs/academics/lawreview/v10/nklr_v10n1.pdf |journal=Northern Kentucky Law Review Second Amendment Symposium: Rights in Conflict in the 1980's |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=155–162 }}</ref>{{rp|161}}<ref>Two states, ] and ], do not require a permit or license for carrying a concealed weapon to this day, following Kentucky's original position.</ref> | |||
The United States. Anti-Crime Program. Hearings Before Ninetieth Congress, First Session. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1967, p. 246.</ref> | |||
Also during the Jacksonian Era, the first collective right interpretation of the Second Amendment arose. In ''State v. Buzzard'' (1842, Ark), the Arkansas high court adopted a militia-based, political right, reading of the right to bear arms under state law, and upheld the 21st section of the second article of the Arkansas Constitution that declared, "that the free white men of this State shall have a right to keep and bear arms for their common defense",<ref name="state v buzzard">{{cite court |litigants=State v. Buzzard |vol=4 |reporter=Ark. (2 Pike) |opinion=18 |year=1842 |url=http://www.constitution.org/2ll/2ndcourt/state/191st.htm}}</ref> while rejecting a challenge to a statute prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons. | |||
The first state court decision relevant to the "right to bear arms" issue was ''Bliss v. Commonwealth''. The Kentucky court held that "the right of citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State must be preserved entire,..."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pierce |first=Darell R. |year=1982 |title=Second Amendment Survey |url=https://chaselaw.nku.edu/content/dam/chaselaw/docs/academics/lawreview/v10/nklr_v10n1.pdf |journal=Northern Kentucky Law Review Second Amendment Symposium: Rights in Conflict in the 1980s |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=155–162 |access-date=2014-04-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820035837/https://chaselaw.nku.edu/content/dam/chaselaw/docs/academics/lawreview/v10/nklr_v10n1.pdf |archive-date=2017-08-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{rp|161}}<ref>Two states, ] and ], do not require a permit or license for carrying a concealed weapon to this day, following Kentucky's original position.</ref> | |||
The Arkansas high court declared "That the words 'a well regulated militia being necessary for the security of a free State', and the words 'common defense' clearly show the true intent and meaning of these Constitutions and prove that it is a political and not an individual right, and, of course, that the State, in her legislative capacity, has the right to regulate and control it: This being the case, then the people, neither individually nor collectively, have the right to keep and bear arms." ]'s influential ''Commentaries on the Law of Statutory Crimes'' (1873) took Buzzard's militia-based interpretation, a view that Bishop characterized as the "Arkansas doctrine", as the orthodox view of the right to bear arms in American law.<ref name="state v buzzard"/><ref name="Saul_Cornell_AWRM_Bishop">{{cite book |author=Cornell, Saul |title=A Well-Regulated Militia{{spaced ndash}}The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, New York |year=2006 |pages=188 |isbn=978-0-19-514786-5 |quote="Dillon endorsed Bishop's view that ''Buzzard's'' "Arkansas doctrine," not the libertarian views exhibited in ''Bliss, captured the dominant strain of American legal thinking on this question."}}</ref> | |||
Also during the Jacksonian Era, the first ] (or group right) interpretation of the Second Amendment arose. In '']'' (1842), the Arkansas high court adopted a militia-based, political right, reading of the right to bear arms under state law, and upheld the 21st section of the second article of the Arkansas Constitution that declared, "that the free white men of this State shall have a right to keep and bear arms for their common defense",<ref name="state v buzzard">{{cite court |litigants=State v. Buzzard |vol=4 |reporter=Ark. (2 Pike) |opinion=18 |year=1842 |url=http://www.constitution.org/2ll/2ndcourt/state/191st.htm |trans-title=Archived copy |access-date=April 30, 2008 |archive-date=June 5, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605142712/http://www.constitution.org/2ll/2ndcourt/state/191st.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> while rejecting a challenge to a statute prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons. | |||
The two early state court cases, ''Bliss'' and ''Buzzard'', set the fundamental dichotomy in interpreting the Second Amendment, i.e., whether it secured an individual right versus a collective right.{{citation needed|Many state cases with opposing views, why are we calling out these two?|date=April 2014}} | |||
The Arkansas high court declared "That the words 'a well-regulated militia being necessary for the security of a free State', and the words 'common defense' clearly show the true intent and meaning of these Constitutions and prove that it is a political and not an individual right, and, of course, that the State, in her legislative capacity, has the right to regulate and control it: This being the case, then the people, neither individually nor collectively, have the right to keep and bear arms." ]'s influential ''Commentaries on the Law of Statutory Crimes'' (1873) took Buzzard's militia-based interpretation, a view that Bishop characterized as the "Arkansas doctrine," as the orthodox view of the right to bear arms in American law.<ref name="state v buzzard"/><ref name="Saul_Cornell_AWRM_Bishop">{{cite book |author=Cornell, Saul |title=A Well-Regulated Militia – The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |year=2006 |pages= |isbn=978-0195147865 |quote="Dillon endorsed Bishop's view that ''Buzzard's'' "Arkansas doctrine," not the libertarian views exhibited in ''Bliss, captured the dominant strain of American legal thinking on this question'' |url=https://archive.org/details/wellregulatedmil00corn_0/page/188 }}</ref> | |||
===Reconstruction era=== | |||
{{Cleanup section|reason=it is disjointed, one source is poor quality, the other is poorly used|date=April 2014}} | |||
The two early state court cases, ''Bliss'' and ''Buzzard'', set the fundamental dichotomy in interpreting the Second Amendment, i.e., whether it secured an individual right versus a collective right.{{citation needed|reason=Many state cases with opposing views, why are we calling out these two?|date=April 2014}} | |||
===Post Civil War=== | |||
{{See also|Reconstruction era}} | {{See also|Reconstruction era}} | ||
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]]] | |||
With the ] ending, the question of the rights of freed slaves to carry arms and to belong to militia came to the attention of the federal courts. In response to the problems freed slaves faced in the Southern states, the Fourteenth Amendment was drafted. | |||
] published in '']'' magazine shortly after the ]]] | |||
In the years immediately following the ], the question of the rights of freed slaves to carry arms and to belong to the militia came to the attention of the federal courts. In response to the problems freed slaves faced in the Southern states, the Fourteenth Amendment was drafted. | |||
When the ] was drafted, Representative ] of ] used the Court's own phrase "privileges and immunities of citizens" to include the first Eight Amendments of the Bill of Rights under its protection and guard these rights against state legislation.<ref name="Kerrigan">{{cite web |author=Kerrigan, Robert |title=The Second Amendment and related Fourteenth Amendment |date=June 2006 |format=PDF |url=http://secondamendment.and.fourteenth.googlepages.com/ |access-date=2008-05-06 |archive-date=2009-01-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124170044/http://secondamendment.and.fourteenth.googlepages.com/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
The debate in Congress on the Fourteenth Amendment after the Civil War also concentrated on what the Southern States were doing to harm the newly freed slaves. One particular concern was the disarming of former slaves. | |||
]]] | |||
When the ] was drafted, Representative ] of ] used the Court's own phrase "privileges and immunities of citizens" to include the first Eight Amendments of the Bill of Rights under its protection and guard these rights against state legislation.<ref name="Kerrigan">{{cite journal |author=Kerrigan, Robert |title=The Second Amendment and related Fourteenth Amendment |date=June 2006 |format=PDF |url=http://secondamendment.and.fourteenth.googlepages.com}}</ref> | |||
The Second Amendment attracted serious judicial attention with the Reconstruction era case of '']'' which ruled that the ] of the Fourteenth Amendment did not cause the Bill of Rights, including the Second Amendment, to limit the powers of the State governments, stating that the Second Amendment "has no other effect than to restrict the powers of the national government." | |||
The debate in the Congress on the Fourteenth Amendment after the Civil War also concentrated on what the Southern States were doing to harm the newly freed slaves. One particular concern was the disarming of former slaves. | |||
Akhil Reed Amar notes in '']'', the basis of common law for the first ten amendments of the U.S. Constitution, which would include the Second Amendment, "following ]'s famous oral argument in the 1887 Chicago anarchist ] case, ''] v. Illinois''": | |||
The Second Amendment attracted serious judicial attention with the ] era case of '']'' which ruled that the ] of the Fourteenth Amendment did not cause the Bill of Rights, including the Second Amendment, to limit the powers of the State governments, stating that the Second Amendment "has no other effect than to restrict the powers of the national government." | |||
{{Blockquote|Though originally the first ten Amendments were adopted as limitations on Federal power, yet in so far as they secure and recognize fundamental rights{{snd}}common law rights{{snd}}of the man, they make them privileges and immunities of the man as citizen of the United States...<ref>{{cite journal |last=Amar |first=Akhil Reed |year=1992 |title=The Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment |url=http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/fss_papers/1040/ |journal=Yale Law Journal |volume=101 |issue=6 |pages=1193–1284 |doi=10.2307/796923 |jstor=796923 |archive-date=April 7, 2014 |access-date=April 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407060600/http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/fss_papers/1040/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|1270}}}} | |||
===20th century=== | ===20th century=== | ||
====First half of 20th century==== | ====First half of 20th century==== | ||
Since the late 19th century, with three key cases from the ], the Supreme Court consistently ruled that the Second Amendment (and the Bill of Rights) restricted only Congress, and not the States, in the regulation of guns.<ref>See ] 92 U.S. 542 (1876), ] 116 U.S. 252 (1886), Miller v. Texas 153 U.S. 535 (1894)</ref> Scholars predicted that the Court's incorporation of other rights suggested that they may incorporate the Second, should a suitable case come before them.<ref name=autogenerated2>Levinson, Sanford: ''The Embarrassing Second Amendment'', 99 Yale L.J. |
Since the late 19th century, with three key cases from the ], the U.S. Supreme Court consistently ruled that the Second Amendment (and the Bill of Rights) restricted only Congress, and not the States, in the regulation of guns.<ref>See ] 92 U.S. 542 (1876), ] 116 U.S. 252 (1886), Miller v. Texas 153 U.S. 535 (1894)</ref> Scholars predicted that the Court's incorporation of other rights suggested that they may incorporate the Second, should a suitable case come before them.<ref name=autogenerated2>Levinson, Sanford: ''The Embarrassing Second Amendment'', 99 Yale L.J. 637–659 (1989)</ref> | ||
=====National Firearms Act===== | =====National Firearms Act===== | ||
{{Main|National Firearms Act}} | {{Main|National Firearms Act}} | ||
The first major federal firearms law passed in the 20th century was the |
The first major federal firearms law passed in the 20th century was the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934. It was passed after ]-era gangsterism peaked with the ] of 1929. The era was famous for criminal use of firearms such as the ] (Tommy gun) and ]. Under the NFA, machine guns, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, and other weapons fall under the regulation and jurisdiction of the ] (ATF) as described by ].<ref>{{cite book |author=Boston T. Party (Kenneth W. Royce) |title=Boston on Guns & Courage |publisher=Javelin Press |year=1998 |pages=3:15}}</ref> | ||
=====''United States v. Miller''===== | =====''United States v. Miller''===== | ||
{{Main|United States v. Miller}} | {{Main|United States v. Miller}} | ||
In ''United States v. Miller''<ref>{{cite web|url= |
In ''United States v. Miller''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0307_0174_ZO.html |title=United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939) |publisher=Law.cornell.edu |access-date=November 21, 2010 |archive-date=September 15, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100915151047/http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0307_0174_ZO.html |url-status=live }}</ref> (1939) the Court did not address incorporation, but whether a sawn-off shotgun "has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia."<ref name=autogenerated2 /> In overturning the indictment against Miller, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas stated that the National Firearms Act of 1934, "offend the inhibition of the Second Amendment to the Constitution." The federal government then appealed directly to the Supreme Court. On appeal the federal government did not object to Miller's release since he had died by then, seeking only to have the trial judge's ruling on the unconstitutionality of the federal law overturned. Under these circumstances, neither Miller nor his attorney appeared before the Court to argue the case. The Court only heard argument from the federal prosecutor. In its ruling, the Court overturned the trial court and upheld the NFA.<ref>"", ] and Denning, Brannon P.</ref> | ||
====Second half of 20th century==== | ====Second half of 20th century==== | ||
] signs the Gun Control Act of 1968 into law]] | ] signs the Gun Control Act of 1968 into law.]] | ||
The ] (GCA) was passed after the assassinations of President ], Senator ], and African-American activists ] and ] in the 1960s.<ref name=PGC2012Ch1/> The GCA focuses on regulating interstate commerce in firearms by generally prohibiting interstate firearms transfers except among licensed manufacturers, dealers and importers. It also |
The ] (GCA) was passed after the assassinations of President ], Senator ], and African-American activists ] and ] in the 1960s.<ref name=PGC2012Ch1/> The GCA focuses on regulating interstate commerce in firearms by generally prohibiting interstate firearms transfers except among licensed manufacturers, dealers, and importers. It also prohibits selling firearms to certain categories of individuals defined as "prohibited persons." | ||
In 1986, Congress passed the ].<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513095318/https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/99/s49 |date=May 13, 2014 }}. GovTrack.us.</ref> It was supported by the National Rifle Association because it reversed many of the provisions of the GCA. It also banned ownership of unregistered fully automatic rifles and civilian purchase or sale of any such firearm made from that date forward.<ref>{{cite news |last=Joshpe |first=Brett |date=January 11, 2013 |title=Ronald Reagan Understood Gun Control |url=https://www.courant.com/2013/01/11/ronald-reagan-understood-gun-control-2/ |newspaper=Hartford Courant |type=op-ed |access-date=May 11, 2014 |archive-date=May 12, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512222200/http://articles.courant.com/2013-01-11/news/hc-op-joshpe-ronald-reagan-supported-gun-restricti-20130111_1_gun-restrictions-gun-rights-brady-bill |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Welna |first=David |date=January 16, 2013 |title=The Decades-Old Gun Ban That's Still On The Books |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/01/18/169526687/the-decades-old-gun-ban-thats-still-on-the-books |publisher=NPR |access-date=May 11, 2014 |archive-date=May 12, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512221634/http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/01/18/169526687/the-decades-old-gun-ban-thats-still-on-the-books |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
]. ] and police officer ] lie wounded on the ground.]] | |||
The ] in 1980 and an ] in 1981 led to enactment of the ] (Brady Law) in 1993 which established the national background check system to prevent certain restricted individuals from owning, purchasing, or transporting firearms.<ref name="evidence from crime gun tracing">{{cite journal| author=Brian Knight|title=State Gun Policy and Cross-State Externalities: Evidence from Crime Gun Tracing| journal= Providence RI|date=September 2011}}</ref> In an article supporting passage of such a law, retired chief justice ] wrote: | |||
<blockquote>Americans also have a right to defend their homes, and we need not challenge that. Nor does anyone seriously question that the Constitution protects the right of hunters to own and keep sporting guns for hunting game any more than anyone would challenge the right to own and keep fishing rods and other equipment for fishing{{spaced ndash}}or to own automobiles. To 'keep and bear arms' for hunting today is essentially a recreational activity and not an imperative of survival, as it was 200 years ago. 'Saturday night specials' and machine guns are not recreational weapons and surely are as much in need of regulation as motor vehicles.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Burger |first=Warren E. |date=January 14, 1990 |title=The Right To Bear Arms: A distinguished citizen takes a stand on one of the most controversial issues in the nation |url= |journal=Parade Magazine |publisher= |volume= |issue= |pages=4-6 |doi= |accessdate=May 2, 2014 }}</ref></blockquote> | |||
The ] in 1981 led to enactment of the ] (Brady Law) in 1993 which established the national background check system to prevent certain restricted individuals from owning, purchasing, or transporting firearms.<ref name="evidence from crime gun tracing">{{cite journal|author=Brian Knight|title=State Gun Policy and Cross-State Externalities: Evidence from Crime Gun Tracing|journal=Providence RI|series=Working Paper Series|date=September 2011|doi=10.3386/w17469|url=https://www.nber.org/papers/w17469|doi-access=free|archive-date=September 28, 2021|access-date=September 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210928152228/https://www.nber.org/papers/w17469|url-status=live}}</ref> In an article supporting passage of such a law, retired chief justice ] wrote: | |||
A ] in 1989 led to passage of the ] in 1994, which defined and banned the manufacture and transfer of semi-automatic ]s and ]s.<ref name=Johnson130402>{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Kevin |date=April 2, 2013 |title=Stockton school massacre: A tragically familiar pattern |url=http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/01/stockton-massacre-tragically-familiar-pattern-repeats/2043297/ |newspaper=USA Today |accessdate=May 2, 2014 }}</ref> | |||
<blockquote>Americans also have a right to defend their homes, and we need not challenge that. Nor does anyone seriously question that the Constitution protects the right of hunters to own and keep sporting guns for hunting game any more than anyone would challenge the right to own and keep fishing rods and other equipment for fishing{{spaced ndash}}or to own automobiles. To 'keep and bear arms' for hunting today is essentially a recreational activity and not an imperative of survival, as it was 200 years ago. ']s' and machine guns are not recreational weapons and surely are as much in need of regulation as motor vehicles.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Burger |first=Warren E. |date=January 14, 1990 |title=The Right To Bear Arms: A distinguished citizen takes a stand on one of the most controversial issues in the nation |journal=Parade Magazine |pages=4–6 }}</ref></blockquote> | |||
A ] in 1989 led to passage of the ] of 1994 (AWB or AWB 1994), which defined and banned the manufacture and transfer of ]" and ]"<ref name=Johnson130402>{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Kevin |date=April 2, 2013 |title=Stockton school massacre: A tragically familiar pattern |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/01/stockton-massacre-tragically-familiar-pattern-repeats/2043297/ |newspaper=USA Today |access-date=May 2, 2014 |archive-date=March 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306213134/http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/01/stockton-massacre-tragically-familiar-pattern-repeats/2043297/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
According to journalist ], concerns about gun control laws along with outrage over two high-profile incidents involving the ATF (] in 1992 and the ] in 1993) mobilized the ] of citizens who feared that the federal government would begin to confiscate firearms.<ref name=Berlet040901>{{cite journal |last=Berlet |first=Chip |date=September 1, 2004 |title=Militias in the Frame |journal=Contemporary Sociologists |volume=33 |issue=5 |pages=514–521 |doi=10.1177/009430610403300506 |s2cid=144973852 |quote=All four books being reviewed discuss how mobilization of the militia movement involved fears of gun control legislation coupled with anger over the deadly government mishandling of confrontations with the Weaver family at Ruby Ridge, Idaho and the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas.}}</ref><ref>More ''militia movement'' sources: | |||
* {{cite book |last=Chermak |first=Steven M. |year=2002 |title=Searching for a Demon: The Media Construction of the Militia Movement |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p1NGyz43INkC|publisher=UPNE|isbn=978-1555535414|oclc=260103406 |quote= describes the primary concerns of militia members and how those concerns contributed to the emergence of the militia movement prior to the Oklahoma City bombing. Two high-profile cases, the Ruby Ridge and Waco incidents, are discussed because they have elicited the anger and concern of the people involved in the movement.}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Crothers |first=Lane |year=2003 |title=Rage on the Right: The American Militia Movement from Ruby Ridge to Homeland Security |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PTR7AAAAQBAJ&q=%22chapter+4+examines%22 |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |page=97 |isbn=978-0742525474 |oclc=50630498 |quote=Chapter 4 examines the actions surrounding, and the political impact of, the standoff at Ruby Ridge.... Arguably, the siege... lit the match that ignited the militia movement.}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Freilich |first=Joshua D. |year=2003 |title=American Militias: State-Level Variations in Militia Activities |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3cXZAAAAMAAJ&q=cosmology |publisher=LFB Scholarly |page=18 |isbn=978-1931202534 |oclc=501318483 |quote= appear to have taken on a mythological significance within the cosmology of the movement....}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Gallaher |first=Carolyn |year=2003 |title=On the Fault Line: Race, Class, and the American Patriot Movement |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OqDgd4m529gC&pg=PA17|location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |page=17 |isbn=978-0742519749|oclc=845530800 |quote=Patriots, however, saw events as the first step in the government's attempt to disarm the populace and pave the way for imminent takeover by the new world order.}}</ref> | |||
Though gun control is not strictly a partisan issue, there is generally more support for gun control legislation in the ] than in the ].<ref name="spitzer16">Spitzer, Robert J.: ''The Politics of Gun Control'', p. 16. Chatham House Publishers, Inc., 1995.</ref> The ], whose campaign platforms favor limited government regulation, is outspokenly against gun control.<ref>]: in ''Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law'', Vol. I, p. 512 (Gregg Lee Carter, Ed., ABC-CLIO, 2012).</ref> | |||
=====Advocacy groups===== | =====Advocacy groups===== | ||
The ] (NRA) was founded to promote firearm competency in 1871. The NRA supported the NFA and, ultimately, the GCA.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bennett |first=Cory |date=December 21, 2012 |title=The Evolution of the NRA's Defense of Guns: A Brief History of the NRA's Involvement in Legislative Discussions |url=http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/the-evolution-of-the-nra-s-defense-of-guns-20121221 |journal=National Journal | |
The ] (NRA) was founded to promote firearm competency and natural conservation in 1871. The NRA supported the NFA and, ultimately, the GCA.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bennett |first=Cory |date=December 21, 2012 |title=The Evolution of the NRA's Defense of Guns: A Brief History of the NRA's Involvement in Legislative Discussions |url=http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/the-evolution-of-the-nra-s-defense-of-guns-20121221 |journal=National Journal |access-date=March 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909204022/http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/the-evolution-of-the-nra-s-defense-of-guns-20121221 |archive-date=September 9, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> After the GCA, more strident groups, such as the ] (GOA), began to advocate for gun rights.<ref name=Greenblatt121221>{{cite news |last=Greenblatt |first=Alan |date=December 21, 2012 |title=The NRA Isn't The Only Opponent Of Gun Control |url=https://www.npr.org/2012/12/21/167780782/the-nra-isnt-the-only-opponent-of-gun-control |publisher=NPR |access-date=March 29, 2014 |archive-date=March 30, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330221328/http://www.npr.org/2012/12/21/167780782/the-nra-isnt-the-only-opponent-of-gun-control |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the GOA, it was founded in 1975 when "the radical left introduced legislation to ban all handguns in California."<ref name="hlrichardson-GOA">{{cite web |url=http://gunowners.org/hlrichardson.htm |title=H.L. "Bill" Richardson – GOA |access-date=March 28, 2014}}</ref> The GOA and other national groups like the ] (SAF) and its offshoot the ] (FPC), ] (JPFO), and the ] (SAS), often take stronger stances than the NRA and criticize its history of support for some firearms legislation, such as GCA. The ] (NAGR) has been an outspoken critic of the NRA for a number of years. According to the Huffington Post, "NAGR is the much leaner, more pugnacious version of the NRA. Where the NRA has looked to find some common ground with gun reform advocates and at least appear to be reasonable, NAGR has been the unapologetic champion of opening up gun laws even more."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-08-01|title=How Republican Gun Legislation Died In Congress|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/republican-gun-bill-died-congress_n_579fa095e4b0e2e15eb6baba|access-date=2022-02-16|website=HuffPost|language=en|archive-date=February 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216221748/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/republican-gun-bill-died-congress_n_579fa095e4b0e2e15eb6baba|url-status=live}}</ref> These groups believe any compromise leads to greater restrictions.<ref name=Singh2003>{{cite book |last=Singh |first=Robert P. |year=2003 |title=Governing America: The Politics of a Divided Democracy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hv5TeKbXbpkC |publisher=Oxford University |isbn=978-0199250493 |oclc=248877185 }}</ref>{{rp|368}}<ref name=Tatalovich-Daynes>{{cite book |year=2005 |editor1-last=Tatalovich |editor1-first=Raymond |editor2-last=Daynes |editor2-first=Byron W. |title=Moral Controversies in American Politics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chGqngEACAAJ |location=Armonk, New York |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0765614209 }}</ref>{{rp|172}} | ||
According to the authors of ''The Changing Politics of Gun Control'' (1998), in the late 1970s, the NRA changed its activities to incorporate political advocacy.<ref name=changingpolitics>{{cite book|title=The Changing Politics of Gun Control|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0847686155|page=|author1=Bruce, John M.|author2=Wilcox, Clyde|date=1998|url=https://archive.org/details/changingpolitics0000unse/page/159}}</ref> Despite the impact on the volatility of membership, the politicization of the NRA has been consistent and the NRA-Political Victory Fund ranked as "one of the biggest spenders in congressional elections" as of 1998.<ref name=changingpolitics/> According to the authors of ''The Gun Debate'' (2014), the NRA taking the lead on politics serves the gun industry's profitability. In particular when gun owners respond to fears of gun confiscation with increased purchases and by helping to isolate the industry from the misuse of its products used in shooting incidents.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Gun Debate: What Everyone Needs to Know|date=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=201|author=Cook, Philip J. |author2=Goss, Kristin A. |author-link2=Kristin Goss}}</ref> | |||
The ] began in 1974 as Handgun Control Inc. (HCI). Soon after, it formed a partnership with another fledgling group called the National Coalition to Ban Handguns (NCBH) – later known as the ] (CSGV). The partnership did not last, as NCBH generally took a tougher stand on gun regulation than HCI.<ref name=Bruce-Wilcox1998Ch10>{{cite book |last=Lambert |first=Diana |year=1998 |chapter=Trying to Stop the Craziness of This Business: Gun Control Groups |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VvNb5s8Z3b0C&pg=PA172|editor1-last=Bruce |editor1-first=John M. |editor2-last=Wilcox |editor2-first=Clyde |title=The Changing Politics of Gun Control |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VvNb5s8Z3b0C |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0847686155 |oclc=833118449}}</ref>{{rp|186}} In the wake of the 1980 ], HCI saw an increase of interest and fundraising and contributed $75,000 to congressional campaigns. Following the Reagan assassination attempt and the resultant injury of ], ] joined the board of HCI in 1985. HCI was renamed in 2001 to Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.<ref name="spitzerCh4">Spitzer, Robert J.: ''The Politics of Gun Control''. Chatham House Publishers, Inc., 1995</ref> | |||
=====Centers for Disease Control (CDC) restriction===== | |||
The gun control group known as the ] began in 1974 as Handgun Control Inc. (HCI). Soon after, it formed a partnership with another fledgling group called the National Coalition to Ban Handguns (NCBH) - later known as the ] (CSGV). The partnership did not last, as NCBH generally took a tougher stand on gun regulation than HCI.<ref name=Bruce-Wilcox1998Ch10>{{cite book |last=Lambert |first=Diana |year=1998 |chapter=Trying to Stop the Craziness of This Business: Gun Control Groups |chapterurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=VvNb5s8Z3b0C&lpg=PP1&pg=PA172#v=onepage&q&f=false |editor1-last=Bruce |editor1-first=John M. |editor2-last=Wilcox |editor2-first=Clyde |title=The Changing Politics of Gun Control |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=VvNb5s8Z3b0C |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |pages= |isbn=0-8476-8615-9 |oclc=833118449 }}</ref>{{rp|186}} In the wake of the 1980 murder of ], HCI saw an increase of interest and fund raising and contributed $75,000 to congressional campaigns. Following the Reagan assassination attempt and the resultant injury of ], ] joined the board of HCI in 1985. HCI was renamed in 2001 to ].<ref name="spitzerCh4">Spitzer, Robert J.: ''The Politics of Gun Control''. Chatham House Publishers, Inc., 1995</ref> | |||
In 1996, Congress added language to the relevant appropriations bill which required "none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the ] may be used to advocate or promote gun control."<ref>''Making omnibus consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1997, and for other purposes'' </ref> This language was added to prevent the funding of research by the CDC that gun rights supporters considered politically motivated and intended to bring about further gun control legislation. In particular, the NRA and other gun rights proponents objected to work supported by the ], then run by ], including research authored by ].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/us/26guns.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0 |title=N.R.A. Stymies Firearms Research, Scientists Say |date=January 25, 2011 |author=Michael Luo |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=February 5, 2013 |archive-date=February 27, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130227192911/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/us/26guns.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nraila.org//Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?ID=119 |title=22 Times Less Safe? Anti-Gun Lobby's Favorite Spin Re-Attacks Guns In The Home |publisher=NRA-ILA |date=December 11, 2001 |access-date=February 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129074157/http://www.nraila.org//Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?ID=119 |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Obama Lifts Ban on Funding Gun Violence Research |date=January 16, 2013 |author=Eliot Marshall |newspaper=ScienceInsider |publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science |access-date=February 5, 2013 |url=http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2013/01/obama-lifts-ban-on-funding-gun-v.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130206142921/http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2013/01/obama-lifts-ban-on-funding-gun-v.html |archive-date=February 6, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
===21st century=== | ===21st century=== | ||
] | |||
In October 2003, the ] published a report on the effectiveness of gun violence prevention strategies that concluded "Evidence was insufficient to determine the effectiveness of any of these laws."<ref name=CDC2003/>{{rp|14}} A similar survey of firearms research by the ] arrived at nearly identical conclusions in 2004.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-first=Charles F |editor1-last=Wellford |editor2-first=John V |editor2-last=Pepper |editor3-first=Carol V |editor3-last=Petrie |title=Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review |url=http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10881&page=2 |year=2013 |edition=Electronic |origyear=Print ed. 2005 |publisher=National Academies Press |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=0-309-54640-0 |page=97}}</ref> In September of that year, the Assault Weapons Ban expired due to a ]. Efforts by gun control advocates to renew the ban failed, as did attempts to replace it after it became defunct. | |||
In October 2003, the ] published a report on the effectiveness of gun violence prevention strategies that concluded "Evidence was insufficient to determine the effectiveness of any of these laws."<ref name=CDC2003>{{cite journal |date=October 3, 2003 |title=First Reports Evaluating the Effectiveness of Strategies for Preventing Violence: Firearms Laws. Findings from the Task Force on Community Preventive Services |url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/rr/rr5214.pdf |journal=MMWR |volume=52 |issue=RR-14 |pages=11–20 |issn=1057-5987 |pmid=14566221 |last1=Hahn |first1=R. A. |last2=Bilukha |first2=O. O. |last3=Crosby |first3=A |last4=Fullilove |first4=M. T. |last5=Liberman |first5=A |last6=Moscicki |first6=E. K. |last7=Snyder |first7=S |last8=Tuma |first8=F |last9=Briss |first9=P |author10=Task Force on Community Preventive Services |archive-date=July 8, 2017 |access-date=September 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708164255/https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/rr/rr5214.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|14}} A similar survey of firearms research by the ] arrived at nearly identical conclusions in 2004.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-first=Charles F |editor1-last=Wellford |editor2-first=John V |editor2-last=Pepper |editor3-first=Carol V |editor3-last=Petrie |title=Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review |year=2004 |url=http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10881&page=2 |edition=Electronic |orig-date=Print ed. 2005 |publisher=National Academies Press |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0309546409 |page=97 |doi=10.17226/10881 |archive-date=March 29, 2014 |access-date=March 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329082811/http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10881&page=2 |url-status=live }}</ref> In September of that year, the Assault Weapons Ban expired due to a ]. Efforts by gun control advocates to renew the ban failed, as did attempts to replace it after it became defunct. | |||
The NRA opposed bans on handguns in Chicago, Washington D.C., and San Francisco |
The NRA opposed bans on handguns in Chicago, Washington D.C., and San Francisco while supporting the ] (also known as the School Safety And Law Enforcement Improvement Act), which strengthened requirements for background checks for firearm purchases.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Williamson |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Schulte |first2=Brigid |date=December 20, 2007 |title=Congress Passes Bill to Stop Mentally Ill From Getting Guns |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/19/AR2007121902279.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |location=Washington, D.C. |quote=Congress yesterday approved legislation that would help states more quickly and accurately identify potential firearms buyers with mental health problems that disqualify them from gun ownership under federal law.... drew overwhelming bipartisan support, and the backing of both the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the National Rifle Association. |archive-date=December 3, 2017 |access-date=August 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171203153505/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/19/AR2007121902279.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The GOA took issue with a portion of the bill, which they termed the "Veterans' Disarmament Act."<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=November 5, 2007 |title=Vets worry bill blocks gun purchases |url=http://www.lvrj.com/news/11017156.html |newspaper=Las Vegas Review-Journal |location=Las Vegas |access-date=March 11, 2013 |archive-date=April 10, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410180653/http://www.lvrj.com/news/11017156.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | ||
Besides the GOA, other national gun rights groups continue to take a stronger stance than the NRA. These groups include the |
Besides the GOA, other national gun rights groups continue to take a stronger stance than the NRA. These groups include the Second Amendment Sisters, Second Amendment Foundation, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, and the ]. New groups have also arisen, such as the ], which grew largely out of safety-issues resulting from the creation of ] that were legislatively mandated amidst a response to widely publicized ]. | ||
In 2001, in '']'', the ] became the first ] to recognize an individual's right to own guns. In 2007, in '']'', the ] became the first federal appeals court to strike down a gun control law on Second Amendment grounds.<ref name=ParkervDC>{{cite web |url=http://www.cga.ct.gov/2007/rpt/2007-R-0557.htm |title=OLR Research Report: Parker v. District of Columbia |last=Rose |first=Veronica |date=September 28, 2007 |website=cga.ct.gov | |
In 2001, in '']'', the ] became the first ] to recognize an individual's right to own guns. In 2007, in '']'', the ] became the first federal appeals court to strike down a gun control law on Second Amendment grounds.<ref name=ParkervDC>{{cite web |url=http://www.cga.ct.gov/2007/rpt/2007-R-0557.htm |title=OLR Research Report: Parker v. District of Columbia |last=Rose |first=Veronica |date=September 28, 2007 |website=cga.ct.gov |access-date=April 2, 2010 |archive-date=May 31, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531010946/http://www.cga.ct.gov/2007/rpt/2007-R-0557.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> | ||
====Smart guns==== | |||
]s only fire when in the hands of the owner, a feature gun control advocates say eliminates accidental firings by children, and the risk of hostile persons (such as prisoners, criminal suspects, an opponent in a fight, or an enemy soldier) grabbing the gun and using it against the owner. Gun rights advocates fear mandatory smart gun technology will make it more difficult to fire a gun when needed. | |||
] reached a settlement in 2000 with the administration of President Bill Clinton, which included a provision for the company to develop a smart gun. A consumer boycott organized by the NRA and NSSF nearly drove the company out of business and forced it to drop its smart gun plans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/smith-and-wesson-took-the-lead-on-safety-2012-12|title=A Major Gun Company Became An Industry Pariah After It Made Its Guns Safer|website=]|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=October 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004190812/http://www.businessinsider.com/smith-and-wesson-took-the-lead-on-safety-2012-12|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=462027559|title=Will Obama's Action Create A Market For 'Smart' Guns?|website=Npr.org|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=October 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004190915/http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=462027559|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
] | |||
The ] Childproof Handgun Law of 2002 requires that 30 months after "personalized handguns are available" anywhere in the United States, only smart guns may be sold in the state.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2014/06/24/325178305/a-new-jersey-law-thats-kept-smart-guns-off-shelves-nationwide|title=A New Jersey Law That's Kept Smart Guns Off Shelves Nationwide|website=Npr.org|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=October 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004191340/http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2014/06/24/325178305/a-new-jersey-law-thats-kept-smart-guns-off-shelves-nationwide|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
Some gun safety advocates worry that by raising the stakes of introducing the technology, this law contributes to the opposition that has prevented smart guns from being sold anywhere in the United States despite availability in other countries. | |||
In 2014, a Maryland gun dealer dropped plans to sell the first smart gun in the United States after receiving complaints.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2014/05/04/309462674/under-fire-maryland-dealer-drops-plans-to-sell-smart-gun|title=Under Fire, Maryland Dealer Drops Plans To Sell Smart Gun|website=Npr.org|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=October 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004190948/http://www.npr.org/2014/05/04/309462674/under-fire-maryland-dealer-drops-plans-to-sell-smart-gun|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
====''District of Columbia v. Heller''==== | ====''District of Columbia v. Heller''==== | ||
{{Main|District of Columbia v. Heller}} | {{Main|District of Columbia v. Heller}} | ||
In June 2008, in ''District of Columbia v. Heller'', the Supreme Court upheld by a 5–4 vote the ''Parker'' decision striking down the D.C. gun law. ''Heller'' ruled that Americans have an individual right to possess firearms, irrespective of membership in a militia, "for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home."<ref name=DCvHeller>{{cite web |url=http://www.cga.ct.gov/2008/rpt/2008-R-0578.htm |title=OLR Research Report: Summary of DC v. Heller |last=Rose |first=Veronica |date=October 17, 2008 |website=cga.ct.gov |access-date=April 2, 2014 |archive-date=November 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113012320/http://www.cga.ct.gov/2008/rpt/2008-R-0578.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> However, in delivering the majority opinion, Justice ] argued that the operative clause of the amendment, "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed," codifies an individual right derived from English common law and codified in the English Bill of Rights (1689). The majority held that the Second Amendment's preamble, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State," is consistent with this interpretation when understood in light of the framers' belief that the most effective way to destroy a citizens' militia was to disarm the citizens. The majority also found that ''United States v. Miller'' supported an individual-right rather than a collective-right view, contrary to the dominant 20th-century interpretation of that decision. (In Miller, the Supreme Court unanimously held that a federal law requiring the registration of sawed-off shotguns did not violate the Second Amendment because such weapons did not have a "reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia.") Finally, the court held that, because the framers understood the right of self-defense to be "the central component" of the right to keep and bear arms, the Second Amendment implicitly protects the right "to use arms in defense of hearth and home."<ref name="Scalia-Heller2008">{{cite web |last=Scalia |first=Antonin |date=June 26, 2008 |title=District of Columbia et al. v. Heller, Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, No. 07–290. Argued March 18, 2008 |url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/07pdf/07-290.pdf |page=2 |access-date=February 25, 2013 |archive-date=March 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130302152731/http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/07pdf/07-290.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Cooper130119>{{cite journal |last=Cooper |first=Matthew |date=January 19, 2013 |title=Why Liberals Should Thank Justice Scalia for Gun Control: His ruling in a key Supreme Court case leans on original intent and will let Obama push his proposals. |url=http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/why-liberals-should-thank-justice-scalia-for-gun-control-20130119 |journal=National Journal |access-date=January 6, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107010323/http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/why-liberals-should-thank-justice-scalia-for-gun-control-20130119 |archive-date=January 7, 2014 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> | |||
In 2008, in ''District of Columbia v. Heller'', the Supreme Court upheld a decision striking down the D.C. gun law. ''Heller'' declared that Americans have an individual right to possess firearms, irrespective of membership in a militia, "for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home."<ref name=DCvHeller>{{cite web |url=http://www.cga.ct.gov/2008/rpt/2008-R-0578.htm |title=OLR Research Report: Summary of DC v. Heller |last=Rose |first=Veronica |date=October 17, 2008 |website=cga.ct.gov |publisher= |accessdate=April 2, 2014 }}</ref> However, in delivering the majority opinion, Justice ] made clear that, like other rights, the right to bear arms is limited. He wrote: | |||
{{quote|Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose: For example, concealed weapons prohibitions have been upheld under the Amendment or state analogues. The Court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.<ref name=Scalia-Heller2008>{{cite journal |last=Scalia |first=Antonin |date=June 26, 2008 |title=District of Columbia et al. v. Heller, Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, No. 07–290. Argued March 18, 2008 |url=http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/07pdf/07-290.pdf |page=2 |accessdate=February 25, 2013}}</ref><ref name=Cooper130119>{{cite journal |last=Cooper |first=Matthew |date=January 19, 2013 |title=Why Liberals Should Thank Justice Scalia for Gun Control: His ruling in a key Supreme Court case leans on original intent and will let Obama push his proposals. |url=http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/why-liberals-should-thank-justice-scalia-for-gun-control-20130119 |journal=National Journal |publisher=National Journal Group |accessdate=January 6, 2014 }}</ref>}} | |||
The four dissenting justices took the position that the Amendment refers to an individual right, but in the context of militia service.<ref name=HLR /><ref name=Bhagwat>{{cite book | last = Bhagwat | first = A. | title = The Myth of Rights: The Purposes and Limits of Constitutional Rights | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = New York | year = 2010 | isbn = |
The four dissenting justices said that the majority had broken established precedent on the Second Amendment,<ref name="Greenhouse">{{cite news |author = Linda Greenhouse |author-link = Linda Greenhouse |title = Justices Rule for Individual Gun Rights |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/washington/27scotuscnd.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp&adxnnlx=1214566644-y9NRsbBuErVCPyegbU0ryg |work = ] |date =June 27, 2008 |access-date =June 27, 2008}}</ref> and took the position that the Amendment refers to an individual right, but in the context of militia service.<ref name=HLR /><ref name=Bhagwat>{{cite book | last = Bhagwat | first = A. | title = The Myth of Rights: The Purposes and Limits of Constitutional Rights | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = New York | year = 2010 | isbn = 978-0195377781 | pages = 16–17 | ||
| url = |
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ic5MAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA16 |quote= Justice Stevens begins his opinion by conceding Justice Scalia's point that the Second Amendment right is an 'individual' one, in the sense that 'urely it protects a right that can be enforced by individuals.' He concludes, however, that all of the historical context, and all of the evidence surrounding the drafting of the Second Amendment, supports the view that the Second Amendment protects only a right to keep and bear arms in the context of militia service.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1 = Bennett | first1 = R. | last2 = Solum | first2 = L. | title = Constitutional Originalism : A Debate | publisher = Cornell University Press | location = Ithaca, NY | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0801447938 | page = | ||
| url = |
| url = https://archive.org/details/constitutionalor00benn | url-access = registration |quote= In both dissents, the clear implication is that if the purpose of the Second Amendment is militia-related, it follows that the amendment does not create a legal rule that protects an individual right to possess and carry firearms outside the context of service in a state militia.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Schultz | first = D. A. | title = Encyclopedia of the United States Constitution | publisher = Infobase Publishing | location = New York | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-1438126777 | page = 201 | ||
| url = |
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=f7m713xwK58C&pg=PA201 |quote= Justice John Paul Stevens argued that the debate over the Second Amendment was not whether it protected an individual or collective right but, instead, over the scope of the right to bear arms.}}</ref> | ||
====''McDonald v. Chicago''==== | ====''McDonald v. City of Chicago''==== | ||
{{Main|McDonald v. Chicago}} | {{Main|McDonald v. City of Chicago}} | ||
In June 2010, a Chicago law that banned handguns was struck down. The ruling |
In June 2010, a Chicago law that banned handguns was struck down. The 5–4 ruling incorporated the Second Amendment, stating that "The Fourteenth Amendment makes the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms fully applicable to the States." Justice ]'s ] attributed incorporation to the Amendment's ]. | ||
====''New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen''==== | |||
{{Main|New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen}} | |||
In June 2022, the Supreme Court struck down the ]'s requirement for New York residents to show proper cause to obtain a license for concealed carry of handguns. The Supreme Court's 6-3 ] authored by Justice ] rejected a two-part test previously used by federal courts to review challenges to gun-control measures. It found that carrying a handgun in public for self-defense is protected under the Second Amendment, while still allowing for restrictions on carrying handguns in certain "sensitive places." The opinion however only allows for "sensitive place" restrictions where historical analogues may be present (such as schools, courthouses, and polling places), using the island of Manhattan as an example of one such sensitive place that would be considered unconstitutional.<ref>{{cite web |last=Howe |first=Amy |url=https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/06/in-6-3-ruling-court-strikes-down-new-yorks-concealed-carry-law/ |title=In 6-3 ruling, court strikes down New York's concealed-carry law |website=scotusblog.com |date=June 23, 2022 |access-date=September 24, 2022 |archive-date=June 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220623143901/https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/06/in-6-3-ruling-court-strikes-down-new-yorks-concealed-carry-law/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
====Advocacy groups, PACs, and lobbying==== | |||
One way advocacy groups influence politics is through "outside spending," using ]s (PACs) and ] organizations.<ref name=OpenSecretsOutside>{{cite web |url=http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/index.php |title=Outside Spending |date=March 31, 2014 |publisher=OpenSecrets.org |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=April 6, 2014 |archive-date=August 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827031316/http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/index.php |url-status=dead}}</ref> PACs and 501(c)(4)s raise and spend money to affect elections.<ref name=OpenSecretsPAC>{{cite web |url=http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacfaq.php |title=What is a PAC? |year=2014 |publisher=OpenSecrets.org |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=April 6, 2014 |archive-date=April 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140414223617/http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacfaq.php |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=OpenSecrets501>{{cite web |url=http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/faq.php |title=Outside Spending: Frequently Asked Questions About 501(c)(4) Groups |year=2014 |publisher=OpenSecrets.org |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=April 6, 2014 |archive-date=April 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413141825/http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/faq.php |url-status=live }}</ref> PACs pool campaign contributions from members and donate those funds to candidates for political office.<ref>{{cite book |last=Janda |first=Kenneth |author2=Berry, Jeffrey M. |author3=Goldman, Jerry |date=December 19, 2008 |title=The Challenge of Democracy: American Government in a Global World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KZEDnrzMHFIC&pg=PA309 |edition=10 |location=Boston, Massachusetts |publisher=Cengage Learning |page=309 |access-date=May 13, 2013 |isbn=978-0547204543}}</ref> ], created in 2010, are prohibited from making direct contributions to candidates or parties, but influence races by running ads for or against specific candidates.<ref name=OpenSecretsSuper2012>{{cite web |url=http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/superpacs.php?cycle=2012 |title=Super PACs |date=July 23, 2013 |publisher=OpenSecrets.org |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=April 6, 2014}}</ref> Both gun control and gun rights advocates use these types of organizations. | |||
The NRA's Political Victory Fund super PAC spent $11.2 million in the 2012 election cycle,<ref name=SunlightPVF2012>{{cite web |url=http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/outside-spending-2012/committee/national-rifle-association-of-america-political-victory-fund/C00053553 |title=National Rifle Association of America Political Victory Fund, 2012 Cycle |year=2013 |publisher=SunlightFoundation.com |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=April 6, 2014 |archive-date=April 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407155445/http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/outside-spending-2012/committee/national-rifle-association-of-america-political-victory-fund/C00053553 |url-status=live }}</ref> and as of April 2014, it had raised $13.7 million for 2014 elections.<ref name=SunlightPVF2014>{{cite web |url=http://realtime.influenceexplorer.com/committee/national-rifle-association-of-america-political-vi/C00053553/ |title=National Rifle Association of America Political Victory Fund |date=April 6, 2014 |publisher=SunlightFoundation.com |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=April 6, 2014 |archive-date=May 4, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504123524/http://realtime.influenceexplorer.com/committee/national-rifle-association-of-america-political-vi/C00053553 |url-status=dead}}</ref> ]'s gun-control super PAC, Independence USA, spent $8.3 million in 2012<ref name=Camia130219>{{cite news |last=Camia |first=Catalina |date=February 19, 2013 |title=Bloomberg defends ads targeting pro-gun Democrat |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/onpolitics/2013/02/19/bloomberg-guns-illinois-election/1930865/ |newspaper=USA Today |access-date=April 5, 2014 |archive-date=February 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130226070415/http://www.usatoday.com/story/onpolitics/2013/02/19/bloomberg-guns-illinois-election/1930865/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=OpenSecretsIndUSAOutside>{{cite web |url=http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00532705&cycle=2012 |title=Independence USA PAC Outside Spending |year=2012 |publisher=OpenSecrets.org |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=April 5, 2014 |archive-date=April 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407082331/https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00532705&cycle=2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> and $6.3 million in 2013.<ref name=FactCheckIndUSA>{{cite web |url=http://www.factcheck.org/2014/02/independence-usa/ |title=Independence USA |date=February 7, 2014 |publisher=FactCheck.org |access-date=April 5, 2014 |archive-date=April 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407075551/http://www.factcheck.org/2014/02/independence-usa/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ], another gun-control super PAC started by retired Congresswoman ], raised $12 million in 2013,<ref name=Schouten140131>{{cite news |last=Schouten |first=Fredreka |date=January 31, 2014 |title=Giffords' super PAC raises $12.5 million |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/01/31/gabby-giffords-super-pac-raises-more-than-12-million-for-gun-control-agenda/5088971/ |newspaper=USA Today |access-date=April 5, 2014 |archive-date=February 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201083135/http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/01/31/gabby-giffords-super-pac-raises-more-than-12-million-for-gun-control-agenda/5088971/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and planned to raise $16 to $20 million by the 2014 elections.<ref name=Robillard130110>{{cite news |last=Robillard |first=Kevin |date=January 10, 2013 |title=Gabrielle Giffords PAC goal: $20 million by 2014 elections |url=http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/gabrielle-giffords-pac-20m-by-midterms-86000.html |publisher=Politico |access-date=April 5, 2014 |archive-date=April 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407151938/http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/gabrielle-giffords-pac-20m-by-midterms-86000.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The group's treasurer said that the funds would be enough to compete with the NRA "on an even-keel basis."<ref name=Robillard130110/> | |||
Another way advocacy groups influence politics is through ]; some groups use lobbying firms, while others employ in-house lobbyists. According to ], gun politics groups with the most lobbyists in 2013 were: the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action (]); ] (MAIG); the ] (NSSF); and the Brady Campaign.<ref name=OpenSecretsLobby2013>{{cite web |url=http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/issuesum.php?id=FIR |title=Lobbying Spending DB Firearms, Guns & Ammo 2013 |year=2014 |publisher=OpenSecrets.org |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=April 6, 2014 |archive-date=April 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407085752/http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/issuesum.php?id=FIR |url-status=live }}</ref> Gun rights groups spent over $15.1 million lobbying in Washington D.C. in 2013, with the ] (NAGR) spending $6.7 million, and the NRA spending $3.4 million.<ref name=OpenSecretsGRLobby>{{cite web |url=http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying.php?cycle=2014&ind=Q13 |title=Gun Rights |date=January 27, 2014 |publisher=OpenSecrets.org |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=April 4, 2014 |archive-date=April 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407082150/http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying.php?cycle=2014&ind=Q13 |url-status=live }}</ref> Gun control groups spent $2.2 million, with MAIG spending $1.7 million, and the ] spending $250,000 in the same period.<ref name=OpenSecretsGCLobby>{{cite web |url=http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying.php?cycle=2014&ind=Q12 |title=Gun Control |date=January 27, 2014 |publisher=OpenSecrets.org |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=April 4, 2014 |archive-date=April 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407083230/http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying.php?cycle=2014&ind=Q12 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
====3D printed firearms==== | ====3D printed firearms==== | ||
{{Main|3D printed firearms}} | {{Main|3D printed firearms}} | ||
In August 2012, an ] group called ] launched a project to design and release a blueprint for a ] that could be downloaded from the Internet and manufactured using a ].<ref name=Greenberg120823>{{cite journal |last=Greenberg |first=Andy |date=August 23, 2012 |title='Wiki Weapon Project' Aims To Create A Gun Anyone Can 3D-Print At Home |url= |
In August 2012, an ] group called ] launched a project to design and release a blueprint for a ] that could be downloaded from the Internet and manufactured using a ].<ref name=Greenberg120823>{{cite journal |last=Greenberg |first=Andy |date=August 23, 2012 |title='Wiki Weapon Project' Aims To Create A Gun Anyone Can 3D-Print At Home |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/08/23/wiki-weapon-project-aims-to-create-a-gun-anyone-can-3d-print-at-home/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825185128/http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/08/23/wiki-weapon-project-aims-to-create-a-gun-anyone-can-3d-print-at-home/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 25, 2012 |journal=Forbes |access-date=August 27, 2012}}</ref><ref name=Poeter120824>{{cite journal |last=Poeter |first=Damon |date=August 24, 2012 |title=Could a 'Printable Gun' Change the World? |url=https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2408899,00.asp |journal=PC Magazine |access-date=August 27, 2012 |archive-date=August 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120827002440/http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2408899,00.asp |url-status=live }}</ref> In May 2013, the group made public the ] files for the world's first fully 3D printable gun, the ] .380 ] pistol.<ref>{{cite news|last=Greenberg|first=Andy|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/05/05/meet-the-liberator-test-firing-the-worlds-first-fully-3d-printed-gun/|title=Meet The 'Liberator': Test-Firing The World's First Fully 3D-Printed Gun|work=]|date=May 5, 2013|access-date=May 7, 2013|archive-date=May 7, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130507040530/http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/05/05/meet-the-liberator-test-firing-the-worlds-first-fully-3d-printed-gun/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Morelle|first=Rebecca|author-link=Rebecca Morelle|title=Working gun made with 3D printer|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22421185|work=BBC News|date=May 6, 2013|access-date=July 28, 2013|archive-date=June 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619194418/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22421185|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Hutchinson|first=Lee|title=The first entirely 3D-printed handgun is here|url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/05/the-first-entirely-3d-printed-handgun-is-here/|work=Ars Technica|date=May 3, 2013|access-date=May 13, 2013|archive-date=October 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002225256/https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/05/the-first-entirely-3d-printed-handgun-is-here/|url-status=live}}</ref> | ||
Since 2018, 3D printed gun files have exponentially multiplied and been freely published on the Internet for anyone in the world to access, on websites like ] and ].<ref>{{cite news|title=Ninth Circuit Lifts Ban on 3D-Printed Gun Blueprints|url=https://www.courthousenews.com/ninth-circuit-lifts-ban-on-3d-printed-gun-blueprints/|access-date=April 28, 2021|newspaper=courthousenews.com|date=April 27, 2021|archive-date=April 9, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409113106/https://www.courthousenews.com/ninth-circuit-lifts-ban-on-3d-printed-gun-blueprints/|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
==== |
====Proposals made by the Obama administration==== | ||
On January 16, 2013, in response to the ] and other mass shootings, President ] announced a plan for reducing gun violence in four parts: closing background check loopholes; banning so-called "assault weapons" and "large capacity magazines"; making schools safer; and increasing access to mental health services.<ref name=WHNow-site>{{cite web |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/issues/preventing-gun-violence |title=Now Is the Time |date=January 16, 2013 |via=] |work=] |access-date=January 30, 2013 |archive-date=January 20, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120214835/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/issues/preventing-gun-violence |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=WHNow-full>{{cite web |url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/wh_now_is_the_time_full.pdf |title=Now Is the Time: Gun Violence Reduction Executive Actions |date=January 16, 2013 |publisher=White House |access-date=April 4, 2014 |archive-date=June 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606050438/http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/wh_now_is_the_time_full.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|2}} The plan included proposals for new laws to be passed by Congress, and a series of executive actions not requiring Congressional approval.<ref name=WHNow-site/><ref name=WHNow-actions>{{cite web |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/docs/wh_now_is_the_time_actions.pdf |title=Now Is the Time: Gun Violence Reduction Executive Actions |date=January 16, 2013 |access-date=April 4, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170121001612/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/docs/wh_now_is_the_time_actions.pdf |archive-date=January 21, 2017 |via=] |work=] |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=January 16, 2013 |title=What's in Obama's Gun Control Proposal |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/01/16/us/obama-gun-control-proposal.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=January 30, 2013 |archive-date=February 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130221133649/http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/01/16/us/obama-gun-control-proposal.html |url-status=live }}</ref> No new federal gun control legislation was passed as a result of these proposals.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/obama-takes-senate-task-failed-gun-control-measure/story?id=18981374 |title=Obama Takes Senate to Task for Failed Gun Control Measure |publisher=ABC News |date=April 17, 2013 |access-date=August 18, 2014 |archive-date=August 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805224606/http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/obama-takes-senate-task-failed-gun-control-measure/story?id=18981374 |url-status=live }}</ref> President Obama later stated in a 2015 interview with the ] that ]: | |||
] | |||
One way advocacy groups influence politics is through "outside spending," using ]s (PACs) and ] organizations.<ref>{{cite book|last=Janda|first=Kenneth|title=The Challenge of Democracy: American Government in a Global World|publisher=Cengage Learning|page=309|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=KZEDnrzMHFIC&pg=PA309|edition=10|coauthors=Berry, Jeffrey M.; Goldman, Jerry|accessdate=2013-05-13|date=2008-12-19|location=]|isbn=054720454X}}</ref> Both gun control and gun rights advocates use these types of organizations. | |||
<blockquote>has been the one area where I feel that I've been most frustrated and most stymied, it is the fact that the United States of America is the one advanced nation on earth in which we do not have sufficient common-sense, gun-safety laws. Even in the face of repeated mass killings. And you know, if you look at the number of Americans killed since 9/11 by terrorism, it's less than 100. If you look at the number that have been killed by gun violence, it's in the tens of thousands. And for us not to be able to resolve that issue has been something that is distressing. But it is not something that I intend to stop working on in the remaining 18 months.<ref name="bbc2015int">{{cite web | |||
The NRA's Political Victory Fund super PAC spent $11.2 million in the 2012 election cycle,<ref name=SunlightPVF2012>{{cite web |url=http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/outside-spending-2012/committee/national-rifle-association-of-america-political-victory-fund/C00053553 |title=National Rifle Association of America Political Victory Fund, 2012 Cycle |year=2013 |website=SunlightFoundation.com |publisher=Sunlight Foundation |location=Washington, D.C. |accessdate=April 6, 2014}}</ref> and as of April 2014, it had raised $13.7 million for 2014 elections.<ref name=SunlightPVF2014>{{cite web |url=http://realtime.influenceexplorer.com/committee/national-rifle-association-of-america-political-vi/C00053553/ |title=National Rifle Association of America Political Victory Fund |date=April 6, 2014 |website=SunlightFoundation.com |publisher=Sunlight Foundation |location=Washington, D.C. |accessdate=April 6, 2014}}</ref> ]'s gun-control super PAC, Independence USA, spent $8.3 million in 2012<ref name=Camia130219>{{cite news |last=Camia |first=Catalina |date=February 19, 2013 |title=Bloomberg defends ads targeting pro-gun Democrat |url=http://www.usatoday.com/story/onpolitics/2013/02/19/bloomberg-guns-illinois-election/1930865/ |newspaper=USA Today |location= |publisher= |accessdate=April 5, 2014 }}</ref><ref name=OpenSecretsIndUSAOutside>{{cite web |url=http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00532705&cycle=2012 |title=Independence USA PAC Outside Spending |year=2012 |website=OpenSecrets.org |publisher=Center for Responsive Politics |location=Washington, D.C. |accessdate=April 5, 2014}}</ref> and $6.3 million in 2013.<ref name=FactCheckIndUSA>{{cite web |url=http://www.factcheck.org/2014/02/independence-usa/ |title=Independence USA |date=February 7, 2014 |website=FactCheck.org |publisher= |accessdate=April 5, 2014 }}</ref> ], a PAC started by retired Congresswoman ], raised $12 million in 2013,<ref name=Schouten140131>{{cite news |last=Schouten |first=Fredreka |date=January 31, 2014 |title=Giffords' super PAC raises $12.5 million |url=http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/01/31/gabby-giffords-super-pac-raises-more-than-12-million-for-gun-control-agenda/5088971/ |newspaper=USA Today |location= |publisher= |accessdate=April 5, 2014 }}</ref> and plans to raise $16 to $20 million by the 2014 elections.<ref name=Robillard130110>{{cite news |last=Robillard |first=Kevin |date=January 10, 2013 |title=Gabrielle Giffords PAC goal: $20 million by 2014 elections |url=http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/gabrielle-giffords-pac-20m-by-midterms-86000.html |newspaper= |location= |publisher=POLITICO |accessdate=April 5, 2014 }}</ref> The group's treasurer said that the funds would be enough to compete with the NRA "on an even-keel basis."<ref name=Robillard130110/> | |||
|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-33646542 | |||
|title=Full transcript of BBC interview with President Barack Obama | |||
|access-date=July 24, 2015 | |||
|date=July 24, 2015 | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|archive-date=July 26, 2015 | |||
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150726223507/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-33646542 | |||
|url-status=live | |||
}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
====2013 United Nations Arms Treaty==== | |||
Another way advocacy groups influence politics is through ]; some groups use lobbying firms, while others employ in-house lobbyists. According to the ], gun politics groups with the most lobbyists in 2013 were: the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action (]); ] (MAIG); the ] (NSSF); and the Brady Campaign.<ref name=OpenSecretsLobby2013>{{cite web |url=http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/issuesum.php?id=FIR |title=Lobbying Spending DB Firearms, Guns & Ammo 2013 |year=2014 |website=OpenSecrets.org |publisher=Center for Responsive Politics |location=Washington, D.C. |accessdate=April 6, 2014}}</ref> Gun rights groups spent over $15.1 million lobbying in Washington D.C. in 2013, with the ] (NAGR) spending $6.7 million, and the NRA spending $3.4 million.<ref name=OpenSecretsGRLobby>{{cite web |url=http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying.php?cycle=2014&ind=Q13 |title=Gun Rights |date=January 27, 2014 |website=OpenSecrets.org |publisher=Center for Responsive Politics |location=Washington, D.C. |accessdate=April 4, 2014}}</ref> Gun control groups spent $2.2 million, with MAIG spending $1.7 million, and the ] spending $250,000 in the same period.<ref name=OpenSecretsGCLobby>{{cite web |url=http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/lobbying.php?cycle=2014&ind=Q12 |title=Gun Control |date=January 27, 2014 |website=OpenSecrets.org |publisher=Center for Responsive Politics |location=Washington, D.C. |accessdate=April 4, 2014}}</ref> | |||
{{See also|Arms Trade Treaty#Content}} | |||
The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is a ] that regulates the international trade in ], which entered into force on December 24, 2014.<ref name=entryforce>{{cite web|url=https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/CN/2014/CN.630.2014-Eng.pdf|title=Reference: C.N.630.2014.TREATIES-XXVI.8 (Depositary Notification)|date=September 25, 2014|access-date=September 25, 2014|publisher=]|archive-date=July 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724070420/https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/CN/2014/CN.630.2014-Eng.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Work on the treaty commenced in 2006 with negotiations for its content conducted at a global conference under the auspices of the United Nations from July 2–27, 2012, in New York.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/disarmament/ATT/|title=The Arms Trade Treaty – UNODA|website=Un.org|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=February 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209043122/https://www.un.org/disarmament/att/|url-status=live}}</ref> As it was not possible to reach an agreement on a final text at that time, a new meeting for the conference was scheduled for March 18–28, 2013.<ref>{{cite web|title=UN: Global Arms Trade Treaty a step closer after resounding vote|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/un-global-arms-trade-treaty-step-closer-after-resounding-vote-2012-11-07|publisher=Amnesty International|access-date=December 8, 2012|archive-date=December 13, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121213012244/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/un-global-arms-trade-treaty-step-closer-after-resounding-vote-2012-11-07|url-status=live}}</ref> On April 2, 2013, the ] ] the ATT.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44539&Cr=arms+trade&Cr1|title=UN News – UN General Assembly approves global arms trade treaty|first=United Nations News Service|last=Section|date=April 2, 2013|website=UN News Service Section|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=August 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820074520/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44539&Cr=arms+trade&Cr1|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=votes>{{cite web|access-date=April 25, 2013|url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2013/ga11354.doc.htm|title=Overwhelming majority of states in general assembly say 'yes' to arms trade treaty to stave off irresponsible transfers that perpetuate conflict, human suffering|publisher=United Nations|archive-date=July 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704220544/http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2013/ga11354.doc.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The treaty was opened for signing on June 3, 2013, and by August 15, 2015, it had been signed by 130 states and ratified or acceded to by 72. It entered into force on December 24, 2014, after it was ratified and acceded to by 50 states.<ref name=depositary>{{cite web|url=http://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-8&chapter=26&lang=en|title=Arms Trade Treaty: Treaty Status|publisher=United Nations|access-date=August 15, 2015|date=August 15, 2015|archive-date=July 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724120522/https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-8&chapter=26&lang=en|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
On September 25, 2013, ] ] signed the ATT on behalf of the ]. This was a reversal of the position of the ] which had chosen not to participate in the treaty negotiations. Then in October a bipartisan group of 50 ] and 181 ] released concurrent letters to President ] pledging their opposition to ratification of the ATT. The group was led by Senator ] (]-]) and Representatives ] (R-]) and ] (]-]). Following these two letters, four Democratic senators sent a separate letter to the President stating that "because of unaddressed concerns that this Treaty's obligations could undermine our nation's sovereignty and the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans would oppose the Treaty if it were to come before the U.S. Senate." The four Senators are ] (D-]), ] (D-Montana), ] (D-North Dakota), and ] (D-Indiana).<ref>{{cite journal|last=Staff|title=U.S. Senate and House send letter rejecting UN Arms Trade Treaty|journal=American Rifleman|date=January 2014|volume=162|issue=1|page=101}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Staff|title=Democratic Senators Oppose U.N. Arms Trade Treaty|url=http://www.nraila.org/news-issues/news-from-nra-ila/2013/10/democratic-senators-oppose-un-arms-trade-treaty.aspx?s=arms+treaty&st=&ps=|publisher=NRA-ILA.com|access-date=December 24, 2013}}</ref> | |||
====Proposals by Obama Administration==== | |||
On January 16, 2013, in response to the ] and other mass shootings, President ] announced a plan for reducing gun violence in four parts: closing background check loopholes; banning assault weapons and large capacity magazines; making schools safer; and increasing access to mental health services.<ref name=WHNow-site>{{cite web |url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/preventing-gun-violence |title=Now Is the Time |date=January 16, 2013 |website=whitehouse.gov |publisher=The White House |accessdate=January 30, 2013 }}</ref><ref name=WHNow-full>{{cite web |url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/wh_now_is_the_time_full.pdf |title=Now Is the Time: Gun Violence Reduction Executive Actions |date=January 16, 2013 |website=whitehouse.gov |publisher=The White House |accessdate=April 4, 2014 }}</ref>{{rp|2}} The plan included proposals for new laws to be passed by Congress, and a series of executive actions not requiring Congressional approval.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/preventing-gun-violence |title=Now Is the Time |date=January 16, 2013 |website=whitehouse.gov |publisher=The White House |accessdate=January 30, 2013 }}</ref><ref name=WHNow-actions>{{cite web |url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/wh_now_is_the_time_actions.pdf |title=Now Is the Time: Gun Violence Reduction Executive Actions |date=January 16, 2013 |website=whitehouse.gov |publisher=The White House |accessdate=April 4, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=January 16, 2013 |title=What’s in Obama’s Gun Control Proposal |url=http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/01/16/us/obama-gun-control-proposal.html |newspaper=New York Times |accessdate=January 30, 2013 }}</ref> No new federal gun control legislation was passed as a result of these proposals.<ref>http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/obama-takes-senate-task-failed-gun-control-measure/story?id=18981374</ref> | |||
Supporters of the treaty claim that the treaty is needed to help protect millions around the globe in danger of human rights abuses. ] of ] states, "This treaty says that nations must not export arms and ammunition where there is an 'overriding risk' that they will be used to commit serious human rights violations. It will help keep arms out of the hands of the wrong people: those responsible for upwards of 1,500 deaths worldwide every day."<ref>{{cite news|last=Wilkie|first=Christina|title=Arms Trade Treaty, Signed By John Kerry, Opens New Front In Senate Battle Over Gun Control|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/25/arms-trade-treaty-gun-control_n_3989999.html|work=The Huffington Post|access-date=December 24, 2013|date=September 25, 2013|archive-date=December 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225173254/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/25/arms-trade-treaty-gun-control_n_3989999.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Secretary Kerry was quoted as saying that his signature would "help deter the transfer of conventional weapons used to carry out the world's worst crimes."<ref>{{cite web|last=UPI staff|title=Support grows for U.N. arms treaty|url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2013/10/15/Support-grows-for-UN-arms-treaty/UPI-98811381850844/|work=United Press International|access-date=December 24, 2013|archive-date=December 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225125329/http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2013/10/15/Support-grows-for-UN-arms-treaty/UPI-98811381850844/|url-status=live}}</ref> As of December 2013, the U.S. has not ratified or acceded to the treaty. | |||
The executive actions included: | |||
* Improve the data used for the background check system for gun sales | |||
* Direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to research gun violence<ref name="research_memo"/> | |||
* Provide incentives for schools to hire ]s | |||
* Give law enforcement additional tools to prevent and prosecute gun crime | |||
==== Proposals made by the Trump administration ==== | |||
====2013 United Nations Arms Treaty==== | |||
Following the ] in October 2017 and the ] in February 2018, President ] and the ] (DOJ) sought ways to ban ]s, devices that can be used to make semi-automatic weapons fire as fully automatic ones as used in both shootings. Initially, the DOJ believed it had to wait for Congress to pass the appropriate legislation to ban the sale and possession of bump stocks.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/us/politics/justice-department-bump-stocks-mass-shootings.html | title = Despite Internal Review, Justice Department Officials Say Congress Needs to Act on Bump Stocks | first = Ali | last = Watkins | date = December 21, 2017 | access-date = March 28, 2019 | work = ] | archive-date = March 28, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190328220112/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/us/politics/justice-department-bump-stocks-mass-shootings.html | url-status = live }}</ref> However, by March 2018, the DOJ introduced proposed revised regulations on gun control that incorporated bump stocks under the definition of machine guns, which would make them banned devices, as Congress had not yet taken any action.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/us/politics/jeff-sessions-gun-violence-bump-stocks.html | title = Justice Dept. Proposes Banning Bump Stocks, Setting Aside Its Own Recommendations | first = Katie | last = Benner | date = March 23, 2018 | access-date = March 28, 2019 | work = ] | archive-date = March 28, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190328220043/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/us/politics/jeff-sessions-gun-violence-bump-stocks.html | url-status = live }}</ref> After a period of public review, the DOJ implemented the proposed ban starting on December 18, 2018, giving owners of bump stocks the option to either destroy them or turn them into authorities within 90 days, after which the ban would be in full effect (on March 26, 2019).<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/us/politics/trump-bump-stocks-ban.html | title = Trump Administration Imposes Ban on Bump Stocks | first = Charlie | last = Savage | date = December 18, 2018 | access-date = March 28, 2019 | work = ] | archive-date = April 16, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230416022810/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/us/politics/trump-bump-stocks-ban.html | url-status = live }}</ref> Pro-gun groups immediately sought to challenge the order, but could not get the Supreme Court to put the ban on hold while the litigation was ongoing.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/28/politics/supreme-court-bump-stocks-ban/index.html | title = Supreme Court denies request to halt bump stock ban | first = Ariane | last = de Vogue | date = March 28, 2019 | access-date = March 28, 2019 | work = ] | archive-date = March 28, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190328180111/https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/28/politics/supreme-court-bump-stocks-ban/index.html | url-status = live }}</ref> In the following week, the Supreme Court refused to exempt the litigants in the legal challenge from the DOJ's order after this was raised as a separate challenge.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-guns/supreme-court-rejects-gun-rights-advocates-over-bump-stocks-idUSKCN1RH212 | title = Supreme Court rejects gun rights advocates over bump stocks | first = Andrew | last = Chung | date = April 5, 2019 | access-date = April 5, 2019 | work = ] | archive-date = April 5, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190405172759/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-guns/supreme-court-rejects-gun-rights-advocates-over-bump-stocks-idUSKCN1RH212 | url-status = live }}</ref> | |||
{{See also|Arms_Trade_Treaty#Content}} | |||
The ] (ATT) is a ] that regulates the international trade in ], which has not entered into force. Work on the treaty commenced in 2006 with negotiations for its content conducted at a global conference under the auspices of the United Nations from July 2–27, 2012, in New York.<ref></ref> As it was not possible to reach an agreement on a final text at that time, a new meeting for the conference was scheduled for March 18–28, 2013.<ref>{{cite web|title=UN: Global Arms Trade Treaty a step closer after resounding vote|url=http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/un-global-arms-trade-treaty-step-closer-after-resounding-vote-2012-11-07|publisher=Amnesty International|accessdate=8 December 2012}}</ref> On 2 April 2013, the ] ] the ATT.<ref></ref><ref name=votes>{{cite web|accessdate=25 April 2013|url=http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2013/ga11354.doc.htm|title=Overwhelming majority of states in general assembly say ‘yes’ to arms trade treaty to stave off irresponsible transfers that perpetuate conflict, human suffering|work=United Nations}}</ref> The treaty was opened for signing on June 3, 2013 and has been signed by 115 states and ratified or acceded to by 8. It will enter into force after it has been ratified or acceded to by 50 states.<ref name=depositary>{{cite web|url=http://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-8&chapter=26&lang=en|title=Arms Trade Treaty: Treaty Status|work=United Nations|accessdate= 4 June 2013|date=4 June 2013}}</ref> | |||
==== Proposals made by the Biden administration ==== | |||
Since his election, President Joe Biden urged Congress to pass a ban on assault rifles and other measures. | |||
In April 2022, the President announced plans to crack down on ]s, saying that they have become "weapons of choice for many criminals."<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Wagner |first1=John |last2=Alfaro |first2=Mariana |date=2022-04-11 |title=A fresh embrace of gun control by Biden as he moves on 'ghost guns' without Congress |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/11/biden-gun-control-dettelbach/ |access-date=2022-05-11 |archive-date=April 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220413130358/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/11/biden-gun-control-dettelbach/ |url-status=live }}</ref> From 2016 to 2021, the number of suspected privately made firearms recovered in criminal investigations increased tenfold, with about 20,000 suspected privately made firearms reported to ATF in 2021.<ref name=ChungKruzel>Andrew Chung & John Kruzel, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230803131018/https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-administration-asks-us-supreme-court-block-ghost-gun-ruling-2023-07-27/ |date=August 3, 2023 }}, Reuters (July 27, 2023).</ref> The 2022 Justice Department decision restricted the sale of weapons parts kits (determining the kits, which can be assembled into firearms in a little as 20 minutes, to qualify as "firearms" within the definition of the federal ], thus requiring serial numbers and licensure of manufacturers and commercial sellers).<ref name=ChungKruzel/> U.S. district judge in Texas, ], blocked the rule, finding that it exceeded the department's authority and issuing a ].<ref name=ChungKruzel/> The U.S. has appealed to the Fifth Circuit.<ref name=ChungKruzel/> | |||
On September 25, 2013, ] ] signed the ATT on behalf of the ]. This was a reversal of the position of the ] which had chosen not to participate in the treaty negotiations. Then in October a bipartisan group of fifty ] and 181 ] released concurrent letters to ] pledging their opposition to ratification of the ATT. The group is led by Senator ] (]-]) and Representatives ] (R-]) and ] (]-]). Following these two letters, four Democrat Senators sent a separate letter to the President stating that "because of unaddressed concerns that this Treaty’s obligations could undermine our nation’s sovereignty and the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans would oppose the Treaty if it were to come before the U.S. Senate." The four Senators are ] (D-]), ] (D-Montana), ] (D-North Dakota), and ] (D-Indiana).<ref>{{cite journal|last=Staff|title=U.S. Senate and House send letter rejecting UN Arms Trade Treaty|journal=American Rifleman|date=January 2014|year=2014|volume=162|issue=1|page=101|accessdate=24 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Staff|title=Democratic Senators Oppose U.N. Arms Trade Treaty|url=http://www.nraila.org/news-issues/news-from-nra-ila/2013/10/democratic-senators-oppose-un-arms-trade-treaty.aspx?s=arms+treaty&st=&ps=|publisher=NRA-ILA.com|accessdate=24 December 2013}}</ref> | |||
On June 25, 2022, President Biden signed the ] into law, which included expanded background checks for firearm purchasers under the age of 21, $15 billion in funding for mental health programs and school security upgrades, federal funding to encourage states to implement ], and gun ownership bans for individuals convicted of domestic abuse charges.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 25, 2022 |title=Joe Biden signs into law landmark gun control bill |work=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61938109 |access-date=September 9, 2022 |archive-date=July 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220720123333/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61938109 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=S.2938 - Bipartisan Safer Communities Act |website=congress.gov |date=June 25, 2022 |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/2938/text |access-date=September 24, 2022 |archive-date=May 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230504023537/https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/2938/text |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
Supporters of the treaty claim that the treaty is needed to help protect millions around the globe in danger of human rights abuses. ] of ] states, "This treaty says that nations must not export arms and ammunition where there is an 'overriding risk' that they will be used to commit serious human rights violations. It will help keep arms out of the hands of the wrong people: those responsible for upwards of 1,500 deaths worldwide every day."<ref>{{cite news|last=Wilkie|first=Christina|title=Arms Trade Treaty, Signed By John Kerry, Opens New Front In Senate Battle Over Gun Control|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/25/arms-trade-treaty-gun-control_n_3989999.html|publisher=Huffinton Post|accessdate=24 December 2013|date=September 25, 2013}}</ref> Secretary Kerry was quoted as saying that his signature would "help deter the transfer of conventional weapons used to carry out the world's worst crimes."<ref>{{cite web|last=UPI staff|title=Support grows for U.N. arms treaty|url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2013/10/15/Support-grows-for-UN-arms-treaty/UPI-98811381850844/|publisher=United Press International|accessdate=24 December 2013}}</ref> As of December 2013, the U.S. has not ratified or acceded to the treaty. | |||
==Public opinion== | ==Public opinion== | ||
{{main|Public opinion on gun control in the United States}} | |||
] in ] in January 2020]] | |||
] | |||
===Polls=== | ===Polls=== | ||
''Huffington Post'' reported in September 2013 that 48% of Americans said gun laws should be made more strict, while 16% said they should be made less strict and 29% said there should be no change.<ref name=huffpopoll>{{cite news|last=Swanson|first=Emily|title=Gun Control Polls Find Support Sliding For Harsher Laws|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/21/gun-control-polls_n_3963958.html|work=The Huffington Post|date=September 21, 2013|archive-date=October 5, 2013|access-date=September 30, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005212522/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/21/gun-control-polls_n_3963958.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Similarly, a Gallup poll found that support for stricter gun laws has fallen from 58% after the ], to 49% in September 2013.<ref name="huffpopoll"/> Both the Huffington Post poll and the Gallup poll were conducted after the ].<ref name="huffpopoll"/> Meanwhile, the Huffington Post poll found that 40% of Americans believe stricter gun laws would prevent future mass shootings, while 52% said changing things would not make a difference.<ref name="huffpopoll"/> The same poll also found that 57% of Americans think better mental health care is more likely to prevent future mass shootings than stricter gun laws, while 29% said the opposite.<ref name="huffpopoll"/> 74% of those who incorrectly believed that the USA has ]s supported stricter gun laws, but 89% of those who thought that such checks were not universally required supported stricter laws.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Aronow|first1=Peter M|last2=Miller|first2=Benjamin T|title=Policy misperceptions and support for gun control legislation|journal=The Lancet|date=January 2016|volume=387|issue=10015|pages=223|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00042-8|pmid=26842292|doi-access=free}}</ref> | |||
] | |||
''Huffington Post'' reported in September 2013 that 48% of Americans said gun laws should be made more strict, while 16% said they should be made less strict and 29% said there should be no change.<ref name=huffpopoll>{{cite news|last=Swanson|first=Emily|title=Gun Control Polls Find Support Sliding For Harsher Laws|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/21/gun-control-polls_n_3963958.html|publisher=Huffington Post|date=September 21, 2013}}</ref> Similarly, a Gallup poll found that support for stricter gun laws has fallen from 58% after the ], to 49% in September 2013.<ref name="huffpopoll"/> Both the Huffington Post poll and the Gallup poll were conducted after the ].<ref name="huffpopoll"/> Meanwhile, the Huffington Post poll found that 40% of Americans believe stricter gun laws would prevent future mass shootings, while 52% said changing things would not make a difference.<ref name="huffpopoll"/> The same poll also found that 57% of Americans think better mental health care is more likely to prevent future mass shootings than stricter gun laws, while 29% said the opposite.<ref name="huffpopoll"/> | |||
In a 2015 study conducted by the ], state gun laws were examined based on various policy approaches, and were scored on grade-based and ranked scales.<ref>"Law Center To Prevent Gun Violence | Because Smart Gun Laws Save Lives". Smartgunlaws.org. N.p., 2017. Web. May 16, 2017.</ref> States were rated positively for having passed stricter measures and stronger gun laws. Positive points were also given for states that required background checks on all sales of firearms and that limited bulk firearms purchases, and that prohibited sales of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, and that carried out stricter evaluations of applications for handgun concealed-carry licenses, especially in the context of prohibited domestic-violence offenders. Meanwhile, points were deducted from states with laws that expanded access to guns, or that allowed concealed carry in public areas (particularly schools and bars) without a permit, or that passed "Stand Your Ground Laws" – which remove the duty to retreat and instead allow people to shoot potential assailants. Eventually, states were graded indicating the overall strengths or weakness of their gun laws. The ten states with the strongest gun laws ranked from strongest starting with California, then New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Hawaii, New York, Maryland, Illinois, Rhode Island and finally Michigan. The states with weakest gun laws were ranked as follows: South Dakota, Arizona, Mississippi, Vermont, Louisiana, Montana, Wyoming, Kentucky, Kansas, and Oklahoma. A comparable study of state laws was also conducted in 2016.<ref name="LCPGV">{{cite web|title=Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence – Annual Gun Law State Scorecard 2016|url=http://gunlawscorecard.org/|website=gunlawscorecard.org|access-date=November 6, 2017}}</ref> Based on these findings, The Law Center concluded that comprehensive gun laws reduce gun violence deaths, whereas weaker guns laws increase gun-related deaths. Furthermore, among different kinds of legislation, universal background checks were the most effective at reducing gun-related deaths.<ref>"It's Getting Harder To Argue That Strong Gun Laws Don't Have An Effect On Gun Violence". The Huffington Post. N.p., 2017. Web. May 16, 2017.{{full citation needed|date=September 2021}}</ref> | |||
====Gallup poll==== | ====Gallup poll==== | ||
The Gallup organization regularly polls Americans on their views on guns. |
The Gallup organization regularly polls Americans on their views on guns. | ||
On December 22, 2012:<ref name=Gallup1645-3>{{cite web |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/1645/guns.aspx#3 |title=Guns: Gallup Historical Trends |date=December 22, 2012 |publisher=gallup.com |access-date=April 19, 2014 |archive-date=September 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915200955/http://www.gallup.com/poll/1645/guns.aspx#3 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
*44% supported a ban on "semi-automatic guns known as assault rifles." | |||
* |
* 44% supported a ban on "semi-automatic guns known as assault weapons." | ||
*62% supported a ban on "high-capacity ammunition magazines that can contain more than 10 rounds." | * 92% supported background checks on all gun-show gun sales. | ||
* 62% supported a ban on "high-capacity ammunition magazines that can contain more than 10 rounds." | |||
]]] | |||
As of April 25, 2013:<ref name=Gallup1645-2>{{cite web |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/1645/guns.aspx#2 |title=Guns: Gallup Historical Trends |date=April 25, 2013 |website=gallup.com |publisher=Gallup Inc. |accessdate=April 19, 2014 }}</ref> | |||
] | |||
*56% supported reinstating and strengthening the assault weapons ban of 1994. | |||
*83% supported requiring background checks for all gun purchases. | |||
*51% supported limiting the sale of ammunition magazines to those with 10 rounds or less. | |||
On April 25, 2013:<ref name=Gallup1645-2>{{cite news |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/1645/guns.aspx#2 |title=Guns: Gallup Historical Trends |date=April 25, 2013 |newspaper=gallup.com |access-date=April 19, 2014 |archive-date=September 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915200955/http://www.gallup.com/poll/1645/guns.aspx#2 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* 56% supported reinstating and strengthening the assault weapons ban of 1994. | |||
*49% felt that gun laws should be more strict. | |||
* 83% supported requiring background checks for all gun purchases. | |||
*74% opposed civilian handgun bans. | |||
* 51% supported limiting the sale of ammunition magazines to those with 10 rounds or less. | |||
*37% said they had a gun in their home. | |||
*27% said they personally owned a gun. | |||
*60% of gun owners have guns for personal safety/protection, 36% for hunting, 13% for recreation/sport, 8% for target shooting, 5% for Second Amendment right. | |||
On October 6, 2013:<ref name=Gallup1645-1>{{cite web |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/1645/guns.aspx#1 |title=Guns: Gallup Historical Trends |date=October 6, 2013 |publisher=gallup.com |access-date=April 19, 2014 |archive-date=September 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915200955/http://www.gallup.com/poll/1645/guns.aspx#1 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* 49% felt that gun laws should be more strict. | |||
* 74% opposed civilian handgun bans. | |||
* 37% said they had a gun in their home. | |||
* 27% said they personally owned a gun. | |||
* 60% of gun owners have guns for personal safety/protection, 36% for hunting, 13% for recreation/sport, 8% for target shooting, 5% as a Second Amendment right. | |||
In January 2014:<ref name=Gallup167135>{{cite web |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/167135/americans-dissatisfaction-gun-laws-highest-2001.aspx |title=Americans' Dissatisfaction With Gun Laws Highest Since 2001 |date=January 30, 2014 |publisher=Gallup.com |access-date=March 12, 2014 |archive-date=March 3, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303204437/http://www.gallup.com/poll/167135/americans-dissatisfaction-gun-laws-highest-2001.aspx? |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* 40% are satisfied with the current state of gun laws, 55% are dissatisfied | * 40% are satisfied with the current state of gun laws, 55% are dissatisfied | ||
* 31% want stricter control, 16% want less strict laws | * 31% want stricter control, 16% want less strict laws | ||
On October 19, 2015:<ref name=Gallup186236>{{cite web |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/186236/americans-desire-stricter-gun-laws-sharply.aspx?g_source=guns&g_medium=search&g_campaign=tiles |title=Americans' Desire for Stricter Gun Laws Up Sharply |date=October 19, 2015 |publisher=gallup.com |access-date=August 10, 2016 |archive-date=August 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819202003/http://www.gallup.com/poll/186236/americans-desire-stricter-gun-laws-sharply.aspx?g_source=guns&g_medium=search&g_campaign=tiles |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
====National Rifle Association==== | |||
* 55% said the law on ''sales'' of firearms should be more strict, 33% kept as they are, 11% less strict | |||
A poll conducted for the NRA of 1,000 of its (at the time, 5 million)<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/05/04/nra-meeting-lapierre-membership/2135063/|title=Post-Newtown, NRA membership surges to 5 million|publisher=USA Today|date=May 4, 2013|first=Gregory|last=Korte}}</ref> members between January 13 and January 14, 2013 found:<ref>{{cite web |format=PDF |url=http://www.nraila.org/media/10850041/113topline.pdf |title=NRA National Member Survey |author=OnMessage Inc. |accessdate=February 12, 2013 |publisher=]}}</ref> | |||
** this was sharply polarised by party, with 77% of Democratic Party supporters wanting stricter laws, against 27% of Republican Party supporters | |||
* 72% continued to oppose civilian handgun bans. | |||
] | |||
*90.7% of members favor "Reforming our mental health laws to help keep firearms out of the hands of people with mental illness." (A majority of 86.4% believe that strengthening laws this way would be more effective at preventing mass murders than banning semi-automatic rifles.) | |||
On October 16, 2017:<ref name=Gallup220595>{{cite web |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/220595/support-stricter-gun-laws-edges.aspx |title=Support for Stricter Gun Laws Edges Up in U.S. |date=October 16, 2017 |publisher=gallup.com |access-date=October 3, 2018}}</ref> | |||
*92.2% of NRA members oppose gun confiscation via mandatory buy-back laws. | |||
* 58% of Americans believing that new gun laws would have little or no effect on mass shootings. | |||
*88.5% oppose banning ]s, firearms that shoot one bullet per trigger pull. | |||
* 60% said the law on ''sales'' of firearms should be more strict. | |||
*92.6% oppose a law requiring gun owners to register with the federal government. | |||
* 48% "would support a law making it illegal to manufacture, sell or possess" ]s | |||
*92.0% oppose a federal law banning the sale of firearms between private citizens. | |||
* The following day, a survey was published stating:<ref name=Gallup220637>{{cite web |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/220637/americans-widely-support-tighter-regulations-gun-sales.aspx |title=Americans Widely Support Tighter Regulations on Gun Sales |date=October 17, 2017 |publisher=gallup.com |access-date=October 3, 2018 |archive-date=October 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003101131/https://news.gallup.com/poll/220637/americans-widely-support-tighter-regulations-gun-sales.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
*82.3% of members are in favor of a program that would place armed security professionals in every school. | |||
** 96% supported "requiring background checks for all gun purchases" | |||
*72.5% agreed that President Obama’s ultimate goal is the confiscation of many firearms that are currently legal. | |||
*** this includes 95% of gun owners and 96% of non-gun owners | |||
** 75% supported "enacting a 30-day waiting period for all gun sales" | |||
*** this includes 57% of gun owners and 84% of non-gun owners | |||
** 70% supported "requiring all privately owned guns to be registered with the police" | |||
*** this includes 48% of gun owners and 82% of non-gun owners | |||
According to a 2023 ] poll found registered voters overwhelmingly supported a wide variety of gun restrictions: | |||
* 87% said they support requiring criminal background checks for all gun buyers; | |||
* 81% support raising the age requirement to buy guns to 21; | |||
* 80% support requiring mental health checks for all gun purchasers; | |||
* 80% said police should be allowed take guns away from people considered a danger to themselves or others; | |||
* 61% supported banning ]s and ].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Saric |first1=Ivana |title=Fox News poll finds voters overwhelmingly want restrictions on guns |url=https://www.axios.com/2023/04/28/fox-news-poll-voters-want-gun-control |work=Axios |date=April 29, 2023 |archive-date=July 5, 2023 |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705205522/https://www.axios.com/2023/04/28/fox-news-poll-voters-want-gun-control |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Yousif |first1=Nadine |title=Why number of US mass shootings has risen sharply |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64377360 |publisher=BBC |date=March 2, 2023 |archive-date=June 4, 2023 |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604183241/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64377360 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
====National Rifle Association==== | |||
A member poll conducted for the NRA between January 13 and 14, 2013 found:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nraila.org/media/10850041/113topline.pdf |title=NRA National Member Survey |author=OnMessage Inc. |access-date=February 12, 2013 |publisher=] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430071211/http://www.nraila.org/media/10850041/113topline.pdf |archive-date=April 30, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
* 90.7% of members favor "Reforming our mental health laws to help keep firearms out of the hands of people with mental illness." (A majority of 86.4% believe that strengthening laws this way would be more effective at preventing mass murders than banning semi-automatic rifles.) | |||
* 92.2% of NRA members oppose gun confiscation via mandatory buy-back laws. | |||
* 88.5% oppose banning ]s, firearms that chamber a new round automatically when discharged. | |||
* 92.6% oppose a law requiring gun owners to register with the federal government. | |||
* 92.0% oppose a federal law banning the sale of firearms between private citizens. | |||
* 82.3% of members are in favor of a program that would place armed security professionals in every school. | |||
* 72.5% agreed that President Obama's ultimate goal is the confiscation of many firearms that are currently legal. | |||
Place of living of respondents: | Place of living of respondents: | ||
Line 185: | Line 276: | ||
* 18.3% North-East / Mid-Atlantic | * 18.3% North-East / Mid-Atlantic | ||
=== Media depictions and public opinion === | |||
===Centers for Disease Control (CDC) gun research and gun control=== | |||
A study conducted by Berryessa et al. in 2020 with 3410 qualifying respondents investigated how characteristics of victims and types of incidents described in a media report would affect respondents' support towards gun regulations. They found that mentions of victim race, particularly those of Black victims, was a strong predictor of lowered support for all categories of firearm regulation. Furthermore, regulations designed to address gun deaths from suicide and accidents were less likely to garner support compared to those addressing mass shootings or street-level gun homicide. Descriptions of age, mental illness, prior incarceration, and victim gender were less salient predictors of public support than those of race or incident type.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Berryessa |first1=Colleen M. |last2=Sierra-Arévalo |first2=Michael |last3=Semenza |first3=Daniel C. |date=2022-06-22 |title=Portrayals of gun violence victimization and public support for firearm policies: an experimental analysis |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11292-022-09517-x |journal=Journal of Experimental Criminology |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=865–890 |doi=10.1007/s11292-022-09517-x |pmid=39144402 |pmc=11323076 |s2cid=249972586 |issn=1573-3750}}</ref> | |||
In 1996, Congress added language to the relevant appropriations bill which required "none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the ] may be used to advocate or promote gun control."<ref>''Making omnibus consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1997, and for other purposes'' </ref> This language was added to prevent the funding of research by the CDC that gun rights supporters considered politically motivated and intended to bring about further gun control legislation. In particular, the NRA and other gun rights proponents objected to work supported by the ], then run by Mark Rosenberg, including research authored by ].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/us/26guns.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0 |title=N.R.A. Stymies Firearms Research, Scientists Say |date=25 January 2011 |author=Michael Luo |newspaper=The New York Times |accessdate=2013-02-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nraila.org//Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?ID=119 |title=22 Times Less Safe? Anti-Gun Lobby's Favorite Spin Re-Attacks Guns In The Home |publisher=NRA-ILA |date=11 December 2001 |accessdate=2013-02-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Obama Lifts Ban on Funding Gun Violence Research |date=16 January 2013 |author=Eliot Marshall |publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science |newspaper=''Science''Insider |accessdate=2013-02-05 |url=http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2013/01/obama-lifts-ban-on-funding-gun-v.html}}</ref> | |||
The language has been carried forward and appears in the fiscal year 2012 appropriations bill,<ref>''Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012'' </ref> and also in the draft for the fiscal year 2013 appropriations bill.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://appropriations.house.gov/legislation/ |title=Legislation | Committee on Appropriations, U.S. House of Representatives |accessdate=2013-02-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |format=PDF |url=http://appropriations.house.gov/uploadedfiles/bills-112hr-sc-ap-fy13-laborhhsed.pdf |accessdate=2013-02-05|title=Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, Appropriations Bill, Subcommittee Draft}}</ref> However, the Obama administration's legal analysis, "concludes such research is not prohibited by any appropriations language."<ref name="research_memo">{{cite web |url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/01/16/presidential-memorandum-engaging-public-health-research-causes-and-preve |title=Presidential Memorandum -- Engaging in Public Health Research on the Causes and Prevention of Gun Violence |date=16 January 2013 |accessdate=2013-02-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Now is the Time: The President’s plan to protect our children and our communities by reducing gun violence |accessdate=2013-02-05 |format=PDF |url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/wh_now_is_the_time_full.pdf |publisher=The White House}}</ref> | |||
==Political arguments== | ==Political arguments== | ||
===Rights-based |
===Rights-based arguments=== | ||
Rights-based |
Rights-based arguments involve the most fundamental question about gun control: to what degree the government has the authority to regulate guns. | ||
Proponents of gun rights include but are not limited to the following:<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.pewpewtactical.com/nra-alternatives/|title=NRA Alternatives: Pro-Gun & Special Interest Groups|newspaper=Pew Pew Tactical|date=February 4, 2020|last1=Kriss|first1=Megan|archive-date=April 19, 2021|access-date=March 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419144132/https://www.pewpewtactical.com/nra-alternatives/|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
:] | |||
:] | |||
:] | |||
:] | |||
:] | |||
:] | |||
:] | |||
:] | |||
:Evolve USA | |||
:] | |||
:] | |||
:California Rifle & Pistol Association | |||
:]<ref>{{Cite web|last=CoastAlaska|first=Jacob Resneck|date=2018-11-19|title=Meet the Socialist Rifle Association. The left's answer to conservative gun culture.|url=https://www.ktoo.org/2018/11/19/meet-the-socialist-rifle-association-the-lefts-answer-to-conservative-gun-culture/|access-date=2019-07-23|website=KTOO|language=en-US|archive-date=May 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514154957/https://www.ktoo.org/2018/11/19/meet-the-socialist-rifle-association-the-lefts-answer-to-conservative-gun-culture/|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
:]<ref name="watt">{{cite web|last=Watt|first=Cecilia Saixue|date=July 11, 2017|title=Redneck Revolt: the armed leftwing group that wants to stamp out fascism|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/11/redneck-revolt-guns-anti-racism-fascism-far-left|access-date=July 18, 2017|work=]|archive-date=November 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211103213157/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/11/redneck-revolt-guns-anti-racism-fascism-far-left|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
====Fundamental right==== | ====Fundamental right==== | ||
] | |||
The primary author of the ], ], considered the listed rights — including a right to keep and bear arms — to be "fundamental" maxims. In 1788, he wrote: “The political truths declared in that solemn manner acquire by degrees the character of fundamental maxims of free Government, and as they become incorporated with the national sentiment, counteract the impulses of interest and passion.”<ref>Williams, Tony. '''', p. 174 (Rowman & Littlefield, 2010).</ref><ref>Roth, Timothy. '''', p. 16 (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007).</ref> | |||
The primary author of the ], ], considered the rights contained within– including a right to keep and bear arms – to be fundamental. In 1788, he wrote: "The political truths declared in that solemn manner acquire by degrees the character of fundamental maxims of free Government, and as they become incorporated with the national sentiment, counteract the impulses of interest and passion."<ref>Williams, Tony. '''', p. 174 (Rowman & Littlefield, 2010).</ref><ref>Roth, Timothy. '''', p. 16 (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007).</ref> | |||
The view that gun ownership is a ] was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in ''District of Columbia v. Heller'' (2008). The Court stated: "By the time of the founding, the right to have arms had become fundamental for English subjects."<ref name=Utter>Utter, Glenn. , p. 145 (ABC-CLIO, |
The view that gun ownership is a ] was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in ''District of Columbia v. Heller'' (2008). The Court stated: "By the time of the founding, the right to have arms had become fundamental for English subjects."<ref name=Utter>Utter, Glenn. , p. 145 (ABC-CLIO, November 12, 2009).</ref> The Court observed that the ] had listed a right to arms as one of the fundamental rights of Englishmen. | ||
When the Court interpreted the ] in ''McDonald v. Chicago'' (2010), it looked |
When the Court interpreted the ] in '']'' (2010), it looked to the year 1868, when the amendment was ratified and said that most states had provisions in their constitutions explicitly protecting this right. The Court concluded: "It is clear that the Framers and ratifiers of the Fourteenth Amendment counted the right to keep and bear arms among those fundamental rights necessary to our system of ordered liberty."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/28/AR2010062802134.html|title=Supreme Court affirms fundamental right to bear arms|first=Robert Barnes and Dan|last=Eggen|date=June 29, 2010|access-date=October 4, 2017|website=Washingtonpost.com|archive-date=October 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191011034831/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/28/AR2010062802134.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Carper, Donald and McKinsey, John. '''', p. 85 (Cengage Learning 2011).</ref> | ||
====Second Amendment rights==== | ====Second Amendment rights==== | ||
]" outcome in 5.1% of total incidents).<ref name=NYTimes_20220622>{{cite news |last1=Buchanan |first1=Larry |last2=Leatherby |first2=Lauren |title=Who Stops a 'Bad Guy With a Gun'? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/06/22/us/shootings-police-response-uvalde-buffalo.html |work=The New York Times |date=June 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622111531/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/06/22/us/shootings-police-response-uvalde-buffalo.html |archive-date=June 22, 2022 |quote=Data source: Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center |url-status=live}}</ref>]] | |||
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, adopted on December 15, 1791, states "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."<ref></ref> | |||
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, adopted on December 15, 1791, states: | |||
<blockquote>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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/second_amendment|title=Second Amendment|author=LII Staff|date=February 5, 2010|website=LII / Legal Information Institute|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=July 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703150532/https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/second_amendment|url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
Prior to ''District of Columbia v. Heller'', in the absence of a clear court ruling, there was a debate |
Prior to ''District of Columbia v. Heller'', in the absence of a clear court ruling, there was a debate about whether or not the Second Amendment included an ].<ref name=CornellWex2A>{{cite web |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/second_amendment |title=Legal Information Institute (LII): Second Amendment |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=January 26, 2014 |website=law.cornell.edu |publisher=Cornell University Law School |access-date=January 27, 2014 |archive-date=September 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911162147/https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/second_amendment |url-status=live }}</ref> In ''Heller'', the Court concluded that there is indeed such a right, but not an unlimited one.<ref name=CornellWex2A /> Although the decision was not unanimous, all justices endorsed an individual right viewpoint but differed on the scope of that right.<ref name=HLR>See {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111223514/http://harvardlawreview.org/media/pdf/case_comment_intro122.pdf |date=January 11, 2014 }} (comment), '']'', Vol. 122, pp. 141–142 (2008): "Justice Stevens filed a dissenting opinion, agreeing with the majority that the Second Amendment confers an individual right, but disagreeing as to the scope of that right….Justices Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer joined Justice Stevens's opinion."</ref><ref name=Bhagwat /> | ||
Before ''Heller'' gun rights advocates argued that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to own guns. They stated that the phrase "the people" in that amendment applies to individuals rather than an organized collective and that the phrase "the people" means the same thing in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 9th, and 10th Amendments.<ref name=halbrook1987>{{cite book |last=Halbrook |first=Stephen P. |title=That Every Man Be Armed: The Evolution of a Constitutional Right |year=1987 |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |isbn=978-0945999287}}</ref>{{rp|55–87}}<ref name="Story, Joseph 1986 p.319-320">Story, Joseph, A Familiar Exposition of the Constitution of the United States (1986) Regnery Gateway, Chicago, Illinois, pp. 319–320, {{ISBN|0895267969}}</ref><ref name="Hardy, David T 1986 pp.64-93">Hardy, David T. The origins and Development of the Second Amendment (1986), Blacksmith Corp., Chino Valley, Arizona, pp. 64–93, {{ISBN|0941540138}}</ref> They also said the Second's placement in the ] defines it as an individual right.<ref>" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104204343/http://haciendapublishing.com/medicalsentinel/second-amendment-reaching-consensus-individual-right |date=2014-01-04 }}" by Miguel A. Faria</ref><ref>" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104214151/http://haciendapublishing.com/medicalsentinel/guns-and-violence |date=January 4, 2014 }}" by Miguel A. Faria</ref> As part of the ''Heller'' decision, the majority endorsed the view that the Second Amendment protects an individual, though not unlimited, right to own guns. ] ] and Supreme Court law clerk ] argued that this final decision by the Supreme Court was a misinterpretation of the U.S. Constitution.<ref name=SpitzerReviewHolbrook>{{cite web |url=http://www.gvpt.umd.edu/lpbr/subpages/reviews/halbrook1008.htm |title=Review of The Founders' Second Amendment by Stephen P. Holbrook |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |date=October 2008 |website=Gvpt.umd.edu/ |series=Law & Politics Book Review |publisher=University of Maryland |quote=As the Supreme Court made clear this past summer, judges can change the law, although there is less than consensus, even among conservatives, that Justice Antonin Scalia succeeded in making the case for the majority in Heller. Federal Judge Richard Posner (2008) opined recently that Scalia's opinion, though lengthy, 'is not evidence of the disinterested historical inquiry. It is evidence of the ability of well-staffed courts to produce snow jobs.' |access-date=January 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221135656/http://www.gvpt.umd.edu/lpbr/subpages/reviews/halbrook1008.htm |archive-date=December 21, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=Clemente2011>{{cite journal |last=Clemente |first=Matt |year=2009 |title=The Framers' Aims: Heller, History, and the Second Amendment |url=http://www.arts.cornell.edu/knight_institute/publicationsprizes/discoveries/discoveriesspring2011/007.%20CLEMENTE.pdf |journal=Discoveries |series=John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines |volume=Spring 2011 |issue= 10 |pages=63–76 |quote=For although Americans believe in an individual right to bear arms, public opinion polls have consistently shown that they favor commonsense gun restrictions as well. Thus, if the lower courts begin to get too bold and begin striking down popular gun control laws, ''Heller'', like ''Lochner'' , will be seen as a mistake. |access-date=January 8, 2014}}</ref><ref name=Magarian2012>{{cite journal |last=Magarian |first=Gregory P. |year=2012 |title=Speaking Truth to Firepower: How the First Amendment Destabilizes the Second |url=http://www.texaslrev.com/wp-content/uploads/Magarian-91-TLR-49.pdf |journal=Texas Law Review |volume=91 |issue=49 |pages=49–99 |quote=The Constitution can confer rights on individuals, as the First Amendment undeniably does, but{{snd}}as First Amendment theorists frequently contend{{snd}}for collectivist rather than individualist reasons.... While this Article does not contest the core holdings of ''Heller'' and ''McDonald'' that the Second Amendment confers an individual right against the federal and state governments, those decisions' primary justification for the Second Amendment: protection of individual self-defense. |access-date=January 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092518/http://www.texaslrev.com/wp-content/uploads/Magarian-91-TLR-49.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
After the ''Heller'' decision there was an increased amount of attention on whether or not the Second Amendment applies to the states. In 2010 in the case of ''McDonald v. Chicago'', the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment's provisions do apply to the states |
After the ''Heller'' decision there was an increased amount of attention on whether or not the Second Amendment applies to the states. In 2010 in the case of '']'', the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment's provisions do apply to the states as a result of the Fourteenth Amendment. | ||
====Defense of self and state==== | ====Defense of self and state==== | ||
] | |||
The eighteenth-century English jurist ] (b. 1723), whose writings heavily influenced the drafters of the U.S. Constitution,<ref>Bartholomees, J. '''', p. 267 (Strategic Studies Institute, 2010).</ref> called ] "the primary law of nature" which (he said) man-made law cannot take away.<ref>Dizard, Jan et al. ''Guns in America: A Reader'', p. 177 (NYU Press, 1999).</ref> Following Blackstone, the American jurist ] (b. 1752) wrote that "the right of self-defense is the first law of nature; in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible."<ref name=Vile>Vile, John. '''', Volume 1, p. 766 (ABC-CLIO, 2003).</ref> | |||
] | |||
The eighteenth-century English jurist ] (b. 1723), whose writings influenced the drafters of the U.S. Constitution,<ref>Bartholomees, J. '''', p. 267 (Strategic Studies Institute, 2010).</ref> called ] "the primary law of nature" which (he said) man-made law cannot take away.<ref>Dizard, Jan et al. ''Guns in America: A Reader'', p. 177 (NYU Press, 1999).</ref> Following Blackstone, the American jurist ] (b. 1752) wrote that "the right of self-defense is the first law of nature; in most governments, it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible."<ref name=Vile>Vile, John. '''', Volume 1, p. 766 (ABC-CLIO, 2003).</ref> | |||
In both ''Heller'' (2008) and ''McDonald'' (2010) the Supreme Court deemed that the right of self-defense is at least partly protected by the United States Constitution. The court left details of that protection to be worked out in future court cases.<ref>Epstein, Lee and Walk, Thomas. '''', 8th Edition, p. 396 (SAGE 2012).</ref> | |||
In both ''Heller'' (2008) and ''McDonald'' (2010) the Supreme Court deemed that the right of self-defense is at least partly protected by the United States Constitution. The court left details of that protection to be worked out in future court cases.<ref>Epstein, Lee and Walk, Thomas. '''', 8th Edition, p. 396 (SAGE 2012).</ref> | |||
The two primary interest groups regarding this issue are the Brady Campaign and the National Rifle Association.<ref name=Wilson>Wilson, Harry. '''', pp. 20-21 (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007).</ref> They have clashed, for example, regarding ]s which give individuals a legal right to use guns for defending themselves without any ] from a dangerous situation.<ref>{{cite news|last=Willing |first=Richard |url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-03-20-states-self-defense_x.htm |title=States allow deadly self-defense |newspaper=USA Today |date=March 21, 2006 |accessdate=2011-12-08}}</ref> After the Supreme Court's 2008 decision in ''Heller'', the Brady Campaign indicated that it would seek reasonable gun laws “without infringing on the right of law-abiding persons to possess guns for self-defense.”<ref>"", A White Paper by the Legal Action Project of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence (October 20, 2008; Retrieved February 1, 2014):<blockquote>After Heller, the issue is: What reasonable gun laws should be passed that will make our families and communities more safe, without infringing on the right of law-abiding persons to possess guns for self-defense? This framing of the issue will move the debate from the extremes to the middle and, as such, is highly favorable to progress toward a new, sensible, national gun policy.</blockquote></ref> | |||
The two primary interest groups regarding this issue are the Brady Campaign and the National Rifle Association.<ref name=Wilson>Wilson, Harry. '''', pp. 20–21 (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007).</ref> They have clashed, for example, regarding ]s which give individuals a legal right to use guns for defending themselves without any ] from a dangerous situation.<ref>{{cite news |last=Willing |first=Richard |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-03-20-states-self-defense_x.htm |title=States allow deadly self-defense |newspaper=USA Today |date=March 21, 2006 |access-date=December 8, 2011 |archive-date=November 15, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091115200250/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-03-20-states-self-defense_x.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> After the Supreme Court's 2008 decision in ''Heller'', the Brady Campaign indicated that it would seek gun laws "without infringing on the right of law-abiding persons to possess guns for self-defense."<ref>" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130811121829/http://bradycampaign.org/sites/default/files/UnintendedConsequences.pdf |date=August 11, 2013 }}", A White Paper by the Legal Action Project of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence (October 20, 2008. Retrieved February 1, 2014): | |||
<blockquote>After Heller, the issue is: What reasonable gun laws should be passed that will make our families and communities safer, without infringing on the right of law-abiding persons to possess guns for self-defense? This framing of the issue will move the debate from the extremes to the middle and, as such, is highly favorable to progress toward a new, sensible, national gun policy.</blockquote></ref> | |||
==== Protection of marginalized people ==== | |||
Left-wing and far-left advocates for gun rights argue that gun ownership is necessary for protecting marginalized communities, such as ] and the ], from state repression.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Kim |date=2019-07-01 |title="I'm a left-wing anarchist. Guns aren't just for right-wingers." |url=https://www.vox.com/first-person/2019/7/1/18744204/guns-gun-control-anarchism |access-date=2022-04-05 |website=] |language=en |archive-date=April 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405193239/https://www.vox.com/first-person/2019/7/1/18744204/guns-gun-control-anarchism |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=King |first=Elizabeth |date=2017-11-02 |title=Why Some Members of the Far Left Advocate Against Gun Control |url=https://psmag.com/social-justice/why-some-members-of-the-far-left-advocate-against-gun-control |access-date=2022-04-05 |website=] |language=en |archive-date=January 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127150728/https://psmag.com/social-justice/why-some-members-of-the-far-left-advocate-against-gun-control |url-status=live }}</ref> Far-left advocates argue that gun control laws mostly benefit white people and harm ].<ref name=":0" /> | |||
====Security against tyranny==== | ====Security against tyranny==== | ||
Another |
Another fundamental political argument associated with the right to keep and bear arms is that banning or even regulating gun ownership makes government ] more likely.<ref>Cook, Philip and Goss, Kristin. '''', p. 31 (Oxford University Press, 2014).</ref> A January 2013 ] poll indicated that 65 percent of Americans believe the purpose of the Second Amendment is to "ensure that people are able to protect themselves from tyranny."<ref name=Rasmussen> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104023656/http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/gun_control/65_see_gun_rights_as_protection_against_tyranny |date=January 4, 2014 }}, Rasmussen Reports (January 18, 2013): "The Second Amendment to the Constitution provides Americans with the right to own a gun. Is the purpose of the Second Amendment to ensure that people are able to protect themselves from tyranny?"</ref> A ] in October 2013 showed that 60 percent of American gun owners mention "personal safety/protection" as a reason for owning them, and 5 percent mention a "Second Amendment right," among other reasons.<ref name=Gallup165605>{{cite web |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/165605/personal-safety-top-reason-americans-own-guns-today.aspx |title=Personal Safety Top Reason Americans Own Guns Today: Second Amendment rights, job with police or military are lower on list |last=Swift |first=Art |date=October 28, 2013 |publisher=gallup.com |access-date=March 31, 2014 |archive-date=March 25, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325235053/http://www.gallup.com/poll/165605/personal-safety-top-reason-americans-own-guns-today.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> Another poll, published by the ] in August 2023, confirms these results: 72% of polled gun owners state that self-protection is a major reason for their gun ownership.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nadeem |first=Reem |date=2023-08-16 |title=For Most U.S. Gun Owners, Protection Is the Main Reason They Own a Gun |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/08/16/for-most-u-s-gun-owners-protection-is-the-main-reason-they-own-a-gun/ |access-date=2023-09-17 |website=Pew Research Center - U.S. Politics & Policy |language=en-US |archive-date=July 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240704062933/https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/08/16/for-most-u-s-gun-owners-protection-is-the-main-reason-they-own-a-gun/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The anti-tyranny argument extends back to the days of colonial America and earlier in Great Britain.<ref>{{cite book|author=Gregg Lee Carter|title=Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oD46JBOhMU0C|year=2012|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0313386701|pages=169, 305–306, 312, 358, 361–362, 454–455, 458, 467, 575–576, 738, 812, 846}}</ref> | ||
Various gun rights advocates and organizations, such as former governor ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mikehuckabee.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Issues.View&Issue_id=18 |title=Mike Huckabee for President: Issues: 2nd Amendment Rights |access-date=December 30, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107201939/http://www.mikehuckabee.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Issues.View&Issue_id=18 |archive-date=November 7, 2007 }}</ref> former Congressman ],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lewrockwell.com/2003/04/ron-paul/bush-betrayal/ |title=Assault Weapons and Assaults on the Constitution |date=April 22, 2003 |access-date=December 30, 2008 |archive-date=September 19, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130919114559/http://www.lewrockwell.com/2003/04/ron-paul/bush-betrayal/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and Gun Owners of America,<ref name="Larry Pratt"/> say that an armed citizenry is the population's last line of defense against tyranny by their own government. This belief was also familiar at the time the Constitution was written.<ref>Levy, Leonard. '''', p. 144 (Yale University Press, 2001).</ref><ref name=Webster>See, e.g., Noah Webster, "An Examination into the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution" (1787), reprinted in ''Pamphlets on the Constitution of the United States, Published During Its Discussion by the People, 1787–1788'', at 56 (Paul L. Ford, ed. 1971) (1888): | |||
Various gun rights advocates and organizations, such as former governor ],<ref>{{cite web | |||
|url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071107201939/http://www.mikehuckabee.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Issues.View&Issue_id=18 | title = Mike Huckabee for President: Issues: 2nd Amendment Rights |accessdate = 2008-12-30}}</ref> former Congressman ],<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.lewrockwell.com/2003/04/ron-paul/bush-betrayal/ | title = Assault Weapons and Assaults on the Constitution | date=April 22, 2003 |accessdate = 2008-12-30}}</ref> and Gun Owners of America<ref>{{cite web| url = http://gunowners.org/fs9402.htm | title = Firearms: the People's Liberty Teeth | author = Larry Pratt | accessdate = 2008-12-30}}</ref>, take the position that an armed citizenry is the population's last line of defense against tyranny by their own government. This belief was also familiar at the time the Constitution was written.<ref>Levy, Leonard. '''', p. 144 (Yale University Press, 2001).</ref><ref name=Webster>See, e.g., Noah Webster, "An Examination into the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution" (1787), reprinted in ''Pamphlets on the Constitution of the United States, Published During Its Discussion by the People, 1787–1788'', at 56 (Paul L. Ford, ed. 1971) (1888):<blockquote>Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States.</blockquote></ref> A ] was omitted from the Constitution, and instead the Constitution was designed to ensure a government deriving its power from the ].<ref>Bond, Jon and Smith, Kevin. '''', p. 86 (Routledge, 2013).</ref> | |||
<blockquote>Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States.</blockquote> | |||
The ] mentions "the Right of the People to alter or to abolish" the government, and ]'s first ] reiterated the "revolutionary right" of the people.<ref>Amar, Akhil and Hirsch, Alan. '''', pp. 7, 171–176 (Simon and Schuster 1999).</ref> In 1957, the legal scholar ] expressed a different view:<ref>Pound, Roscoe.: The Development of Constitutional Guarantees of Liberty, page 91. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT. 1957</ref><ref>Spitzer, Robert. '''', p. 61 (ABC-CLIO, 2001).</ref> He stated, "A legal right of the citizen to wage war on the government is something that cannot be admitted. ... In the urban industrial society of today a general right to bear efficient arms so as to be enabled to resist oppression by the government would mean that gangs could exercise an extra-legal rule which would defeat the whole Bill of Rights." | |||
</ref> The ] mentions "the Right of the People to alter or to abolish" the government, and ]'s first ] reiterated the "revolutionary right" of the people.<ref>Amar, Akhil and Hirsch, Alan. '''', pp. 7, 171–176 (Simon and Schuster 1999).</ref> A ] was not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution; instead, the Constitution was designed to ensure a government deriving its power from the ].<ref>Bond, Jon and Smith, Kevin. '''', p. 86 (Routledge, 2013).</ref> Historian ] wrote that the well-regulated militia protected by the Second Amendment was more likely to put down rebellions than participate in them.<ref>''"The Federalized Militia Debate"'' in Saul Cornell's ''"Whose Right to Bear Arms Did the Second Amendment Protect"'', April 7, 2000,</ref> | |||
Gun rights advocates such as ] and ] support the "]" theory. The theory states that gun regulations enforced by the ] rendered victims of ] weak, and that more effective resistance to oppression would have been possible if they had been better armed.<ref name=Halbrook2000>{{cite journal |last=Halbrook |first=Stephen P. |title=Nazi Firearms Law and the Disarming of the German Jews |journal=Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law |year=2000 |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=483–535 |url=http://www.stephenhalbrook.com/article-nazilaw.pdf |archive-date=December 1, 2019 |access-date=January 4, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191201112317/http://www.stephenhalbrook.com/article-nazilaw.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|484}}<ref name=LaPierre1994>{{cite book |last=LaPierre |first=Wayne |year=1994 |title=Guns, Crime, and Freedom |url=https://archive.org/details/gunscrimefreedom00lapi_0|url-access=registration |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Regnery |isbn=978-0895264770 |oclc=246629786}}</ref>{{rp|87–8, 167–168}} Other gun laws of ] have also been brought up such as ] and in ]. This ] theory is not supported by mainstream scholarship,<ref name=Bryant-HolocaustImagery>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Bryant |first=Michael S. |editor-first1=Gregg Lee |editor1-last=Carter |encyclopedia=Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture and the Law |title=Holocaust Imagery and Gun Control |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oD46JBOhMU0C&pg=PA411 |edition=2nd |date=May 4, 2012 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |volume=2 |location=Santa Barbara, California |isbn=978-0313386701 |oclc=833189121 |pages=411–415 |access-date=March 21, 2014}}</ref>{{rp|412, 414}}<ref name=Harcourt2004>{{cite journal |last=Harcourt |first=Bernard E. |year=2004 |title=On Gun Registration, the NRA, Adolf Hitler, and Nazi Gun Laws: Exploding the Gun Culture Wars (A Call to Historians) |url=http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4029&context=flr |journal=Fordham Law Review |volume=73 |issue=2 |pages=653–680 |archive-date=June 11, 2014 |access-date=January 4, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611171631/http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4029&context=flr |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|671,677}}<ref name=Spitzer2004>{{Cite journal |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |year=2004 |title=Don't Know Much About History, Politics, or Theory: A Comment |url=http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol73/iss2/14/ |journal=Fordham Law Review |volume=73 |issue=2 |pages=721–730 |archive-date=March 22, 2014 |access-date=May 4, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140322002144/http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol73/iss2/14/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|728}} though it is an element of a "security against tyranny" argument in U.S. politics.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Nuckols |first=Mark |date=January 31, 2013 |title=Why the 'Citizen Militia' Theory Is the Worst Pro-Gun Argument Ever |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/01/why-the-citizen-militia-theory-is-the-worst-pro-gun-argument-ever/272734/ |journal=] |archive-date=August 22, 2015 |access-date=March 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150822030053/http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/01/why-the-citizen-militia-theory-is-the-worst-pro-gun-argument-ever/272734/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
Historian ] wrote that the well-regulated militia protected by the Second Amendment was more likely to put down rebellions than participate in them.<ref>''"The Federalized Militia Debate"'' in Saul Cornell's ''"Whose Right to Bear Arms Did the Second Amendment Protect"'', April 7, 2000</ref> American gun rights activist ] says that the anti-tyranny argument for gun rights is supported by successful efforts in Guatemala and the Philippines to arm ordinary citizens against communist insurgency in the 1980s.<ref>Pratt, Larry, ''Armed People Victorious'' (1990) Gun Owners Foundation, Springfield, Va., pp.17-68</ref><ref>Pratt, Larry (ed.) ''Safeguarding Liberty-- The Constitution and Citizens Militias'' Legacy Communications, Franklin Tennessee, pp.197-352.ISBN 1-880692-18-X</ref> Gun-rights advocacy groups argue that the only way to enforce democracy is through having the means of resistance.<ref name=halbrook1987>{{cite book |last=Halbrook |first=Stephen P. |title=That Every Man Be Armed: The Evolution of a Constitutional Right |year=1987 |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |isbn=0-945999-28-3}}</ref>{{rp|55–87}}<ref name="Story, Joseph 1986 p.319-320"/><ref name="Hardy, David T 1986 pp.64-93"/> Militia-movement groups cite the ] (Tennessee, 1946) as an example of citizens who " armed force to support the Rule of Law" in what they said was a ].<ref>Mulloy, Darren. '''', p. 159-160 (Routledge, 2004).</ref> Then-senator ] wrote in 1960 that, "it is extremely unlikely that the fears of governmental tyranny which gave rise to the Second Amendment will ever be a major danger to our nation...."<ref>Kennedy, John. "Know Your Lawmakers", ''Guns'', April 1960, p. 4 (1960) ''in'' </ref> | |||
American gun rights activist ] says that the anti-tyranny argument for gun rights is supported by successful efforts in Guatemala and the Philippines to arm ordinary citizens against communist insurgency in the 1980s.<ref>Pratt, Larry, ''Armed People Victorious'' (1990) Gun Owners Foundation, Springfield, Va., pp. 17–68</ref><ref>Pratt, Larry (ed.) ''Safeguarding Liberty – The Constitution and Citizens Militias'' Legacy Communications, Franklin Tennessee, pp. 197–352. {{ISBN|188069218X}}</ref> Gun-rights advocacy groups argue that the only way to enforce democracy is through having the means of resistance.<ref name=halbrook1987/>{{rp|55–87}}<ref name="Story, Joseph 1986 p.319-320"/><ref name="Hardy, David T 1986 pp.64-93"/> Militia-movement groups cite the ] (Tennessee, 1946) as an example of citizens who " armed force to support the Rule of Law" in what they said was a ].<ref>{{cite book|last=Mulloy|first=Darren|title=American Extremism: History, Politics and the Militia Movement|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jkp-AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA159|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1134358021|pages=159–160}}</ref> Then-senator ] wrote in 1960 that, "it is extremely unlikely that the fears of governmental tyranny which gave rise to the Second Amendment will ever be a major danger to our nation...."<ref>Kennedy, John. "Know Your Lawmakers", ''Guns'', April 1960, p. 4 (1960) ''in'' {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131229151025/http://www2.law.ucla.edu/volokh/2amteach/sources.htm |date=December 29, 2013 }}</ref> | |||
===Public policy theory=== | |||
A second category of political theory is founded on the premise that if the government has the authority to regulate guns, to do so may or may not be sound public policy.<ref></ref> | |||
In 1957, the legal scholar ] expressed a different view:<ref>Pound, Roscoe.: The Development of Constitutional Guarantees of Liberty, page 91. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT. 1957</ref><ref>Spitzer, Robert. '''', p. 61 (ABC-CLIO, 2001).</ref> He stated, "A legal right of the citizen to wage war on the government is something that cannot be admitted. ... In the urban industrial society of today, a general right to bear efficient arms so as to be enabled to resist oppression by the government would mean that gangs could exercise an extra-legal rule which would defeat the whole Bill of Rights." | |||
===Public policy arguments=== | |||
] | |||
Public policy arguments are based on the idea that the central purpose of government is to establish and maintain order. This is done through public policy, which Blackstone defined as "the due regulation and domestic order of the kingdom, whereby the inhabitants of the State, like members of a well-governed family, are bound to conform their general behavior to the rules of propriety, good neighborhood, and good manners, and to be decent, industrious, and inoffensive in their respective stations."<ref name=PGC2012Ch1/>{{rp|2–3}} | |||
====Gun violence debate==== | ====Gun violence debate==== | ||
{{Main|Gun violence in the United States}} | {{Main|Gun violence in the United States}} | ||
] in October 2015]] | |||
The public policy debates about gun violence include discussions about firearms deaths - including homicide, suicide, and unintentional deaths - as well as the impact of gun ownership, criminal and legal, on gun violence outcomes. In the United States in 2009 there were 3.0 recorded intentional homicides committed with a firearm per 100,000 inhabitants. The U.S. ranks 28 in the world for gun homicides per capita.<ref>{{cite news|author=Simon Rogers |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/jul/22/gun-homicides-ownership-world-list |title=Gun homicides and gun ownership listed by country |publisher=The Guardian |date=2012-07-22 |accessdate=2013-04-28 |location=London}}</ref> | |||
The public policy debates about gun violence include discussions about firearms deaths – including homicide, suicide, and unintentional deaths – as well as the impact of gun ownership, criminal and legal, on gun violence outcomes. After the ], the majority of people, including gun owners and non-gun owners, wanted the government to spend more money in order to improve mental health screening and treatment, to deter gun violence in America. In the United States in 2009 there were 3.0 recorded intentional homicides committed with a firearm per 100,000 inhabitants. The U.S. ranks 28 in the world for gun homicides per capita.<ref>{{cite news|author=Simon Rogers |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/jul/22/gun-homicides-ownership-world-list |title=Gun homicides and gun ownership listed by country |work=The Guardian |date=July 22, 2012 |access-date=April 28, 2013 |location=London}}</ref> A U.S. male aged 15–24 is 70 times more likely to be killed with a gun than their counterpart in the eight (G-8) largest industrialized nations in the world (United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, Italy, Russia).<ref name="Forbes"/> In 2013, there were 33,636 , in the United States. Meanwhile, in the same year of Japan, there were only 13 deaths that were involved with guns. In incidents concerning gun homicide or accidents, a person in America is about 300 times more likely to die than a Japanese person.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/world/americas/mass-shootings-us-international.html|title=What Explains U.S. Mass Shootings? International Comparisons Suggest an Answer|last1=Fisher|first1=Max|date=2017-11-07|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-05-13|last2=Keller|first2=Josh|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=October 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231006135932/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/world/americas/mass-shootings-us-international.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2015, there were 36,252 , and some claim as many as 372 ], in the U.S., while guns were used to kill about 50 people in the U.K.<ref name="Forbes"/> More people are typically killed with guns in the U.S. in a day (about 85) than in the U.K. in a year.<ref name="Forbes">{{cite magazine|title=Stopping Gun Violence: Time for Innovative Solutions|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanfurrjeffdyer/2016/07/08/stopping-gun-violence-time-for-innovative-solutions/|magazine=Forbes|date=January 20, 2017|access-date=August 29, 2017|archive-date=October 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003081427/https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanfurrjeffdyer/2016/07/08/stopping-gun-violence-time-for-innovative-solutions/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=This is a contributor article on Forbes.com, rather than one written by a staff member, and thus may not have undergone editorial oversight (see ])|date=January 2020}}{{Circular reporting|date=January 2020}} | |||
Within the gun politics debate, gun control and gun rights advocates disagree over the role that guns play in ]. Gun control advocates concerned about high levels of ] in the United States look to restrictions on gun ownership as a way to stem the violence and |
Within the gun politics debate, gun control and gun rights advocates disagree over the role that guns play in ]. Gun control advocates concerned about high levels of ] in the United States look to restrictions on gun ownership as a way to stem the violence and say that increased gun ownership leads to higher levels of crime, ] and other negative outcomes.<ref>"Firearm-related deaths in the United States and 35 other high- and upper-middle income countries", ''International Journal of Epidemiology'' (1998) Vol 27, pp. 214–221</ref><ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061104194222/http://www.unodc.org/unodc/crime_cicp_survey_seventh.html |date=November 4, 2006 }}, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)</ref> Gun rights groups say that a well-armed civilian populace prevents crime and that making civilian ownership of firearms illegal would increase the ] by making civilians vulnerable to criminal activity.<ref name="review1">{{cite web|url=http://haciendapublishing.com/medicalsentinel/public-health-and-gun-control-review-part-i-benefits-firearms|title=Public Health and Gun Control – A Review (Part I: The Benefits of Firearms) – Hacienda Publishing|website=haciendapublishing.com|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=October 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004191649/http://haciendapublishing.com/medicalsentinel/public-health-and-gun-control-review-part-i-benefits-firearms|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="review2">{{cite web|url=http://haciendapublishing.com/medicalsentinel/public-health-and-gun-control-review-part-ii-gun-violence-and-constitutional-issues|title=Public Health and Gun Control – A Review (Part II: Gun Violence and Constitutional Issues) – Hacienda Publishing|website=haciendapublishing.com|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=October 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004191247/http://haciendapublishing.com/medicalsentinel/public-health-and-gun-control-review-part-ii-gun-violence-and-constitutional-issues|url-status=dead}}</ref> They say that more civilians defend themselves with a gun every year than the law enforcement arrest for violent crimes and burglary<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.independent.org/store/policy_reports/detail.asp?id=14|author=Evers, Williamson M.|year=1994|title=Victim's Rights, Restitution, and Retribution|publisher=Independent Institute|page=7|access-date=2015-02-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326213559/http://www.independent.org/store/policy_reports/detail.asp?id=14|archive-date=2016-03-26|url-status=dead}}</ref> and that civilians legally shoot almost as many criminals as law enforcement officers do.<ref>{{Citation|author=California Department of Justice, Bureau of Criminal Statistics and Special Services|year=1981|title=Homicide in California}}.</ref> | ||
Studies using FBI data and Police Reports of the incidents, have found that there are approximately 1,500 verified instances of firearms used in self-defense annually in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gunviolencearchive.org/past-tolls |title=Past Summary Ledgers | Gun Violence Archive}}</ref> Survey-based research derived from data gathered by the National Crime Victimization Survey has generated estimates that, out of roughly 5.5 million violent crime victims in the U.S. annually approximately 1.1 percent, or 55,000 used a firearm in self-defense (175,000 for the 3-year period.)<ref name="vpc.org">{{cite web | url=http://www.vpc.org/studies/justifiable17.pdf |title=Firearm Justifiable Homicides and Non-Fatal Self-Defense Gun Use|publisher=]|date=May 2017}}</ref> When including property crimes, of the 15.5 million victims of property crimes annually found in the survey (46.5 million for 2013–2015), the NCV survey data yielded estimates that around 0.2 percent of property crime victims, or 36,000 annually (109,000 for the 3-year period) used a firearm in self-defense from the loss of property.<ref name="vpc.org"/> Researchers working from the most recent NCVS data sets have found approximately 95,000 uses of a firearm in self-defense in the U.S. each year (284,000 for the years 2013–2015).<ref name="vpc.org"/> In addition, the United States has a higher rate of firearm ownership than any other nation. The United States' gun homicide rate, while high compared to other developed nations, has been declining since the 1990s.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/03/weve-had-a-massive-decline-in-gun-violence-in-the-united-states-heres-why/ |title=We've had a massive decline in gun violence in the United States. Here's why. |last=Ehrenfreund |first=Max |date=December 3, 2015 |newspaper=] |access-date=January 15, 2020 |archive-date=April 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409133029/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/03/weve-had-a-massive-decline-in-gun-violence-in-the-united-states-heres-why/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
] | |||
Gun Control has limited the availability of firearms to many individuals. Some of the limitations include any persons who have been dishonorably discharged from the military, any person that has renounced their United States citizenship, has been declared mentally ill or committed to a mental institution, is a fugitive, is a user or addicted to a controlled substance, and anyone illegally in the country.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Public Law 99-308|last=99th Congress|publisher=U.S. Government|date=May 19, 1986}}</ref> Still, in 2016, according to the Center for Disease Control, there were 19,362 homicides in the United States. Firearms were used in 14,415 or a little over 74% of all homicides. There were also 22,938 suicides that were performed with the assistance of a firearm.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Xu|first=Jiaquan|display-authors=et al.|date=July 26, 2018|title=Deaths: Final Data for 2016|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr67/nvsr67_05.pdf|journal=National Vital Statistics Reports|edition=5|publisher=U.S. Department of Health and Human Services|volume=67|issue=5|pages=1–76|via=Center for Disease Control and Prevention|pmid=30248015|archive-date=April 14, 2019|access-date=April 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414173631/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr67/nvsr67_05.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> In total, in 2016, firearms were involved in the deaths of 38,658 Americans. According to Rifat Darina Kamal and Charles Burton, in 2016, study data, presented by Priedt (2016), showed that just the homicide rate, by itself, was 18 times greater than the rates of Australia, Sweden, and France.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kamal|first1=Rifat D|last2=Burton|first2=Charles|date=Winter 2018|title=Policy Gridlock Verses Policy Shift in Gun Politics: A Comparative Veto Player Analysis of Gun Control Policies in the United States and Canada|journal=World Affairs|volume=181|issue=4|pages=317–347|via=Sage Publications Inc.|doi=10.1177/0043820018814356|s2cid=149592395}}</ref> Due to the increase in mass shootings, in the United States, new laws are being passed. Recently, Colorado became the fifteenth state to pass the "Red Flag" bill which gives judges the authority to remove firearms from those believed to be a high risk of harming others or themselves.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2019-04-12/colorado-gov-jared-polis-signs-red-flag-gun-control-bill-into-law|title=Colorado Governor Signs 'Red Flag' Gun Control Bill Into Law|last=Hansen|first=Claire|date=April 12, 2019|website=U.S.News|access-date=April 18, 2019|archive-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415022421/https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2019-04-12/colorado-gov-jared-polis-signs-red-flag-gun-control-bill-into-law|url-status=live}}</ref> This "Red Flag" law has now been proposed in twenty-three states.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thetrace.org/2018/03/red-flag-laws-pending-bills-tracker-nra/|title=Red Flag Laws: Where the Bills Stand in Each State|last1=Campbell|first1=Sean|last2=Yablon Alex|date=April 12, 2019|website=The Trace|access-date=April 17, 2019|archive-date=May 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230524150036/https://www.thetrace.org/2018/03/red-flag-laws-pending-bills-tracker-nra/|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
====Criminal violence==== | ====Criminal violence==== | ||
{{ |
{{See also|Crime in the United States|List of countries by intentional homicide rate}} | ||
There is an open debate regarding a ] (or the ]) between gun control and its effect on gun violence and other crimes. The numbers of lives saved or lost by gun ownership are debated by criminologists. Research difficulties include the difficulty of accounting accurately for confrontations in which no shots are fired and jurisdictional differences in the definition of "crime." | |||
{{See also|Crime in the United States}} | |||
{{See also|List of countries by intentional homicide rate}} | |||
There is an open debate regarding a ] (or the ]) between gun control and its affect on gun violence and other crimes. The numbers of lives saved or lost by gun ownership is debated by criminologists. Research difficulties include the difficulty of accounting accurately for confrontations in which no shots are fired and jurisdictional differences in the definition of "crime". | |||
] holding his ] shotgun during his rampage.]] | |||
Such research is also subject to a more fundamental difficulty affecting all research in this field: the effectiveness of the ] in preventing crime in general or in specific cases is inherently and notoriously difficult to prove and measure, and thus issues in establishing a causal link between gun control or particular gun control policies and violent crime must be understood to be an aspect of a more general empirical difficulty, which pervades the fields of ] and ] at large. It is not simple, for example, to prove a causal connection between the laws against murder and the prevailing murder rates, either. Consequently, this general background must be appreciated when discussing the causal and empirical issues here. ]]] | |||
A 2003 CDC study determined "The Task Force found insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of any of the firearms laws or combinations of laws reviewed on violent outcomes."<ref name=CDC2003/> They go on to state "a finding of insufficient evidence to determine effectiveness should not be interpreted as evidence of ineffectiveness but rather as an indicator that additional research is needed before an intervention can be evaluated for its effectiveness." | |||
A study published in ''The American Journal of Economics and Sociology'' in 1997 concluded that the amount of gun-related crime and deaths is affected more by the state of the area in terms of unemployment, alcohol problems and drug problems instead of the laws and regulations.<ref>G. Kwon, Ik-Whan, Scott, Bradley, Safranski, Scott R. and Bae, Muen, 'The Effectiveness of Gun Control Laws: Multivariate Statistical Analysis' in ''The American Journal of Economics and Sociology'', Vol. 56, No. 1 (1997), pp. 41–50.</ref> This study analyzed statistics gathered on the amount of gun crime in states with strict and lenient gun policies and determined that the amount of gun crime is related to how impoverished an area is. | |||
In 2009, the ],<ref></ref> an independent organization, published several evidence briefs summarizing the research assessing the effect of a specific law or policy on public health, that concern the effectiveness of various laws related to gun safety. Among their findings: | |||
A 2003 CDC study determined "The Task Force found insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of any of the firearms laws or combinations of laws reviewed on violent outcomes."<ref name=CDC2003/> They go on to state "a finding of insufficient evidence to determine effectiveness should not be interpreted as evidence of ineffectiveness but rather as an indicator that additional research is needed before an intervention can be evaluated for its effectiveness." | |||
* There is not enough evidence to establish the effectiveness of "shall issue" laws, as distinct from "may issue" laws, as a public health intervention to reduce violent crime.<ref></ref> | |||
=====Homicide===== | |||
* There is insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of waiting period laws as public health interventions aimed at preventing gun-related violence and suicide.<ref></ref> | |||
] | |||
] |date=March 2016 |volume=129 |issue=3 |pages=266–273 |doi=10.1016/j.amjmed.2015.10.025 |pmid=26551975 |doi-access=free }} (). ( {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202104515/https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(15)01030-X/pdf |date=February 2, 2019 }}).</ref>]] | |||
With 5% of the world's population, U.S. residents own roughly 50% of the world's civilian-owned firearms. In addition, up to 48% of households within America have guns.<ref name=2012CNNUNODC>{{cite news|last=Brennan|first=Allison|title=Analysis: Fewer U.S. gun owners own more guns|url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/31/politics/gun-ownership-declining/|publisher=CNN|access-date=May 11, 2014|archive-date=May 23, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140523060856/http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/31/politics/gun-ownership-declining|url-status=live}}</ref> According to the ], 60% of U.S. homicides in 2009 were perpetrated using a firearm.<ref name="unodc.org"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120803134219/http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/Homicide/Homicides_by_firearms.xls |date=August 3, 2012 }}, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Retrieved December 4, 2012.</ref> U.S. homicide rates vary widely from state to state. In 2014, the lowest homicide rates were in New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Vermont (each 0.0 per 100,000 people), and the highest were in Louisiana (11.7) and Mississippi (11.4).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/homicide.htm |title=Stats of the States – Homicide Mortality |website=CDC |language=en-us |access-date=2017-11-13 |archive-date=November 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113222109/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/homicide.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
], a criminologist at ], and his colleague ], published a study in 1995 estimating that approximately 2.5 million American adults used their gun in self-defense annually. The incidents that Kleck extrapolated based on his questionnaire results generally did not involve the firing of the gun, and he estimates that as many as 1.9 million of those instances involved a handgun.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gary |first1=Kleck |last2=Marc |first2=Gertz |date=1995 |title=Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence and Nature of Self-Defense with a Gun |url=http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc/vol86/iss1/8/ |journal=Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology |language=en |volume=86 |issue=1 |archive-date=November 13, 2017 |access-date=November 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113222927/http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc/vol86/iss1/8/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|164}} These studies have been subject to criticism on a number of methodological and logical grounds <ref name="Kleck">{{cite web|url=http://www.guncite.com/kleckjama01.html|title=Risks and Benefits of Keeping a Gun in the Home... (c) AMA 1998|website=Guncite.com|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=December 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207035509/http://www.guncite.com/kleckjama01.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and Kleck has responded with a rebuttal.<ref>Gary Kleck & Don B.Kates Armed, Chapter 6</ref><ref>Kleck Crime and Delinquency volume 64, number 9, pp.1119-1142</ref> | |||
* Although child access prevention laws may represent a promising intervention for reducing gun-related morbidity and mortality among children, there is currently insufficient evidence to validate their effectiveness as a public health intervention aimed at reducing gun-related harms.<ref></ref> | |||
Another study from the same period, the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), estimated 65,000 DGUs (]) annually. The NCVS survey differed from Kleck's study in that it only interviewed those who reported a threatened, attempted, or completed victimization for one of six crimes: rape, robbery, assault, burglary, non-business larceny, and motor vehicle theft. The NCVS, however, does not actually directly ask about defensive gun use, so estimates of this set of events are not very meaningful. A National Research Council report said that Kleck's estimates appeared to be exaggerated and that it was almost certain that "some of what respondents designate as their own self-defense would be construed as aggression by others".<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OTlSNjuFvioC |title=Understanding and Preventing Violence |last1=Council |first1=National Research |last2=Education |first2=Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and |last3=Education |first3=Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and |last4=Behavior |first4=Panel on the Understanding and Control of Violent |year=1993|publisher=National Academies Press |isbn=978-0309054768 |page=266 |language=en}}</ref> | |||
* There is insufficient evidence to establish the effectiveness of such bans as public health interventions aimed at reducing gun-related harms.<ref></ref> | |||
In a review of research of the effects of gun rates on crime rates, Kleck determined that of studies addressing homicide rate, half of them found a connection between gun ownership and homicide, but these were usually the least rigorous studies. Only six studies controlled at least six statistically significant confound variables, and none of them showed a significant positive effect. Eleven macro-level studies showed that crime rates increase gun levels (not vice versa). The reason that there is no opposite effect may be that most owners are noncriminals and that they may use guns to prevent violence.<ref name=jocj15> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809082758/https://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/82971996/216887532/name/Kleck_Journal+of+Criminal+Justice_2015.pdf |date=2016-08-09 }}, Gary Kleck, ''Journal of Criminal Justice'' 43 (2015) 40–48.</ref> | |||
* There is insufficient evidence to validate the effectiveness of firearm licensing and registration requirements as legal interventions aimed a reducing fire-arm related harms.<ref></ref> | |||
Commenting on the external validity of Kleck's report, ], director of the ], said: "Given the number of victims allegedly being saved with guns, it would seem natural to conclude that owning a gun substantially reduces your chances of being murdered. Yet a careful case-control study of homicide in the home found that a gun in the home was associated with an increased rather than a reduced risk of homicide. Virtually all of this risk involved homicide by a family member or intimate acquaintance."<ref name=Hemenway1997>{{cite journal |last=Hemenway |first=David |year=1997 |title=Survey Research and Self-Defense Gun Use: An Explanation of Extreme Overestimates |url=http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6936&context=jclc |journal=Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology |volume=87 |issue=4 |pages=1430–1445 |access-date=February 21, 2015 |doi=10.2307/1144020 |jstor=1144020 |archive-date=June 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220606024118/https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6936&context=jclc |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|1443}} Kleck however pointed out that most of the firearms used in the Kellermann study were not the same ones kept in the household by the victim.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Can Owning a Gun Really Triple the Owner's Chances of being Murdered?: The Anatomy of an Implausible Causal Mechanism|first=GARY|last=KLECK|date=February 1, 2001|journal=Homicide Studies|volume=5|issue=1|pages=64–77|doi=10.1177/1088767901005001005|s2cid=55024658}}</ref> Similarly in 2007 when the Permit-To-Purchase law was repealed in Missouri, 2008 saw a 34% increase in the rate of firearm homicides in that year alone, and the figure continues to be higher than the figure pre-2007.<ref>{{cite journal|pmid=24604521|pmc=3978146|year=2014|last1=Webster|first1=D.|title=Effects of the repeal of Missouri's handgun purchaser licensing law on homicides|journal=Journal of Urban Health|volume=91|issue=2|pages=293–302|last2=Crifasi|first2=C. K.|last3=Vernick|first3=J. S.|doi=10.1007/s11524-014-9865-8}}</ref> | |||
=====Homicide===== | |||
The United States has about five percent of the total world population but residents of the United States own about 42 percent of all the world's civilian-owned firearms. In 2009, according to the ], 60% of homicides in the United States were perpetrated using a firearm<ref name="unodc.org">, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, accessed 4 Dec 2012</ref> U.S. homicides by firearm vary widely from state to state. In 2010, the lowest homicide by firearm rates were in Vermont (.3) and New Hampshire (.4) and the highest were in the District of Columbia (16.0) and Louisiana (7.8).<ref>, accessed 9 Dec 2012</ref> | |||
] in Washington, D.C., on March 24, 2018]] | |||
], a criminologist at ], estimated that approximately 2.5 million people used their gun in self-defense or to prevent crime each year, often by merely displaying a weapon. The incidents that Kleck studied generally did not involve the firing of the gun and he estimates that as many as 1.9 million of those instances involved a handgun.<ref name="kleck"></ref> The National Rifle Association regularly reprints locally-published stories of ordinary citizens whose lives were saved by their guns. | |||
One study found that homicide rates as a whole, especially those as a result of firearms use, are not always significantly lower in many other developed countries. Kleck wrote, "...cross-national comparisons do not provide a sound basis for assessing the impact of gun ownership levels on crime rates."<ref>Kleck, Gary: ''Point Blank''. Transaction Publishers, 1991</ref> One study published in the '']'' found that for the year of 1998: "During the one-year study period (1998), 88,649 firearm deaths were reported. Overall firearm mortality rates are five to six times higher in high-income (HI) and upper-middle-income (UMI) countries in the Americas (12.72) than in Europe (2.17) or Oceania (2.57) and 95 times higher than in Asia (0.13). The rate of firearm deaths in the United States (14.24 per 100,000) exceeds that of its economic counterparts (1.76) eightfold and that of UMI countries (9.69) by a factor of 1.5. Suicide and homicide contribute equally to total firearm deaths in the U.S., but most firearm deaths are suicides (71%) in HI countries and homicides (72%) in UMI countries."<ref>{{citation|pmid=9602401|year=1998|last1=Krug|first1=E. G.|title=Firearm-related deaths in the United States and 35 other high- and upper-middle-income countries|journal=International Journal of Epidemiology|volume=27|issue=2|pages=214–221|last2=Powell|first2=K. E.|last3=Dahlberg|first3=L. L.|doi=10.1093/ije/27.2.214|doi-access=free}}</ref> | |||
====Suicide==== | |||
One study found that homicide rates as a whole, especially homicides as a result of firearms use, are not always significantly lower in many other developed countries. Dr Kleck has stated, "...cross-national comparisons do not provide a sound basis for assessing the impact of gun ownership levels on crime rates."<ref>Kleck, Gary: ''Point Blank''. Transaction Publishers, 1991</ref> One study published in the ], which found that for the year of 1998:<ref> EG Krug, KE Powell, and LL Dahlberg (1998) "Firearm-related deaths in the United States and 35 other high- and upper-middle- income countries" Int. J. Epidemiol., volume 27; pages 214 - 221</ref> | |||
{{multiple image | total_width=450 | |||
<blockquote> | |||
| image1= 200012 Suicide methods in order of lethality - variable-width bar chart.svg |caption1= Though substance overdose is the most common method of attempted suicide in the U.S., guns are the most lethal (most likely to result in death).<ref name=AmJnlPublicHealth_20001200>{{cite journal |last1=Spicer |first1=Rebecca S. |last2=Miller |first2=Ted R. |title=Suicide Acts in 8 States: Incidence and Case Fatality Rates by Demographics and Method |journal=American Journal of Public Health |date=December 2000 |volume=90 |issue=12 |pages=1885–1891 |doi=10.2105/ajph.90.12.1885 |pmid=11111261 |pmc=1446422 |quote=Table 1}}</ref> | |||
During the one-year study period (1998), 88,649 firearm deaths were reported. Overall firearm mortality rates are five to six times higher in high-income (HI) and upper middle-income (UMI) countries in the Americas (12.72) than in Europe (2.17) or Oceania (2.57) and 95 times higher than in Asia (0.13). The rate of firearm deaths in the United States (14.24 per 100,000) exceeds that of its economic counterparts (1.76) eightfold and that of UMI countries (9.69) by a factor of 1.5. Suicide and homicide contribute equally to total firearm deaths in the US, but most firearm deaths are suicides (71%) in HI countries and homicides (72%) in UMI countries. | |||
| image2= 2019 Gun suicides per capita - by country.svg |caption2= The US has had the largest number of gun-related suicides in the world every year from 1990 through at least 2019.<ref name="CNN_20211126b">{{cite news |last1=Fox |first1=Kara |last2=Shveda |first2=Krystina |last3=Croker |first3=Natalie |last4=Chacon |first4=Marco |title=How US gun culture stacks up with the world |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/26/world/us-gun-culture-world-comparison-intl-cmd/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=November 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231221215124/https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/26/world/us-gun-culture-world-comparison-intl-cmd/index.html/ |archive-date=December 21, 2023 |url-status=live}} Article updated October 26, 2023. CNN cites data source: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (Global Burden of Disease 2019), UN Population Division.</ref> | |||
</blockquote> | |||
}} | |||
Firearms accounted for 51.5% of ] in 2013, and suicides account for 63% of all firearm-related deaths.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/suicide.htm|title=FastStats|date=July 10, 2017|website=Cdc.gov|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=June 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604150527/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/suicide.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> A 2012 review by researchers at the ] found that in the United States, the percent of suicide attempts that prove fatal is "strongly related to the availability of household firearms."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=Matthew|last2=Azrael|first2=Deborah|last3=Barber|first3=Catherine|title=Suicide Mortality in the United States: The Importance of Attending to Method in Understanding Population-Level Disparities in the Burden of Suicide|journal=Annual Review of Public Health|date=April 21, 2012|volume=33|issue=1|pages=393–408|doi=10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031811-124636|pmid=22224886|doi-access=free}}</ref> Prior to this, one book written by criminologist Gary Kleck in the 1990s stated that they found no relationship between gun availability and suicide rates.<ref>Kleck G. Targeting Guns – Firearms and Their Control. New York, Aldine De Gruyter, 1997, pp. 265–292.</ref> | |||
==== Public health crisis ==== | |||
Similarly statistics from the ] (UNODC) show that the number of homicides per 100,000 in the U.K. at 1.14 as of 2006, was considerably below that of the U.S. (5.62 per 100,000) in 2006, and again far below the rate of homicides in the U.S. specifically using a firearm (3.36 per 100,000 people) in the same year.<ref name="unodc.org">http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/CTS10%20homicide.pdf (PDF)</ref> The U.K. rate of homicide was also below that of Canada in 2006 (1.86 per 100,000).<ref name="unodc.org"/> However, the UNODC statistics from the same year also show Switzerland to have a homicide rate of 0.8 per 100,000, again indicating the difficulties of direct international comparisons. | |||
Though the CDC does not prescribe firearm legislation measures, due to limited policy-related research findings, a CDC ''Vital Signs'' report identifies firearm-related death as "a significant and growing public health problem in the United States."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=CDC |date=2022-06-06 |title=Firearm Deaths Grow, Disparities Widen |url=https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/firearm-deaths/index.html |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |language=en-us |archive-date=April 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408174057/https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/firearm-deaths/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The same report states that firearm related violence in the U.S. is linked to widening racial and ethnic inequalities.<ref name=":1" /> | |||
A 2022 correspondence between researchers at the University of Michigan and the New England Journal of Medicine states that "generational investments are being made in the prevention of firearm violence, including new funding opportunities from the CDC and the National Institutes of Health."<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Goldstick |first1=Jason E. |last2=Cunningham |first2=Rebecca M. |last3=Carter |first3=Patrick M. |date=2022-05-19 |title=Current Causes of Death in Children and Adolescents in the United States |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |language=en |volume=386 |issue=20 |pages=1955–1956 |doi=10.1056/NEJMc2201761 |issn=0028-4793 |pmc=10042524 |pmid=35443104}}</ref> The correspondence refers to "funding for the prevention of community violence (that) has been proposed in federal infrastructure legislation."<ref name=":2" /> The researchers emphasize the significance of such policy measures as a preventative public health solution, in light of data indicating rising child mortality as a result of firearm related incidents, citing statistical evidence of firearm-related deaths replacing motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of child mortality in 2020.<ref name=":2" /> | |||
=====Suicide===== | |||
Firearms are also the most common method of suicide, accounting for 53.7% of all suicides committed in the United States in 2003.<ref></ref> Most research has nevertheless found no relationship between gun availability and suicide rates, suggesting that other suicide methods, such as hanging, can usually be substituted for shooting.<ref>Kleck G. Targeting Guns-- Firearms and Their Control. New York, NY, Aldine De Gruyter, 1997, pp. 265-292.</ref> | |||
In 2009, the ] program,<ref>{{cite web |title=Home – Public Health Law Research |url=http://www.publichealthlawresearch.org/ |access-date=October 4, 2017 |website=Publichealthlawresearch.org |archive-date=December 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213125613/http://publichealthlawresearch.org/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> an independent organization, published several evidence briefs summarizing the research assessing the effect of a specific law or policy on public health, that concern the effectiveness of various laws related to gun safety. Among their findings: | |||
* There is not enough evidence to establish the effectiveness of "shall issue" laws, as distinct from "may issue" laws, as a public health intervention to reduce violent crime.<ref>{{cite web |title="Shall Issue" Concealed Weapons Laws, Public Health Law Research 2009 |url=http://publichealthlawresearch.org/product/%E2%80%9Cshall-issue%E2%80%9D-concealed-weapons-laws/%22shall-issue%22-concealed-weapons-law |access-date=October 4, 2017 |website=Publichealthlawresearch.org}} {{dead link|date=January 2020|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> | |||
* There is insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of waiting period laws as public health interventions aimed at preventing gun-related violence and suicide.<ref>{{cite web |title=Waiting Period Laws for Gun Permits – Public Health Law Research |url=http://publichealthlawresearch.org/product/waiting-period-laws-gun-permits |access-date=October 4, 2017 |website=publichealthlawresearch.org |archive-date=October 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005000326/http://publichealthlawresearch.org/product/waiting-period-laws-gun-permits |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* Although child access prevention laws may represent a promising intervention for reducing gun-related morbidity and mortality among children, there is currently insufficient evidence to validate their effectiveness as a public health intervention aimed at reducing gun-related harms.<ref>{{cite web |title=Child Access Prevention (CAP) Laws for Guns – Public Health Law Research |url=http://publichealthlawresearch.org/product/child-access-prevention-cap-laws-guns |access-date=October 4, 2017 |website=publichealthlawresearch.org |archive-date=October 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004191324/http://publichealthlawresearch.org/product/child-access-prevention-cap-laws-guns |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* There is insufficient evidence to establish the effectiveness of such bans as public health interventions aimed at reducing gun-related harms.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bans on Specific Guns and Ammunition – Public Health Law Research |url=http://publichealthlawresearch.org/product/bans-specific-guns-and-ammunition |access-date=October 4, 2017 |website=publichealthlawresearch.org |archive-date=October 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005000216/http://publichealthlawresearch.org/product/bans-specific-guns-and-ammunition |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* There is insufficient evidence to validate the effectiveness of firearm licensing and registration requirements as legal interventions aimed to reduce firearm related harms.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gun Registration and Licensing Requirements – Public Health Law Research |url=http://publichealthlawresearch.org/product/gun-registration-and-licensing-requirements |access-date=October 4, 2017 |website=publichealthlawresearch.org |archive-date=October 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004191001/http://publichealthlawresearch.org/product/gun-registration-and-licensing-requirements |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
==Federal and state laws== | ==Federal and state laws== | ||
The number of federal and state gun laws is unknown. A 2005 '']'' study says 300,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hahn |first1=Robert A. |last2=Bilukha |first2=Oleg |last3=Crosby |first3=Alex |last4=Fullilove |first4=Mindy T. |last5=Liberman |first5=Akiva |last6=Moscicki |first6=Eve |last7=Snyder |first7=Susan |last8=Tuma |first8=Farris |last9=Briss |first9=Peter A. |date=February 2005 |
The number of federal and state gun laws is unknown. A 2005 '']'' study says 300,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hahn |first1=Robert A. |last2=Bilukha |first2=Oleg |last3=Crosby |first3=Alex |last4=Fullilove |first4=Mindy T. |last5=Liberman |first5=Akiva |last6=Moscicki |first6=Eve |last7=Snyder |first7=Susan |last8=Tuma |first8=Farris |last9=Briss |first9=Peter A. | display-authors = 8|date=February 2005 |title=Firearms laws and the reduction of violence: A systematic review |url=http://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797%2804%2900285-5/abstract |journal=American Journal of Preventive Medicine |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=40–71 |doi=10.1016/j.amepre.2004.10.005 |pmid=15698747}}</ref> and the NRA says 20,000, though the ] says of that decades-old figure: "This 20,000 figure appears to be an ancient guesstimate that has hardened over the decades into a constantly repeated, never-questioned talking point. It could be lower, or higher, depending on who's counting what."<ref>{{cite news |last=Kessler |first=Glenn |date=February 5, 2013 |title=The NRA's fuzzy, decades-old claim of '20,000' gun laws |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/the-nras-fuzzy-decades-old-claim-of-20000-gun-laws/2013/02/04/4a7892c0-6f23-11e2-ac36-3d8d9dcaa2e2_blog.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=May 2, 2014 |archive-date=May 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520232231/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/the-nras-fuzzy-decades-old-claim-of-20000-gun-laws/2013/02/04/4a7892c0-6f23-11e2-ac36-3d8d9dcaa2e2_blog.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | ||
===Federal laws=== | ===Federal laws=== | ||
{{Main|Gun law in the United States}} | {{Main|Gun law in the United States}} | ||
Federal gun laws are enforced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Most federal gun laws were enacted through:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.infoplease.com/spot/guntime1.html#1968 |title=Federal Gun Control Legislation |
Federal gun laws are enforced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Most federal gun laws were enacted through:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.infoplease.com/spot/guntime1.html#1968 |title=Federal Gun Control Legislation – Timeline |publisher=Infoplease.com |access-date=November 14, 2013 |archive-date=February 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202085503/http://www.infoplease.com/spot/guntime1.html#1968 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.policyalmanac.org/crime/archive/crs_federal_crime_policy.shtml |title=Crime Control: The Federal Response |publisher=Policy Almanac |date=September 12, 2002 |access-date=May 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419074136/http://www.policyalmanac.org/crime/archive/crs_federal_crime_policy.shtml |archive-date=April 19, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> | ||
* ] (1934) | |||
* National Firearms Act (1934) | |||
* ] (1968) | * ] (1968) | ||
* Gun Control Act of 1968 (1968) | * ] (1968) | ||
* ] (1986) | * ] (1986) | ||
* ] (1988) | * ] (1988) | ||
* Gun-Free School Zones Act (1990) (ruled unconstitutional as originally written; |
* ] (1990) (ruled unconstitutional as originally written; upheld after minor edits were made by Congress) | ||
* Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (1993) | * ] (1993) | ||
* Federal Assault Weapons Ban (1994) (expired 2004) | * ] (1994) (expired 2004) | ||
In addition to federal gun laws, all U.S. states and some local jurisdictions have imposed their own firearms restrictions. | |||
===State laws and constitutions=== | ===State laws and constitutions=== | ||
{{Main|Gun laws in the United States by state}} | {{Main|Gun laws in the United States by state}} | ||
] rifles at the ] rally in ]]] | |||
] sign giving notice that state law allows private establishments to prohibit guns on the premises.]] | |||
In addition to federal gun laws, all U.S. states and some local jurisdictions have imposed their own firearms restrictions. Each of the fifty states has its own laws regarding guns. | |||
Each of the fifty states has its own laws regarding guns. Forty-three state constitutions provide for some form of a right to keep and bear arms, though California, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, and New York contain no specific mention of such a right.{{cn|date=May 2014}} Many states' constitutional provisions for firearm rights are similar to, if not directly derived from, the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.{{cn|date=May 2014}} Hawaii's constitution simply copies the text of the Second Amendment verbatim,<ref name="hicon"></ref> while North Carolina and South Carolina begin with the same but continue with an injunction against maintaining standing armies.<ref name="nccon"></ref><ref name="sccon"></ref> Alaska also begins with the full text of the Second Amendment, but adds that the right "shall not be denied or infringed by the State or a political subdivision of the State".<ref name="akcon"></ref> Rhode Island, subtracts the first half of the Second Amendment, leaving only, "he right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed".<ref name="ricon"></ref> | |||
Provisions in State constitutions vary.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www2.law.ucla.edu/volokh/beararms/statecon.htm |title=State Constitutional Right to Keep and Bear Arms Provisions |website=www2.law.ucla.edu |access-date=2019-08-21 |archive-date=March 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200305164659/https://www2.law.ucla.edu/volokh/beararms/statecon.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> For example, Hawaii's constitution simply copies the text of the Second Amendment verbatim,<ref name="hicon">{{cite web|url=http://hawaii.gov/lrb/con/conart1.html|title=Hawaii State Constitution Article 1, § 17|website=Hawaii.gov|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=February 21, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060221002341/http://hawaii.gov/lrb/con/conart1.html|url-status=live}}</ref> while North Carolina and South Carolina begin with the same but continue with an injunction against maintaining standing armies.<ref name="nccon">{{cite web|url=http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/nc/stgovt/preamble.HTM#I|title=North Carolina State Constitution Article 1, § 30|website=Statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218165709/http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/nc/stgovt/preamble.HTM#I|archive-date=February 18, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="sccon">{{cite web |url=http://www.scstatehouse.net/scconstitution/a01.htm |title=2010 South Carolina Constitution (Unannotated) |access-date=2014-01-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111125195156/http://www.scstatehouse.net/scconstitution/a01.htm |archive-date=November 25, 2011 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Alaska also begins with the full text of the Second Amendment, but adds that the right "shall not be denied or infringed by the State or a political subdivision of the State".<ref name="akcon">{{cite web|url=http://ltgov.state.ak.us/constitution.php?section=1|title=Alaska State Constitution Article 1, § 19|website=Ltgov.state.ak.us|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091130130656/http://ltgov.state.ak.us/constitution.php?section=1|archive-date=November 30, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> Rhode Island subtracts the first half of the Second Amendment, leaving only, "he right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed".<ref name="ricon">{{cite web|url=http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/RiConstitution/C01.html|title=Rhode Island State Constitution Article 1, § 22|website=Rilin.state.ri.us|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208075349/http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/RiConstitution/C01.html|archive-date=February 8, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
The majority of the remaining states' constitutions differ from the text of the U.S. Constitution primarily in their clarification of exactly to whom the right belongs or by the inclusion of additional, specific protections or restrictions. Seventeen states refer to the right to keep and bear arms as being an individual right, with Utah and Alaska referring to it explicitly as "he individual right to keep and bear arms",<ref name="akcon"/><ref name="utcon"></ref> while the other fifteen refer to the right as belonging to "every citizen",<ref name="alcon"></ref> "all individuals",<ref name="ndcon"></ref> "all persons",<ref name="nhcon"></ref> or another, very similar phrase.{{#tag:ref|The right to keep and bear arms is said to belong to "every citizen" by the constitutions of Alabama,<ref name="alcon"></ref> Connecticut,<ref name="ctcon"></ref> Maine,<ref name="mecon"></ref> Mississippi,<ref name="mscon"></ref> Missouri,<ref name="mocon"></ref> Nevada,<ref name="nvcon"></ref> and Texas;<ref name="txcon"></ref> to the "individual citizen" by Arizona,<ref name="azcon"></ref> Illinois,<ref name="ilcon"/> and Washington;<ref name="wacon"></ref> and to a unique but very similar variant therof by Louisiana ("every citizen,"<ref name="lacon"></ref>) Michigan ("every person,"<ref name="micon"></ref>) Montana ("any person,"<ref name="mtcon"></ref>) New Hampshire ("all persons,"<ref name="nhcon"/>) and North Dakota ("all individuals."<ref name="ndcon"/>)|group="nb"}} In contrast are four states which make no mention whatever of an individual right or of defense of one's self as a valid basis for the right to arms. Arkansas, Massachusetts, and Tennessee all state that the right is "for the common defense",<ref name="arcon"></ref><ref name="macon"></ref><ref name="tncon"></ref> while Virginia's constitution explicitly indicates that the right is derived from the need for a militia to defend the state.<ref name="vacon"></ref> | |||
The majority of the remaining states' constitutions differ from the text of the U.S. Constitution primarily in their clarification of exactly to whom the right belongs or by the inclusion of additional, specific protections or restrictions. Seventeen states refer to the right to keep and bear arms as being an individual right, with Utah and Alaska referring to it explicitly as "he individual right to keep and bear arms",<ref name="akcon"/><ref name="utcon">{{cite web|url=http://le.utah.gov/~code/const/htm/CO_02007.htm|title=Utah State Constitution Article 1, § 6|website=Le.utah.gov|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=January 16, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080116175614/http://le.utah.gov/~code/const/htm/CO_02007.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> while the other fifteen refer to the right as belonging to "every citizen",<ref name="alcon">{{cite web|url=http://www.legislature.state.al.us/CodeOfAlabama/Constitution/1901/Constitution1901_toc.htm|title=Alabama State Constitution Article 1, § 26|website=Legislature.state.al.us|access-date=October 4, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060923081542/http://www.legislature.state.al.us/CodeOfAlabama/Constitution/1901/Constitution1901_toc.htm|archive-date=September 23, 2006|df=mdy-all}}</ref> "all individuals",<ref name="ndcon">{{cite web|url=http://www.legis.nd.gov/constitution/const.pdf|title=North Dakota State Constitution Article 1, § 1 (PDF)|website=Legis.nd.gov|access-date=October 4, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070104095048/http://www.legis.nd.gov/constitution/const.pdf|archive-date=January 4, 2007|df=mdy-all}}</ref> "all persons",<ref name="nhcon">{{cite web|url=http://www.nh.gov/constitution/billofrights.html|title=NH.gov – The Official Web Site of New Hampshire State Government – State Constitution, Bill of Rights|website=Nh.gov|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=December 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201174549/https://www.nh.gov/constitution/billofrights.html|url-status=live}}</ref> or another, very similar phrase.{{refn|The right to keep and bear arms is said to belong to "every citizen" by the constitutions of Alabama,<ref name="alcon"/> Connecticut,<ref name="ctcon">{{cite web|url=http://www.sots.ct.gov/RegisterManual/SectionI/ctconstit.htm|title=Connecticut State Constitution Article 1, § 15|website=Sots.ct.gov|access-date=October 4, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070306072536/http://www.sots.ct.gov/RegisterManual/SectionI/ctconstit.htm|archive-date=March 6, 2007|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Maine,<ref name="mecon">{{cite web|url=http://janus.state.me.us/legis/const/|title=Maine Legislature Law Information|website=janus.state.me.us|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=December 28, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091228033700/http://janus.state.me.us/legis/const/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Mississippi,<ref name="mscon">{{cite web|url=http://www.sos.state.ms.us/pubs/constitution/constitution.asp|title=Mississippi State Constitution Article 3, § 12|website=Sos.state.ms.us|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819045436/http://www.sos.state.ms.us/pubs/constitution/constitution.asp|archive-date=August 19, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> Missouri,<ref name="mocon">{{cite web|url=http://www.moga.state.mo.us/const/A01023.HTM|title=Missouri State Constitution Article 1, § 23|website=Moga.state.mo.us=|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070425234107/http://www.moga.state.mo.us/const/A01023.HTM|archive-date=April 25, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> Nevada,<ref name="nvcon">{{cite web|url=http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Const/NVConst.html|title=The Constitution of the State of Nevada|website=Leg.state.nv.us|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=May 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505182643/http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Const/NvConst.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and Texas;<ref name="txcon">{{cite web|url=http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/txconst/sections/cn000100-002300.html|title=Texas State Constitution, Article 1, § 23|website=Tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226022706/http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/txconst/sections/cn000100-002300.html|archive-date=February 26, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> to the "individual citizen" by Arizona,<ref name="azcon">{{cite web|url=http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/const/2/26.htm|title=Format Document|website=Azleg.gov|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005000533/https://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=%2Fconst%2F2%2F26.htm|archive-date=October 5, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Illinois,<ref name="ilcon"/> and Washington;<ref name="wacon">{{cite web|url=http://www.leg.wa.gov/LawsAndAgencyRules/constitution.htm|title=Washington State Constitution Article 1, § 24|website=Leg.wa.gov|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090917100720/http://www1.leg.wa.gov/LawsAndAgencyRules/constitution.htm|archive-date=September 17, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> and to a unique but very similar variant therof by Louisiana ("every citizen,"<ref name="lacon">{{cite web|url=http://senate.legis.state.la.us/Documents/Constitution/Article1.htm#%EF%BF%BD11.+Right+to+Keep+and+Bear+Arms|title=State Constitution of 1974 > Article I: Declaration of Rights|website=senate.legis.state.la.us|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=March 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308224913/http://senate.legis.state.la.us/documents/constitution/Article1.htm#%EF%BF%BD11.+Right+to+Keep+and+Bear+Arms|url-status=dead}}</ref>) Michigan ("every person,"<ref name="micon">{{cite web|url=http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/publications/Constitution.pdf|title=Michigan State Constitution Article 1, § 6 (PDF)|website=Legislature.mi.gov|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=September 12, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912135056/http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/publications/Constitution.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>) Montana ("any person,"<ref name="mtcon">{{cite web|url=http://leg.mt.gov/css/mtcode_const/const.asp|title=Montana State Constitution Article 2, § 12|website=Leg.mt.us|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303193906/http://leg.mt.gov/css/mtcode_const/const.asp|archive-date=March 3, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>) New Hampshire ("all persons,"<ref name="nhcon"/>) and North Dakota ("all individuals."<ref name="ndcon"/>)|group="nb"}} In contrast are four states which make no mention whatever of an individual right or of defense of one's self as a valid basis for the right to arms. Arkansas, Massachusetts, and Tennessee all state that the right is "for the common defense",<ref name="arcon">{{cite web|url=http://www.sos.arkansas.gov/ar-constitution/arcart2/arcart2-5.htm|title=Arkansas State Constitution Article 2, § 5|website=Sos.arkansas.gov|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=January 9, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109114410/http://www.sos.arkansas.gov/ar-constitution/arcart2/arcart2-5.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="macon">{{cite web|url=http://www.mass.gov/legis/const.htm|title=Massachusetts Constitution|website=Mass.gov|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=July 7, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707034449/http://www.mass.gov/legis/const.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="tncon">{{cite web|url=http://www.state.tn.us/sos/bluebook/online/section5/tnconst.pdf|title=Welcome to the Tennessee Secretary of State's Website – Tennessee Secretary of State|website=State.tn.us|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=February 27, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227071626/http://www.state.tn.us/sos/bluebook/online/section5/tnconst.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> while Virginia's constitution explicitly indicates that the right is derived from the need for a militia to defend the state.<ref name="vacon">{{cite web|url=http://legis.state.va.us/Laws/search/Constitution.htm#1S13|title=Virginia State Constitution Article 1, § 13|website=Legis.state.va.us|access-date=October 4, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918035221/http://legis.state.va.us/laws/search/constitution.htm#1S13|archive-date=September 18, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref> | |||
Most state constitutions enumerate one or more reasons for the keeping of arms. Twenty-four states include self-defense as a valid, protected use of arms;{{#tag:ref|Defense of one's self is listed as a valid purpose for the keeping and bearing of arms by the constitutions of the states of Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.|group="nb"}} twenty-eight cite defense of the state as a proper purpose.{{#tag:ref|The defense of the state or simply the common defense is indicated to be a proper purpose for keeping and bearing arms by the constitutions of the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.|group="nb"}} Ten states extend the right to defense of home and/or property,{{#tag:ref|Defense of one's home and/or property is included as a protected purpose for the keeping and bearing of arms by the constitutions of the states of Colorado, Delaware, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, and West Virginia.|group="nb"}} five include the defense of family,{{#tag:ref|The defense of one's family is listed as a valid reason for keeping and bearing arms by the constitutions of the states of Delaware, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Utah (which includes both family and "others,"<ref name="utcon"/>) and West Virginia.|group="nb"}} and six add hunting and recreation.{{#tag:ref|Hunting and recreation are included in the state constitutional provision for the right of keeping and bearing arms by the states of Delaware, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.|group="nb"}} Idaho is uniquely specific in its provision that "o law shall impose licensure, registration, or special taxation on the ownership or possession of firearms or ammunition. Nor shall any law permit the confiscation of firearms, except those actually used in the commission of a felony".<ref name="idcon"></ref> Fifteen state constitutions include specific restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms. Florida's constitution calls for a three-day waiting period for all modern cartridge handgun purchases, with exceptions for handgun purchases by those holding a ] license, or for anyone who purchases a black-powder handgun.<ref name="flcon"></ref> Illinois prefaces the right by indicating that it is "ubject...to the police power".<ref name="ilcon"></ref> Florida and the remaining thirteen states with specific restrictions all carry a provision to the effect that the state legislature may enact laws regulating the carrying, concealing, and/or wearing of arms.{{#tag:ref|The scope of the state constitutional right to keep and bear arms is limited by the states of Colorado, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, and North Carolina as to allow the regulation or prohibition of the carrying of concealed weapons; the constitutions of Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas allow for regulations on the carrying or wearing of arms in general.|group="nb"}} | |||
Most state constitutions enumerate one or more reasons for the keeping of arms. Twenty-four states include self-defense as a valid, protected use of arms;{{refn|Defense of one's self is listed as a valid purpose for the keeping and bearing of arms by the constitutions of the states of Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.|group="nb"}} twenty-eight cite defense of the state as a proper purpose.{{refn|The defense of the state or simply the common defense is indicated to be a proper purpose for keeping and bearing arms by the constitutions of the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.|group="nb"}} Ten states extend the right to defense of home and/or property,{{refn|Defense of one's home and/or property is included as a protected purpose for the keeping and bearing of arms by the constitutions of the states of Colorado, Delaware, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, and West Virginia.|group="nb"}} five include the defense of family,{{refn|The defense of one's family is listed as a valid reason for keeping and bearing arms by the constitutions of the states of Delaware, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Utah (which includes both family and "others,"<ref name="utcon"/>) and West Virginia.|group="nb"}} and six add hunting and recreation.{{refn|Hunting and recreation are included in the state constitutional provision for the right of keeping and bearing arms by the states of Delaware, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.|group="nb"}} Idaho is uniquely specific in its provision that "o law shall impose licensure, registration, or special taxation on the ownership or possession of firearms or ammunition. Nor shall any law permit the confiscation of firearms, except those actually used in the commission of a felony".<ref name="idcon">{{cite web|url=http://www3.state.id.us/cgi-bin/constretr?sctid=003010111.K|title=Idaho State Constitution Article 1, § 11|website=3.state.id.us|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211130439/http://www3.state.id.us/cgi-bin/constretr?sctid=003010111.K|archive-date=February 11, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Fifteen state constitutions include specific restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms. Florida's constitution calls for a three-day waiting period for all modern cartridge handgun purchases, with exceptions for handgun purchases by those holding a ] license, or for anyone who purchases a black-powder handgun.<ref name="flcon">{{cite web|url=http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?Mode=Constitution&Submenu=3&Tab=statutes#A01S08|title=Statutes & Constitution: Constitution : Online Sunshine|website=Leg.state.fl.us|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208105533/http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?mode=constitution&submenu=3&tab=statutes#A01S08|archive-date=December 8, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> Illinois prefaces the right by indicating that it is "ubject ... to the police power".<ref name="ilcon">{{cite web|url=http://www.ilga.gov/commission/lrb/con1.htm|title=Illinois Constitution – Article I|first=wayne h|last=lrb|website=Ilga.gov|access-date=October 4, 2017|archive-date=October 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005225354/http://www.ilga.gov/commission/lrb/con1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Florida and the remaining thirteen states with specific restrictions all carry a provision to the effect that the state legislature may enact laws regulating the carrying, concealing, and/or wearing of arms.{{refn|The scope of the state constitutional right to keep and bear arms is limited by the states of Colorado, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, and North Carolina as to allow the regulation or prohibition of the carrying of concealed weapons; the constitutions of Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas allow for regulations on the carrying or wearing of arms in general.|group="nb"}} Forty states ] some or all local gun laws, due in part to campaigning by the NRA for such legislation.<ref>Vernick, Jon S., Lisa M. Hepburn. "" Center on Urban & Metropolitan Policy, ]. December 2002</ref> | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
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===Articles=== | |||
* ] | |||
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* ] | |||
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===Organizations=== | ===Organizations=== | ||
{{see also |
{{category see also|Firearms-related organizations}} | ||
====Gun control==== | |||
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====Gun rights==== | |||
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==Notes== | ||
{{ |
{{Reflist|group="nb"|30em}} | ||
<div class="references-small"> | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{Reflist |
{{Reflist}} | ||
==Further reading== | ==Further reading== | ||
===Books=== | |||
* Brennan, Pauline Gasdow, Alan J. Lizotte, and David McDowall. "Guns, Southernness, and Gun Control". ''Journal of Quantitative Criminology'' 9, no. 3 (1993): 289–307. | |||
* Adams, Les (1996). ''The Second Amendment Primer. A Citizen's Guidebook To The History, Sources, And Authorities For The Constitutional Guarantee Of The Right To Keep And Bear Arms.'' Odysseus Editions. Birmingham, Alabama | |||
* Bruce, John M., and Clyde Wilcox, eds. ''The Changing Politics of Gun Control''. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, 1998. ISBN 0-8476-8614-0, ISBN 0-8476-8615-9. | |||
* {{cite book |last=Carter |first=Gregg Lee |year=2006 |title=Gun Control in the United States: A Reference Handbook |url=https://archive.org/details/guncontrolinunit0000cart |url-access=registration |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page= |isbn=978-1851097609 }} | |||
*Carter, Gregg Lee, ed. ''Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law'' (3rd ed. 2012) | |||
* {{cite book |last=Davidson |first=Osha Gray |author-link=Osha Gray Davidson |year=1998 |title=Under Fire: The NRA and the Battle for Gun Control |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X1LEQd2r1sYC |publisher=University of Iowa Press |page=338 |isbn=978-0877456469 }} | |||
*Carter, Gregg Lee. ''Gun Control in the United States: A Reference Handbook'' (2006) 408pp | |||
* {{cite book |last=Edel |first=Wilbur |year=1995 |title=Gun Control: Threat to Liberty or Defense against Anarchy? |url=https://archive.org/details/guncontrolthreat00edel |url-access=registration |location=Westport, Conn. |publisher=Praeger Publishers |isbn=978-0275951450 |oclc=246777010 }} | |||
* Davidson, Osha Gray. ''Under Fire: The NRA and the Battle for Gun Control'', 2nd ed. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1998. ISBN 0-87745-646-1. | |||
* {{cite book |last=Goss |first=Kristin A. |year=2008 |title=Disarmed: The Missing Movement for Gun Control in America |url=http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8328.html |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=304 |isbn=978-0691138329 }} | |||
* Edel, Wilbur. ''Gun Control: Threat to Liberty or Defense against Anarchy?'' Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, 1995. ISBN 0-275-95145-6. | |||
* {{cite book|last=Halbrook|first=Stephen P.|title=Gun Control in the Third Reich: Disarming the Jews and "Enemies of the State"|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rLErnwEACAAJ|year=2013|publisher=Independent Institute|isbn=978-1598131611}} | |||
* Goss, Kristin A. '' Disarmed: The Missing Movement for Gun Control in America'' (Priceton Studies in American Politics) (2008) | |||
* {{cite encyclopedia |last= Lund|first=Nelson |author-link=|editor-first=Ronald |editor-last=Hamowy |editor-link=Ronald Hamowy |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism |chapter= Right to Bear Arms|chapter-url=https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/libertarianism/n269.xml|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=yxNgXs3TkJYC |year=2008 |publisher= ]; ] |location= Thousand Oaks, CA |doi= 10.4135/9781412965811.n269|isbn= 978-1412965804 |oclc=750831024| <!-- lccn = 2008009151 | -->pages=438–440}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Melzer |first=Scott |date=2009 |title=Gun Crusaders: The NRA's Culture War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ry4pQlDAX2IC |publisher=New York University Press |page=336 |isbn=978-0814795972 }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Snow |first=Robert L. |year=2002 |title=Terrorists Among Us: The Militia Threat |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=--qmUlMnPlEC |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Perseus |isbn=978-0738207667 |oclc=50615207}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Utter |first=Glenn H. |year=2000 |title=Encyclopedia of Gun Control and Gun Rights |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofgu0000utte |url-access=registration |location=Phoenix, Ariz. |publisher=Oryx |page= |isbn=978-1573561723 |oclc=42072246 }} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Winkler |first=Adam |author-link=Adam Winkler |year=2011 |title=Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oq39ykAGVYQC |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |page=361 |isbn=978-0393082296 }} | |||
===Journals=== | |||
*{{cite book|last=Halbrook|first=Stephen P.|authorlink=Stephen Halbrook|title=Gun Control in the Third Reich: Disarming the Jews and "Enemies of the State"|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=rLErnwEACAAJ|year=2013|publisher=Independent Institute|isbn=978-1-59813-161-1}} | |||
* Berryessa, C.M., Sierra-Arévalo, M. & Semenza, D.C. Portrayals of gun violence victimization and public support for firearm policies: an experimental analysis. J Exp Criminol (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-022-09517-x | |||
* ], and Mauser, Gary. "" (pp. 649–694). '']''. . | |||
* {{cite journal |last1=Brennan |first1=Pauline G. |last2=Lizotte |first2=Alan J. |last3=McDowall |first3=David|author-link=David McDowall (criminologist) |year=1993 |title=Guns, Southerness, and Gun Control |journal=Journal of Quantitative Criminology |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=289–307 |doi= 10.1007/bf01064463|s2cid=144496527 }} | |||
* Langbein, Laura I., and Mark A. Lotwis, "Political Efficacy of Lobbying and Money: Gun Control in the U.S. House, 1986". ''Legislative Studies Quarterly'' 15 (August 1990): 413–40. | |||
* {{cite journal|last=Cramer |first=Clayton |author-link=Clayton Cramer |date=Winter 1995 |title=The Racist Roots of Gun Control |url=http://www.claytoncramer.com/scholarly/racistroots.htm |journal=Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=17–25 |issn=1055-8942 |access-date=September 22, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140922025305/http://www.claytoncramer.com/scholarly/racistroots.htm |archive-date=September 22, 2014 }} | |||
* LaPierre, Wayne R. ''Guns, Crime, and Freedom''. Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 1994. ISBN 0-89526-477-3. | |||
* {{cite journal |last1=Kates |first1=Don B. |author-link=Don B. Kates |last2=Mauser |first2=Gary |date=Spring 2007 |title=Would Banning Firearms reduce Murder and Suicide? A Review of International and Some Domestic Evidence |journal=Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy |url=http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlpp/Vol30_No2_KatesMauseronline.pdf |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=649–694 |access-date=May 28, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140528202454/http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlpp/Vol30_No2_KatesMauseronline.pdf |archive-date=2014-05-28}} | |||
* McGarrity, Joseph P., and Daniel Sutter. "A Test of the Structure of PAC Contracts: An Analysis of House Gun Control Votes in the 1980s". ''Southern Economic Journal'', Vol. 67 (2000). | |||
* {{cite journal |last1=Langbein |first1=Laura I. |last2=Lotwis |author-link=Laura Langbein|first2=Mark A. |date=August 1990 |title=Political Efficacy of Lobbying and Money: Gun Control in the U.S. House, 1986 |jstor=439771 |journal=Legislative Studies Quarterly |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=413–440 }} | |||
* Melzer, Scott. ''Gun Crusaders: The NRA's Culture War'' (New York University Press, 2009) 336 pp. | |||
* {{cite |
* {{cite journal |last=Tahmassebi |first=Stefan B. |year=1991 |title=Gun Control and Racism |url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/gmcvr2&div=9 |journal=George Mason University Civil Rights Law Journal |volume=2 | issue=1 |pages=67–100 |access-date=May 28, 2014}} | ||
* {{cite journal |last1=McGarrity |first1=Joseph P. |last2=Sutter |first2=Daniel |year=2000 |title=A Test of the Structure of PAC Contracts: An Analysis of House Gun Control Votes in the 1980s |jstor=1061612 |journal=Southern Economic Journal |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=41–63 |doi= 10.2307/1061612|s2cid=153884370 }} | |||
* Spitzer, Robert J. ''The Politics of Gun Control'', 5th ed. Boulder, Colorado: Paradigm, 1998. ISBN 978-1-59451-987-1. | |||
* {{cite journal |last=Wogan |first=J. B. |date=May 6, 2014 |title=Lessons in Gun Control from Australia and Brazil |url=http://www.emergencymgmt.com/safety/Lessons-Gun-Control-Australia-and-Brazil.html |journal=Emergency Management |access-date=June 30, 2014}} | |||
* Utter, Glenn H., ed. ''Encyclopedia of Gun Control and Gun Rights''. Phoenix, Ariz.: Oryx Press, 2000. ISBN 1-57356-172-X., 378pp | |||
* McKeever, B. W., Choi, M., Walker, D., & McKeever, R. (2022). Gun violence as a public health issue: Media advocacy, framing and implications for communication. Newspaper Research Journal, 43(2), 138–154. https://doi.org/10.1177/07395329221090497 | |||
* Winkler, Adam. ''Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America'' (2011) | |||
== |
===News=== | ||
* {{cite news |last=Bingham |first=Amy |date=July 27, 2012 |title=Shootings That Shaped Gun Control Laws |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/shootings-shaped-gun-control/story?id=16863844 |publisher=ABC News Internet Ventures }} | |||
*{{Dmoz|Regional/North_America/United_States/Society_and_Culture/Politics/Issues/Gun_Control/}} | |||
'''Gun control advocacy groups:''' | |||
* | |||
* | |||
* | |||
==External links== | |||
'''Gun rights advocacy groups:''' | |||
{{sister project links|b=no|commons=Category:Gun politics in the United States|d=Q1305384|n=Category:Gun politics|q=no|s=no|v=no|wikt=no}} | |||
* | |||
* {{NYTtopic|subjects/g/gun_control|Guns and Gun Control}} | |||
* | |||
* | |||
{{United States topics}} | {{United States topics}} | ||
{{North America topic|Gun politics in}} | {{North America topic|Gun politics in}} | ||
{{Gun control in the United States}} | |||
{{United States policy}} | |||
{{Firearms}} | |||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gun Politics In The United States}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:Gun Politics In The United States}} | ||
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Latest revision as of 12:42, 18 December 2024
For the context of these debates, see Gun violence in the United States. "Gun Reform" redirects here. For current gun laws in the U.S., see Gun law in the United States.
Gun politics in the United States is characterized by two primary opposing ideologies regarding private firearm ownership.
Advocates of gun control support increasingly restrictive regulations on gun ownership, while proponents of gun rights oppose such restrictions and often support the liberalization of gun ownership. These groups typically differ in their interpretations of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, as well as in their views on the role of firearms in public safety, their impact on public health, and their relationship to crime rates at both national and state levels.
Since the early 21st century, private firearm ownership in the United States has been steadily increasing, with a notable acceleration during and after 2020.
According to the National Firearms Survey of 2021, the largest and most comprehensive study of U.S. firearm ownership, privately owned firearms are involved in approximately 1.7 million defensive use cases annually.
The survey also indicates a rise in the diversity of firearm owners, with increased ownership rates among females and ethnic minorities compared to previous years.
U.S. gun politics is increasingly influenced by demographic factors and political party affiliation, with notable differences observed in gender, age, and income levels as reported by major social surveys.
History
Firearms in American life begin with the earliest attempts to settle and colonize the United States. Firearms were made, imported and provided for agrarian, hunting, defense and diplomatic purposes. A connection between shooting skills and survival among American men in the colonial expanses was often a necessity, and could serve as a 'rite of passage' for those entering manhood. Today, the figures of the settler colonist, hunter and outdoorsman survive as central to American gun culture, regardless of modern trends away from hunting and rural life.
Prior to the American Revolution, there was neither the ability nor political desire to maintain a standing army in the American colonies. Since at least the time of the Glorious Revolution, English political ideology was strongly opposed to the idea of a standing army. Therefore, the armed citizen-soldier carried responsibility. Service in colonial militia, including providing one's own ammunition and weapons, was mandatory for all men. Yet, as early as the 1790s, the mandatory universal militia duty evolved gradually to voluntary militia units and a reliance on a regular army. Throughout the 19th century the institution of the organized civilian militia gradually declined. The unorganized civilian militia under current U.S. law consists of all able-bodied males at least seventeen years of age and under the age of 45—with some exceptions—who are not members of the National Guard or Naval Militia, as codified in 10 U.S.C. § 246.
Closely related to the militia tradition is the frontier tradition, with the need for self-protection pursuant to westward expansion and the extension of the American frontier. Though it has not been a necessary part of daily survival for over a century, "generations of Americans continued to embrace and glorify it as a living inheritance – as a permanent ingredient of this nation's style and culture". Since the founding-era of American Federalist politics, debates regarding firearm availability and gun violence in the United States have been characterized by concerns about the right to bear arms, as found in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and the responsibility of the United States government to serve the needs of its citizens and to prevent crime and deaths. Firearms regulation supporters say that indiscriminate or unrestricted gun rights inhibit the government from fulfilling that responsibility, and causes a safety concern. Gun rights supporters promote firearms for self-defense – including security against tyranny, as well as hunting and sporting activities. Gun control advocates state that restricting and tracking gun access would result in safer communities, while gun rights advocates state that increased firearm ownership by law-abiding citizens reduces crime and assert that criminals have always had easy access to firearms. Gun legislation in the United States has become increasingly subject to federal judicial interpretation of the Constitution. The Second Amendment to the U.S. 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 1791, the United States adopted the Second Amendment, and in 1868 adopted the Fourteenth Amendment. The historical tradition bounded by these two amendments has been the subject of U.S. Supreme Court decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), where the Court affirmed for the first time that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to possess firearms for traditionally lawful purposes (such as self-defense within the home), independent of service in a state militia, in McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), where the Court ruled that the Second Amendment's restrictions are incorporated by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and thereby apply to state as well as federal law, and most recently in the NYSRPA v. Bruen (2022). As emphasized in Bruen, the Second Amendment makes an "unqualified command" that the "individual-right" of firearms ownership, as opposed to the collective or militia-based theory of the right, is protected from all restriction unless a government authority can demonstrate their law is with the Nation's historical tradition of firearms regulation.
In 2018 it was estimated that U.S. civilians own 393 million firearms, and that 40% to 42% of the households in the country have at least one gun. However, record gun sales followed in the following years. The U.S. has by far the highest estimated number of guns per capita in the world, at 120.5 guns for every 100 people.
Colonial era through the Civil War
In the summer of 1619 in Jamestown, Virginia, leaders of the settlement came together to pass the first gun law:
That no man do sell or give any Indians any piece, shot, or powder, or any other arms offensive or defensive, upon pain of being held a traitor to the colony and of being hanged as soon as the fact is proved, without all redemption.
In the years prior to the American Revolution, the British, in response to the colonists' unhappiness over increasingly direct control and taxation of the colonies, imposed a gunpowder embargo on the colonies in an attempt to lessen the ability of the colonists to resist British encroachments into what the colonies regarded as local matters. Two direct attempts to disarm the colonial militias fanned what had been a smoldering resentment of British interference into the fires of war.
These two incidents were the attempt to confiscate the cannon of the Concord and Lexington militias, leading to the Battles of Lexington and Concord of April 19, 1775, and the attempt, on April 20, to confiscate militia powder stores in the armory of Williamsburg, Virginia, which led to the Gunpowder Incident and a face-off between Patrick Henry and hundreds of militia members on one side and the Royal Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, and British seamen on the other. The Gunpowder Incident was eventually settled by paying the colonists for the powder.
According to historian Saul Cornell, states passed some of the first gun control laws, beginning with Kentucky's law to "curb the practice of carrying concealed weapons in 1813." There was opposition and, as a result, the individual right interpretation of the Second Amendment began and grew in direct response to these early gun control laws, in keeping with this new "pervasive spirit of individualism." As noted by Cornell, "Ironically, the first gun control movement helped give birth to the first self-conscious gun rights ideology built around a constitutional right of individual self-defense."
The individual right interpretation of the Second Amendment first arose in Bliss v. Commonwealth (1822), which evaluated the right to bear arms in defense of themselves and the state pursuant to Section 28 of the Second Constitution of Kentucky (1799). The right to bear arms in defense of themselves and the state was interpreted as an individual right, for the case of a concealed sword cane. This case has been described as about "a statute prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons was violative of the Second Amendment".
The first state court decision relevant to the "right to bear arms" issue was Bliss v. Commonwealth. The Kentucky court held that "the right of citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State must be preserved entire,..."
Also during the Jacksonian Era, the first collective right (or group right) interpretation of the Second Amendment arose. In State v. Buzzard (1842), the Arkansas high court adopted a militia-based, political right, reading of the right to bear arms under state law, and upheld the 21st section of the second article of the Arkansas Constitution that declared, "that the free white men of this State shall have a right to keep and bear arms for their common defense", while rejecting a challenge to a statute prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons.
The Arkansas high court declared "That the words 'a well-regulated militia being necessary for the security of a free State', and the words 'common defense' clearly show the true intent and meaning of these Constitutions and prove that it is a political and not an individual right, and, of course, that the State, in her legislative capacity, has the right to regulate and control it: This being the case, then the people, neither individually nor collectively, have the right to keep and bear arms." Joel Prentiss Bishop's influential Commentaries on the Law of Statutory Crimes (1873) took Buzzard's militia-based interpretation, a view that Bishop characterized as the "Arkansas doctrine," as the orthodox view of the right to bear arms in American law.
The two early state court cases, Bliss and Buzzard, set the fundamental dichotomy in interpreting the Second Amendment, i.e., whether it secured an individual right versus a collective right.
Post Civil War
See also: Reconstruction eraIn the years immediately following the Civil War, the question of the rights of freed slaves to carry arms and to belong to the militia came to the attention of the federal courts. In response to the problems freed slaves faced in the Southern states, the Fourteenth Amendment was drafted.
When the Fourteenth Amendment was drafted, Representative John A. Bingham of Ohio used the Court's own phrase "privileges and immunities of citizens" to include the first Eight Amendments of the Bill of Rights under its protection and guard these rights against state legislation.
The debate in Congress on the Fourteenth Amendment after the Civil War also concentrated on what the Southern States were doing to harm the newly freed slaves. One particular concern was the disarming of former slaves.
The Second Amendment attracted serious judicial attention with the Reconstruction era case of United States v. Cruikshank which ruled that the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment did not cause the Bill of Rights, including the Second Amendment, to limit the powers of the State governments, stating that the Second Amendment "has no other effect than to restrict the powers of the national government."
Akhil Reed Amar notes in The Yale Law Journal, the basis of common law for the first ten amendments of the U.S. Constitution, which would include the Second Amendment, "following John Randolph Tucker's famous oral argument in the 1887 Chicago anarchist Haymarket affair case, Spies v. Illinois":
Though originally the first ten Amendments were adopted as limitations on Federal power, yet in so far as they secure and recognize fundamental rights – common law rights – of the man, they make them privileges and immunities of the man as citizen of the United States...
20th century
First half of 20th century
Since the late 19th century, with three key cases from the pre-incorporation era, the U.S. Supreme Court consistently ruled that the Second Amendment (and the Bill of Rights) restricted only Congress, and not the States, in the regulation of guns. Scholars predicted that the Court's incorporation of other rights suggested that they may incorporate the Second, should a suitable case come before them.
National Firearms Act
Main article: National Firearms ActThe first major federal firearms law passed in the 20th century was the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934. It was passed after Prohibition-era gangsterism peaked with the Saint Valentine's Day massacre of 1929. The era was famous for criminal use of firearms such as the Thompson submachine gun (Tommy gun) and sawed-off shotgun. Under the NFA, machine guns, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, and other weapons fall under the regulation and jurisdiction of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) as described by Title II.
United States v. Miller
Main article: United States v. MillerIn United States v. Miller (1939) the Court did not address incorporation, but whether a sawn-off shotgun "has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia." In overturning the indictment against Miller, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas stated that the National Firearms Act of 1934, "offend the inhibition of the Second Amendment to the Constitution." The federal government then appealed directly to the Supreme Court. On appeal the federal government did not object to Miller's release since he had died by then, seeking only to have the trial judge's ruling on the unconstitutionality of the federal law overturned. Under these circumstances, neither Miller nor his attorney appeared before the Court to argue the case. The Court only heard argument from the federal prosecutor. In its ruling, the Court overturned the trial court and upheld the NFA.
Second half of 20th century
The Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA) was passed after the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert Kennedy, and African-American activists Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s. The GCA focuses on regulating interstate commerce in firearms by generally prohibiting interstate firearms transfers except among licensed manufacturers, dealers, and importers. It also prohibits selling firearms to certain categories of individuals defined as "prohibited persons."
In 1986, Congress passed the Firearm Owners Protection Act. It was supported by the National Rifle Association because it reversed many of the provisions of the GCA. It also banned ownership of unregistered fully automatic rifles and civilian purchase or sale of any such firearm made from that date forward.
The assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan in 1981 led to enactment of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Brady Law) in 1993 which established the national background check system to prevent certain restricted individuals from owning, purchasing, or transporting firearms. In an article supporting passage of such a law, retired chief justice Warren E. Burger wrote:
Americans also have a right to defend their homes, and we need not challenge that. Nor does anyone seriously question that the Constitution protects the right of hunters to own and keep sporting guns for hunting game any more than anyone would challenge the right to own and keep fishing rods and other equipment for fishing – or to own automobiles. To 'keep and bear arms' for hunting today is essentially a recreational activity and not an imperative of survival, as it was 200 years ago. 'Saturday night specials' and machine guns are not recreational weapons and surely are as much in need of regulation as motor vehicles.
A Stockton, California, schoolyard shooting in 1989 led to passage of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 (AWB or AWB 1994), which defined and banned the manufacture and transfer of "semiautomatic assault weapons" and "large capacity ammunition feeding devices."
According to journalist Chip Berlet, concerns about gun control laws along with outrage over two high-profile incidents involving the ATF (Ruby Ridge in 1992 and the Waco siege in 1993) mobilized the militia movement of citizens who feared that the federal government would begin to confiscate firearms.
Though gun control is not strictly a partisan issue, there is generally more support for gun control legislation in the Democratic Party than in the Republican Party. The Libertarian Party, whose campaign platforms favor limited government regulation, is outspokenly against gun control.
Advocacy groups
The National Rifle Association (NRA) was founded to promote firearm competency and natural conservation in 1871. The NRA supported the NFA and, ultimately, the GCA. After the GCA, more strident groups, such as the Gun Owners of America (GOA), began to advocate for gun rights. According to the GOA, it was founded in 1975 when "the radical left introduced legislation to ban all handguns in California." The GOA and other national groups like the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and its offshoot the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO), and the Second Amendment Sisters (SAS), often take stronger stances than the NRA and criticize its history of support for some firearms legislation, such as GCA. The National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) has been an outspoken critic of the NRA for a number of years. According to the Huffington Post, "NAGR is the much leaner, more pugnacious version of the NRA. Where the NRA has looked to find some common ground with gun reform advocates and at least appear to be reasonable, NAGR has been the unapologetic champion of opening up gun laws even more." These groups believe any compromise leads to greater restrictions.
According to the authors of The Changing Politics of Gun Control (1998), in the late 1970s, the NRA changed its activities to incorporate political advocacy. Despite the impact on the volatility of membership, the politicization of the NRA has been consistent and the NRA-Political Victory Fund ranked as "one of the biggest spenders in congressional elections" as of 1998. According to the authors of The Gun Debate (2014), the NRA taking the lead on politics serves the gun industry's profitability. In particular when gun owners respond to fears of gun confiscation with increased purchases and by helping to isolate the industry from the misuse of its products used in shooting incidents.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence began in 1974 as Handgun Control Inc. (HCI). Soon after, it formed a partnership with another fledgling group called the National Coalition to Ban Handguns (NCBH) – later known as the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV). The partnership did not last, as NCBH generally took a tougher stand on gun regulation than HCI. In the wake of the 1980 murder of John Lennon, HCI saw an increase of interest and fundraising and contributed $75,000 to congressional campaigns. Following the Reagan assassination attempt and the resultant injury of James Brady, Sarah Brady joined the board of HCI in 1985. HCI was renamed in 2001 to Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) restriction
In 1996, Congress added language to the relevant appropriations bill which required "none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control." This language was added to prevent the funding of research by the CDC that gun rights supporters considered politically motivated and intended to bring about further gun control legislation. In particular, the NRA and other gun rights proponents objected to work supported by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, then run by Mark L. Rosenberg, including research authored by Arthur Kellermann.
21st century
In October 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report on the effectiveness of gun violence prevention strategies that concluded "Evidence was insufficient to determine the effectiveness of any of these laws." A similar survey of firearms research by the National Academy of Sciences arrived at nearly identical conclusions in 2004. In September of that year, the Assault Weapons Ban expired due to a sunset provision. Efforts by gun control advocates to renew the ban failed, as did attempts to replace it after it became defunct.
The NRA opposed bans on handguns in Chicago, Washington D.C., and San Francisco while supporting the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (also known as the School Safety And Law Enforcement Improvement Act), which strengthened requirements for background checks for firearm purchases. The GOA took issue with a portion of the bill, which they termed the "Veterans' Disarmament Act."
Besides the GOA, other national gun rights groups continue to take a stronger stance than the NRA. These groups include the Second Amendment Sisters, Second Amendment Foundation, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, and the Pink Pistols. New groups have also arisen, such as the Students for Concealed Carry, which grew largely out of safety-issues resulting from the creation of gun-free zones that were legislatively mandated amidst a response to widely publicized school shootings.
In 2001, in United States v. Emerson, the Fifth Circuit became the first federal appeals court to recognize an individual's right to own guns. In 2007, in Parker v. District of Columbia, the D.C. Circuit became the first federal appeals court to strike down a gun control law on Second Amendment grounds.
Smart guns
Smart guns only fire when in the hands of the owner, a feature gun control advocates say eliminates accidental firings by children, and the risk of hostile persons (such as prisoners, criminal suspects, an opponent in a fight, or an enemy soldier) grabbing the gun and using it against the owner. Gun rights advocates fear mandatory smart gun technology will make it more difficult to fire a gun when needed.
Smith & Wesson reached a settlement in 2000 with the administration of President Bill Clinton, which included a provision for the company to develop a smart gun. A consumer boycott organized by the NRA and NSSF nearly drove the company out of business and forced it to drop its smart gun plans.
The New Jersey Childproof Handgun Law of 2002 requires that 30 months after "personalized handguns are available" anywhere in the United States, only smart guns may be sold in the state.
Some gun safety advocates worry that by raising the stakes of introducing the technology, this law contributes to the opposition that has prevented smart guns from being sold anywhere in the United States despite availability in other countries.
In 2014, a Maryland gun dealer dropped plans to sell the first smart gun in the United States after receiving complaints.
District of Columbia v. Heller
Main article: District of Columbia v. HellerIn June 2008, in District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court upheld by a 5–4 vote the Parker decision striking down the D.C. gun law. Heller ruled that Americans have an individual right to possess firearms, irrespective of membership in a militia, "for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home." However, in delivering the majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia argued that the operative clause of the amendment, "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed," codifies an individual right derived from English common law and codified in the English Bill of Rights (1689). The majority held that the Second Amendment's preamble, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State," is consistent with this interpretation when understood in light of the framers' belief that the most effective way to destroy a citizens' militia was to disarm the citizens. The majority also found that United States v. Miller supported an individual-right rather than a collective-right view, contrary to the dominant 20th-century interpretation of that decision. (In Miller, the Supreme Court unanimously held that a federal law requiring the registration of sawed-off shotguns did not violate the Second Amendment because such weapons did not have a "reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia.") Finally, the court held that, because the framers understood the right of self-defense to be "the central component" of the right to keep and bear arms, the Second Amendment implicitly protects the right "to use arms in defense of hearth and home."
The four dissenting justices said that the majority had broken established precedent on the Second Amendment, and took the position that the Amendment refers to an individual right, but in the context of militia service.
McDonald v. City of Chicago
Main article: McDonald v. City of ChicagoIn June 2010, a Chicago law that banned handguns was struck down. The 5–4 ruling incorporated the Second Amendment, stating that "The Fourteenth Amendment makes the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms fully applicable to the States." Justice Samuel Alito's plurality opinion attributed incorporation to the Amendment's Due Process Clause.
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen
Main article: New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. BruenIn June 2022, the Supreme Court struck down the Sullivan Act's requirement for New York residents to show proper cause to obtain a license for concealed carry of handguns. The Supreme Court's 6-3 majority opinion authored by Justice Clarence Thomas rejected a two-part test previously used by federal courts to review challenges to gun-control measures. It found that carrying a handgun in public for self-defense is protected under the Second Amendment, while still allowing for restrictions on carrying handguns in certain "sensitive places." The opinion however only allows for "sensitive place" restrictions where historical analogues may be present (such as schools, courthouses, and polling places), using the island of Manhattan as an example of one such sensitive place that would be considered unconstitutional.
Advocacy groups, PACs, and lobbying
One way advocacy groups influence politics is through "outside spending," using political action committees (PACs) and 501(c)(4) organizations. PACs and 501(c)(4)s raise and spend money to affect elections. PACs pool campaign contributions from members and donate those funds to candidates for political office. Super PACs, created in 2010, are prohibited from making direct contributions to candidates or parties, but influence races by running ads for or against specific candidates. Both gun control and gun rights advocates use these types of organizations.
The NRA's Political Victory Fund super PAC spent $11.2 million in the 2012 election cycle, and as of April 2014, it had raised $13.7 million for 2014 elections. Michael Bloomberg's gun-control super PAC, Independence USA, spent $8.3 million in 2012 and $6.3 million in 2013. Americans for Responsible Solutions, another gun-control super PAC started by retired Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, raised $12 million in 2013, and planned to raise $16 to $20 million by the 2014 elections. The group's treasurer said that the funds would be enough to compete with the NRA "on an even-keel basis."
Another way advocacy groups influence politics is through lobbying; some groups use lobbying firms, while others employ in-house lobbyists. According to OpenSecrets, gun politics groups with the most lobbyists in 2013 were: the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA); Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG); the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF); and the Brady Campaign. Gun rights groups spent over $15.1 million lobbying in Washington D.C. in 2013, with the National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) spending $6.7 million, and the NRA spending $3.4 million. Gun control groups spent $2.2 million, with MAIG spending $1.7 million, and the Brady Campaign spending $250,000 in the same period.
3D printed firearms
Main article: 3D printed firearmsIn August 2012, an open source group called Defense Distributed launched a project to design and release a blueprint for a handgun that could be downloaded from the Internet and manufactured using a 3D printer. In May 2013, the group made public the STL files for the world's first fully 3D printable gun, the Liberator .380 single shot pistol. Since 2018, 3D printed gun files have exponentially multiplied and been freely published on the Internet for anyone in the world to access, on websites like DEFCAD and Odysee.
Proposals made by the Obama administration
On January 16, 2013, in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and other mass shootings, President Barack Obama announced a plan for reducing gun violence in four parts: closing background check loopholes; banning so-called "assault weapons" and "large capacity magazines"; making schools safer; and increasing access to mental health services. The plan included proposals for new laws to be passed by Congress, and a series of executive actions not requiring Congressional approval. No new federal gun control legislation was passed as a result of these proposals. President Obama later stated in a 2015 interview with the BBC that gun control:
has been the one area where I feel that I've been most frustrated and most stymied, it is the fact that the United States of America is the one advanced nation on earth in which we do not have sufficient common-sense, gun-safety laws. Even in the face of repeated mass killings. And you know, if you look at the number of Americans killed since 9/11 by terrorism, it's less than 100. If you look at the number that have been killed by gun violence, it's in the tens of thousands. And for us not to be able to resolve that issue has been something that is distressing. But it is not something that I intend to stop working on in the remaining 18 months.
2013 United Nations Arms Treaty
See also: Arms Trade Treaty § ContentThe Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is a multilateral treaty that regulates the international trade in conventional weapons, which entered into force on December 24, 2014. Work on the treaty commenced in 2006 with negotiations for its content conducted at a global conference under the auspices of the United Nations from July 2–27, 2012, in New York. As it was not possible to reach an agreement on a final text at that time, a new meeting for the conference was scheduled for March 18–28, 2013. On April 2, 2013, the UN General Assembly adopted the ATT. The treaty was opened for signing on June 3, 2013, and by August 15, 2015, it had been signed by 130 states and ratified or acceded to by 72. It entered into force on December 24, 2014, after it was ratified and acceded to by 50 states.
On September 25, 2013, Secretary of State John Kerry signed the ATT on behalf of the Obama administration. This was a reversal of the position of the Bush administration which had chosen not to participate in the treaty negotiations. Then in October a bipartisan group of 50 senators and 181 representatives released concurrent letters to President Barack Obama pledging their opposition to ratification of the ATT. The group was led by Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) and Representatives Mike Kelly (R-Pennsylvania) and Collin Peterson (D-Minnesota). Following these two letters, four Democratic senators sent a separate letter to the President stating that "because of unaddressed concerns that this Treaty's obligations could undermine our nation's sovereignty and the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans would oppose the Treaty if it were to come before the U.S. Senate." The four Senators are Jon Tester (D-Montana), Max Baucus (D-Montana), Heidi Heitkamp (D-North Dakota), and Joe Donnelly (D-Indiana).
Supporters of the treaty claim that the treaty is needed to help protect millions around the globe in danger of human rights abuses. Frank Jannuzi of Amnesty International USA states, "This treaty says that nations must not export arms and ammunition where there is an 'overriding risk' that they will be used to commit serious human rights violations. It will help keep arms out of the hands of the wrong people: those responsible for upwards of 1,500 deaths worldwide every day." Secretary Kerry was quoted as saying that his signature would "help deter the transfer of conventional weapons used to carry out the world's worst crimes." As of December 2013, the U.S. has not ratified or acceded to the treaty.
Proposals made by the Trump administration
Following the Las Vegas shooting in October 2017 and the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February 2018, President Donald Trump and the Department of Justice (DOJ) sought ways to ban bump stocks, devices that can be used to make semi-automatic weapons fire as fully automatic ones as used in both shootings. Initially, the DOJ believed it had to wait for Congress to pass the appropriate legislation to ban the sale and possession of bump stocks. However, by March 2018, the DOJ introduced proposed revised regulations on gun control that incorporated bump stocks under the definition of machine guns, which would make them banned devices, as Congress had not yet taken any action. After a period of public review, the DOJ implemented the proposed ban starting on December 18, 2018, giving owners of bump stocks the option to either destroy them or turn them into authorities within 90 days, after which the ban would be in full effect (on March 26, 2019). Pro-gun groups immediately sought to challenge the order, but could not get the Supreme Court to put the ban on hold while the litigation was ongoing. In the following week, the Supreme Court refused to exempt the litigants in the legal challenge from the DOJ's order after this was raised as a separate challenge.
Proposals made by the Biden administration
Since his election, President Joe Biden urged Congress to pass a ban on assault rifles and other measures.
In April 2022, the President announced plans to crack down on privately made firearms, saying that they have become "weapons of choice for many criminals." From 2016 to 2021, the number of suspected privately made firearms recovered in criminal investigations increased tenfold, with about 20,000 suspected privately made firearms reported to ATF in 2021. The 2022 Justice Department decision restricted the sale of weapons parts kits (determining the kits, which can be assembled into firearms in a little as 20 minutes, to qualify as "firearms" within the definition of the federal Gun Control Act, thus requiring serial numbers and licensure of manufacturers and commercial sellers). U.S. district judge in Texas, Reed O'Connor, blocked the rule, finding that it exceeded the department's authority and issuing a nationwide injunction. The U.S. has appealed to the Fifth Circuit.
On June 25, 2022, President Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law, which included expanded background checks for firearm purchasers under the age of 21, $15 billion in funding for mental health programs and school security upgrades, federal funding to encourage states to implement red flag laws, and gun ownership bans for individuals convicted of domestic abuse charges.
Public opinion
Main article: Public opinion on gun control in the United StatesPolls
Huffington Post reported in September 2013 that 48% of Americans said gun laws should be made more strict, while 16% said they should be made less strict and 29% said there should be no change. Similarly, a Gallup poll found that support for stricter gun laws has fallen from 58% after the Newtown shooting, to 49% in September 2013. Both the Huffington Post poll and the Gallup poll were conducted after the Washington Navy Yard shooting. Meanwhile, the Huffington Post poll found that 40% of Americans believe stricter gun laws would prevent future mass shootings, while 52% said changing things would not make a difference. The same poll also found that 57% of Americans think better mental health care is more likely to prevent future mass shootings than stricter gun laws, while 29% said the opposite. 74% of those who incorrectly believed that the USA has universal background checks supported stricter gun laws, but 89% of those who thought that such checks were not universally required supported stricter laws.
In a 2015 study conducted by the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, state gun laws were examined based on various policy approaches, and were scored on grade-based and ranked scales. States were rated positively for having passed stricter measures and stronger gun laws. Positive points were also given for states that required background checks on all sales of firearms and that limited bulk firearms purchases, and that prohibited sales of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, and that carried out stricter evaluations of applications for handgun concealed-carry licenses, especially in the context of prohibited domestic-violence offenders. Meanwhile, points were deducted from states with laws that expanded access to guns, or that allowed concealed carry in public areas (particularly schools and bars) without a permit, or that passed "Stand Your Ground Laws" – which remove the duty to retreat and instead allow people to shoot potential assailants. Eventually, states were graded indicating the overall strengths or weakness of their gun laws. The ten states with the strongest gun laws ranked from strongest starting with California, then New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Hawaii, New York, Maryland, Illinois, Rhode Island and finally Michigan. The states with weakest gun laws were ranked as follows: South Dakota, Arizona, Mississippi, Vermont, Louisiana, Montana, Wyoming, Kentucky, Kansas, and Oklahoma. A comparable study of state laws was also conducted in 2016. Based on these findings, The Law Center concluded that comprehensive gun laws reduce gun violence deaths, whereas weaker guns laws increase gun-related deaths. Furthermore, among different kinds of legislation, universal background checks were the most effective at reducing gun-related deaths.
Gallup poll
The Gallup organization regularly polls Americans on their views on guns. On December 22, 2012:
- 44% supported a ban on "semi-automatic guns known as assault weapons."
- 92% supported background checks on all gun-show gun sales.
- 62% supported a ban on "high-capacity ammunition magazines that can contain more than 10 rounds."
On April 25, 2013:
- 56% supported reinstating and strengthening the assault weapons ban of 1994.
- 83% supported requiring background checks for all gun purchases.
- 51% supported limiting the sale of ammunition magazines to those with 10 rounds or less.
On October 6, 2013:
- 49% felt that gun laws should be more strict.
- 74% opposed civilian handgun bans.
- 37% said they had a gun in their home.
- 27% said they personally owned a gun.
- 60% of gun owners have guns for personal safety/protection, 36% for hunting, 13% for recreation/sport, 8% for target shooting, 5% as a Second Amendment right.
In January 2014:
- 40% are satisfied with the current state of gun laws, 55% are dissatisfied
- 31% want stricter control, 16% want less strict laws
On October 19, 2015:
- 55% said the law on sales of firearms should be more strict, 33% kept as they are, 11% less strict
- this was sharply polarised by party, with 77% of Democratic Party supporters wanting stricter laws, against 27% of Republican Party supporters
- 72% continued to oppose civilian handgun bans.
On October 16, 2017:
- 58% of Americans believing that new gun laws would have little or no effect on mass shootings.
- 60% said the law on sales of firearms should be more strict.
- 48% "would support a law making it illegal to manufacture, sell or possess" semi-automatic firearms
- The following day, a survey was published stating:
- 96% supported "requiring background checks for all gun purchases"
- this includes 95% of gun owners and 96% of non-gun owners
- 75% supported "enacting a 30-day waiting period for all gun sales"
- this includes 57% of gun owners and 84% of non-gun owners
- 70% supported "requiring all privately owned guns to be registered with the police"
- this includes 48% of gun owners and 82% of non-gun owners
- 96% supported "requiring background checks for all gun purchases"
According to a 2023 Fox News poll found registered voters overwhelmingly supported a wide variety of gun restrictions:
- 87% said they support requiring criminal background checks for all gun buyers;
- 81% support raising the age requirement to buy guns to 21;
- 80% support requiring mental health checks for all gun purchasers;
- 80% said police should be allowed take guns away from people considered a danger to themselves or others;
- 61% supported banning assault rifles and semi-automatic weapons.
National Rifle Association
A member poll conducted for the NRA between January 13 and 14, 2013 found:
- 90.7% of members favor "Reforming our mental health laws to help keep firearms out of the hands of people with mental illness." (A majority of 86.4% believe that strengthening laws this way would be more effective at preventing mass murders than banning semi-automatic rifles.)
- 92.2% of NRA members oppose gun confiscation via mandatory buy-back laws.
- 88.5% oppose banning semi-automatic firearms, firearms that chamber a new round automatically when discharged.
- 92.6% oppose a law requiring gun owners to register with the federal government.
- 92.0% oppose a federal law banning the sale of firearms between private citizens.
- 82.3% of members are in favor of a program that would place armed security professionals in every school.
- 72.5% agreed that President Obama's ultimate goal is the confiscation of many firearms that are currently legal.
Place of living of respondents:
- 35.4% A rural area
- 26.4% A small town
- 22.9% A suburban area
- 14.7% An urban area or city
Regional Break:
- 36.1% South
- 24.1% Mid-West
- 21.5% West
- 18.3% North-East / Mid-Atlantic
Media depictions and public opinion
A study conducted by Berryessa et al. in 2020 with 3410 qualifying respondents investigated how characteristics of victims and types of incidents described in a media report would affect respondents' support towards gun regulations. They found that mentions of victim race, particularly those of Black victims, was a strong predictor of lowered support for all categories of firearm regulation. Furthermore, regulations designed to address gun deaths from suicide and accidents were less likely to garner support compared to those addressing mass shootings or street-level gun homicide. Descriptions of age, mental illness, prior incarceration, and victim gender were less salient predictors of public support than those of race or incident type.
Political arguments
Rights-based arguments
Rights-based arguments involve the most fundamental question about gun control: to what degree the government has the authority to regulate guns.
Proponents of gun rights include but are not limited to the following:
- National Rifle Association
- Second Amendment Foundation
- Gun Owners of America
- American Rifle & Pistol Association
- National Association for Gun Rights
- Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC)
- Pink Pistols
- The Well-Armed Woman
- Evolve USA
- Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
- National African American Gun Association
- California Rifle & Pistol Association
- Socialist Rifle Association
- Redneck Revolt
Fundamental right
The primary author of the United States Bill of Rights, James Madison, considered the rights contained within– including a right to keep and bear arms – to be fundamental. In 1788, he wrote: "The political truths declared in that solemn manner acquire by degrees the character of fundamental maxims of free Government, and as they become incorporated with the national sentiment, counteract the impulses of interest and passion."
The view that gun ownership is a fundamental right was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008). The Court stated: "By the time of the founding, the right to have arms had become fundamental for English subjects." The Court observed that the English Bill of Rights of 1689 had listed a right to arms as one of the fundamental rights of Englishmen.
When the Court interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment in McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), it looked to the year 1868, when the amendment was ratified and said that most states had provisions in their constitutions explicitly protecting this right. The Court concluded: "It is clear that the Framers and ratifiers of the Fourteenth Amendment counted the right to keep and bear arms among those fundamental rights necessary to our system of ordered liberty."
Second Amendment rights
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, adopted on December 15, 1791, states:
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.
Prior to District of Columbia v. Heller, in the absence of a clear court ruling, there was a debate about whether or not the Second Amendment included an individual right. In Heller, the Court concluded that there is indeed such a right, but not an unlimited one. Although the decision was not unanimous, all justices endorsed an individual right viewpoint but differed on the scope of that right.
Before Heller gun rights advocates argued that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to own guns. They stated that the phrase "the people" in that amendment applies to individuals rather than an organized collective and that the phrase "the people" means the same thing in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 9th, and 10th Amendments. They also said the Second's placement in the Bill of Rights defines it as an individual right. As part of the Heller decision, the majority endorsed the view that the Second Amendment protects an individual, though not unlimited, right to own guns. Political scientist Robert Spitzer and Supreme Court law clerk Gregory P. Magarian argued that this final decision by the Supreme Court was a misinterpretation of the U.S. Constitution.
After the Heller decision there was an increased amount of attention on whether or not the Second Amendment applies to the states. In 2010 in the case of McDonald v. City Chicago, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment's provisions do apply to the states as a result of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Defense of self and state
The eighteenth-century English jurist William Blackstone (b. 1723), whose writings influenced the drafters of the U.S. Constitution, called self-defense "the primary law of nature" which (he said) man-made law cannot take away. Following Blackstone, the American jurist St. George Tucker (b. 1752) wrote that "the right of self-defense is the first law of nature; in most governments, it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible."
In both Heller (2008) and McDonald (2010) the Supreme Court deemed that the right of self-defense is at least partly protected by the United States Constitution. The court left details of that protection to be worked out in future court cases.
The two primary interest groups regarding this issue are the Brady Campaign and the National Rifle Association. They have clashed, for example, regarding stand-your-ground laws which give individuals a legal right to use guns for defending themselves without any duty to retreat from a dangerous situation. After the Supreme Court's 2008 decision in Heller, the Brady Campaign indicated that it would seek gun laws "without infringing on the right of law-abiding persons to possess guns for self-defense."
Protection of marginalized people
Left-wing and far-left advocates for gun rights argue that gun ownership is necessary for protecting marginalized communities, such as African Americans and the working class, from state repression. Far-left advocates argue that gun control laws mostly benefit white people and harm people of color.
Security against tyranny
Another fundamental political argument associated with the right to keep and bear arms is that banning or even regulating gun ownership makes government tyranny more likely. A January 2013 Rasmussen Reports poll indicated that 65 percent of Americans believe the purpose of the Second Amendment is to "ensure that people are able to protect themselves from tyranny." A Gallup poll in October 2013 showed that 60 percent of American gun owners mention "personal safety/protection" as a reason for owning them, and 5 percent mention a "Second Amendment right," among other reasons. Another poll, published by the Pew Research Center in August 2023, confirms these results: 72% of polled gun owners state that self-protection is a major reason for their gun ownership. The anti-tyranny argument extends back to the days of colonial America and earlier in Great Britain.
Various gun rights advocates and organizations, such as former governor Mike Huckabee, former Congressman Ron Paul, and Gun Owners of America, say that an armed citizenry is the population's last line of defense against tyranny by their own government. This belief was also familiar at the time the Constitution was written. The Declaration of Independence mentions "the Right of the People to alter or to abolish" the government, and Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address reiterated the "revolutionary right" of the people. A right of revolution was not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution; instead, the Constitution was designed to ensure a government deriving its power from the consent of the governed. Historian Don Higginbotham wrote that the well-regulated militia protected by the Second Amendment was more likely to put down rebellions than participate in them.
Gun rights advocates such as Stephen Halbrook and Wayne LaPierre support the "Nazi gun control" theory. The theory states that gun regulations enforced by the Third Reich rendered victims of the Holocaust weak, and that more effective resistance to oppression would have been possible if they had been better armed. Other gun laws of authoritarian regimes have also been brought up such as gun control in the Soviet Union and in China. This counterfactual history theory is not supported by mainstream scholarship, though it is an element of a "security against tyranny" argument in U.S. politics.
American gun rights activist Larry Pratt says that the anti-tyranny argument for gun rights is supported by successful efforts in Guatemala and the Philippines to arm ordinary citizens against communist insurgency in the 1980s. Gun-rights advocacy groups argue that the only way to enforce democracy is through having the means of resistance. Militia-movement groups cite the Battle of Athens (Tennessee, 1946) as an example of citizens who " armed force to support the Rule of Law" in what they said was a rigged county election. Then-senator John F. Kennedy wrote in 1960 that, "it is extremely unlikely that the fears of governmental tyranny which gave rise to the Second Amendment will ever be a major danger to our nation...."
In 1957, the legal scholar Roscoe Pound expressed a different view: He stated, "A legal right of the citizen to wage war on the government is something that cannot be admitted. ... In the urban industrial society of today, a general right to bear efficient arms so as to be enabled to resist oppression by the government would mean that gangs could exercise an extra-legal rule which would defeat the whole Bill of Rights."
Public policy arguments
Public policy arguments are based on the idea that the central purpose of government is to establish and maintain order. This is done through public policy, which Blackstone defined as "the due regulation and domestic order of the kingdom, whereby the inhabitants of the State, like members of a well-governed family, are bound to conform their general behavior to the rules of propriety, good neighborhood, and good manners, and to be decent, industrious, and inoffensive in their respective stations."
Gun violence debate
Main article: Gun violence in the United StatesThe public policy debates about gun violence include discussions about firearms deaths – including homicide, suicide, and unintentional deaths – as well as the impact of gun ownership, criminal and legal, on gun violence outcomes. After the Sandy Hook shooting, the majority of people, including gun owners and non-gun owners, wanted the government to spend more money in order to improve mental health screening and treatment, to deter gun violence in America. In the United States in 2009 there were 3.0 recorded intentional homicides committed with a firearm per 100,000 inhabitants. The U.S. ranks 28 in the world for gun homicides per capita. A U.S. male aged 15–24 is 70 times more likely to be killed with a gun than their counterpart in the eight (G-8) largest industrialized nations in the world (United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, Italy, Russia). In 2013, there were 33,636 gun-related deaths, in the United States. Meanwhile, in the same year of Japan, there were only 13 deaths that were involved with guns. In incidents concerning gun homicide or accidents, a person in America is about 300 times more likely to die than a Japanese person. In 2015, there were 36,252 deaths due to firearms, and some claim as many as 372 mass shootings, in the U.S., while guns were used to kill about 50 people in the U.K. More people are typically killed with guns in the U.S. in a day (about 85) than in the U.K. in a year.
Within the gun politics debate, gun control and gun rights advocates disagree over the role that guns play in crime. Gun control advocates concerned about high levels of gun violence in the United States look to restrictions on gun ownership as a way to stem the violence and say that increased gun ownership leads to higher levels of crime, suicide and other negative outcomes. Gun rights groups say that a well-armed civilian populace prevents crime and that making civilian ownership of firearms illegal would increase the crime rate by making civilians vulnerable to criminal activity. They say that more civilians defend themselves with a gun every year than the law enforcement arrest for violent crimes and burglary and that civilians legally shoot almost as many criminals as law enforcement officers do.
Studies using FBI data and Police Reports of the incidents, have found that there are approximately 1,500 verified instances of firearms used in self-defense annually in the United States. Survey-based research derived from data gathered by the National Crime Victimization Survey has generated estimates that, out of roughly 5.5 million violent crime victims in the U.S. annually approximately 1.1 percent, or 55,000 used a firearm in self-defense (175,000 for the 3-year period.) When including property crimes, of the 15.5 million victims of property crimes annually found in the survey (46.5 million for 2013–2015), the NCV survey data yielded estimates that around 0.2 percent of property crime victims, or 36,000 annually (109,000 for the 3-year period) used a firearm in self-defense from the loss of property. Researchers working from the most recent NCVS data sets have found approximately 95,000 uses of a firearm in self-defense in the U.S. each year (284,000 for the years 2013–2015). In addition, the United States has a higher rate of firearm ownership than any other nation. The United States' gun homicide rate, while high compared to other developed nations, has been declining since the 1990s.
Gun Control has limited the availability of firearms to many individuals. Some of the limitations include any persons who have been dishonorably discharged from the military, any person that has renounced their United States citizenship, has been declared mentally ill or committed to a mental institution, is a fugitive, is a user or addicted to a controlled substance, and anyone illegally in the country. Still, in 2016, according to the Center for Disease Control, there were 19,362 homicides in the United States. Firearms were used in 14,415 or a little over 74% of all homicides. There were also 22,938 suicides that were performed with the assistance of a firearm. In total, in 2016, firearms were involved in the deaths of 38,658 Americans. According to Rifat Darina Kamal and Charles Burton, in 2016, study data, presented by Priedt (2016), showed that just the homicide rate, by itself, was 18 times greater than the rates of Australia, Sweden, and France. Due to the increase in mass shootings, in the United States, new laws are being passed. Recently, Colorado became the fifteenth state to pass the "Red Flag" bill which gives judges the authority to remove firearms from those believed to be a high risk of harming others or themselves. This "Red Flag" law has now been proposed in twenty-three states.
Criminal violence
See also: Crime in the United States and List of countries by intentional homicide rateThere is an open debate regarding a causal connection (or the lack of one) between gun control and its effect on gun violence and other crimes. The numbers of lives saved or lost by gun ownership are debated by criminologists. Research difficulties include the difficulty of accounting accurately for confrontations in which no shots are fired and jurisdictional differences in the definition of "crime."
Such research is also subject to a more fundamental difficulty affecting all research in this field: the effectiveness of the Criminal Law in preventing crime in general or in specific cases is inherently and notoriously difficult to prove and measure, and thus issues in establishing a causal link between gun control or particular gun control policies and violent crime must be understood to be an aspect of a more general empirical difficulty, which pervades the fields of Criminology and Law at large. It is not simple, for example, to prove a causal connection between the laws against murder and the prevailing murder rates, either. Consequently, this general background must be appreciated when discussing the causal and empirical issues here.
A study published in The American Journal of Economics and Sociology in 1997 concluded that the amount of gun-related crime and deaths is affected more by the state of the area in terms of unemployment, alcohol problems and drug problems instead of the laws and regulations. This study analyzed statistics gathered on the amount of gun crime in states with strict and lenient gun policies and determined that the amount of gun crime is related to how impoverished an area is.
A 2003 CDC study determined "The Task Force found insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of any of the firearms laws or combinations of laws reviewed on violent outcomes." They go on to state "a finding of insufficient evidence to determine effectiveness should not be interpreted as evidence of ineffectiveness but rather as an indicator that additional research is needed before an intervention can be evaluated for its effectiveness."
Homicide
With 5% of the world's population, U.S. residents own roughly 50% of the world's civilian-owned firearms. In addition, up to 48% of households within America have guns. According to the UNODC, 60% of U.S. homicides in 2009 were perpetrated using a firearm. U.S. homicide rates vary widely from state to state. In 2014, the lowest homicide rates were in New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Vermont (each 0.0 per 100,000 people), and the highest were in Louisiana (11.7) and Mississippi (11.4).
Gary Kleck, a criminologist at Florida State University, and his colleague Marc Gertz, published a study in 1995 estimating that approximately 2.5 million American adults used their gun in self-defense annually. The incidents that Kleck extrapolated based on his questionnaire results generally did not involve the firing of the gun, and he estimates that as many as 1.9 million of those instances involved a handgun. These studies have been subject to criticism on a number of methodological and logical grounds and Kleck has responded with a rebuttal.
Another study from the same period, the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), estimated 65,000 DGUs (Defensive gun use) annually. The NCVS survey differed from Kleck's study in that it only interviewed those who reported a threatened, attempted, or completed victimization for one of six crimes: rape, robbery, assault, burglary, non-business larceny, and motor vehicle theft. The NCVS, however, does not actually directly ask about defensive gun use, so estimates of this set of events are not very meaningful. A National Research Council report said that Kleck's estimates appeared to be exaggerated and that it was almost certain that "some of what respondents designate as their own self-defense would be construed as aggression by others".
In a review of research of the effects of gun rates on crime rates, Kleck determined that of studies addressing homicide rate, half of them found a connection between gun ownership and homicide, but these were usually the least rigorous studies. Only six studies controlled at least six statistically significant confound variables, and none of them showed a significant positive effect. Eleven macro-level studies showed that crime rates increase gun levels (not vice versa). The reason that there is no opposite effect may be that most owners are noncriminals and that they may use guns to prevent violence.
Commenting on the external validity of Kleck's report, David Hemenway, director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, said: "Given the number of victims allegedly being saved with guns, it would seem natural to conclude that owning a gun substantially reduces your chances of being murdered. Yet a careful case-control study of homicide in the home found that a gun in the home was associated with an increased rather than a reduced risk of homicide. Virtually all of this risk involved homicide by a family member or intimate acquaintance." Kleck however pointed out that most of the firearms used in the Kellermann study were not the same ones kept in the household by the victim. Similarly in 2007 when the Permit-To-Purchase law was repealed in Missouri, 2008 saw a 34% increase in the rate of firearm homicides in that year alone, and the figure continues to be higher than the figure pre-2007.
One study found that homicide rates as a whole, especially those as a result of firearms use, are not always significantly lower in many other developed countries. Kleck wrote, "...cross-national comparisons do not provide a sound basis for assessing the impact of gun ownership levels on crime rates." One study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology found that for the year of 1998: "During the one-year study period (1998), 88,649 firearm deaths were reported. Overall firearm mortality rates are five to six times higher in high-income (HI) and upper-middle-income (UMI) countries in the Americas (12.72) than in Europe (2.17) or Oceania (2.57) and 95 times higher than in Asia (0.13). The rate of firearm deaths in the United States (14.24 per 100,000) exceeds that of its economic counterparts (1.76) eightfold and that of UMI countries (9.69) by a factor of 1.5. Suicide and homicide contribute equally to total firearm deaths in the U.S., but most firearm deaths are suicides (71%) in HI countries and homicides (72%) in UMI countries."
Suicide
Though substance overdose is the most common method of attempted suicide in the U.S., guns are the most lethal (most likely to result in death).The US has had the largest number of gun-related suicides in the world every year from 1990 through at least 2019.Firearms accounted for 51.5% of U.S. suicides in 2013, and suicides account for 63% of all firearm-related deaths. A 2012 review by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that in the United States, the percent of suicide attempts that prove fatal is "strongly related to the availability of household firearms." Prior to this, one book written by criminologist Gary Kleck in the 1990s stated that they found no relationship between gun availability and suicide rates.
Public health crisis
Though the CDC does not prescribe firearm legislation measures, due to limited policy-related research findings, a CDC Vital Signs report identifies firearm-related death as "a significant and growing public health problem in the United States." The same report states that firearm related violence in the U.S. is linked to widening racial and ethnic inequalities.
A 2022 correspondence between researchers at the University of Michigan and the New England Journal of Medicine states that "generational investments are being made in the prevention of firearm violence, including new funding opportunities from the CDC and the National Institutes of Health." The correspondence refers to "funding for the prevention of community violence (that) has been proposed in federal infrastructure legislation." The researchers emphasize the significance of such policy measures as a preventative public health solution, in light of data indicating rising child mortality as a result of firearm related incidents, citing statistical evidence of firearm-related deaths replacing motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of child mortality in 2020.
In 2009, the Public Health Law Research program, an independent organization, published several evidence briefs summarizing the research assessing the effect of a specific law or policy on public health, that concern the effectiveness of various laws related to gun safety. Among their findings:
- There is not enough evidence to establish the effectiveness of "shall issue" laws, as distinct from "may issue" laws, as a public health intervention to reduce violent crime.
- There is insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of waiting period laws as public health interventions aimed at preventing gun-related violence and suicide.
- Although child access prevention laws may represent a promising intervention for reducing gun-related morbidity and mortality among children, there is currently insufficient evidence to validate their effectiveness as a public health intervention aimed at reducing gun-related harms.
- There is insufficient evidence to establish the effectiveness of such bans as public health interventions aimed at reducing gun-related harms.
- There is insufficient evidence to validate the effectiveness of firearm licensing and registration requirements as legal interventions aimed to reduce firearm related harms.
Federal and state laws
The number of federal and state gun laws is unknown. A 2005 American Journal of Preventive Medicine study says 300, and the NRA says 20,000, though the Washington Post fact checker says of that decades-old figure: "This 20,000 figure appears to be an ancient guesstimate that has hardened over the decades into a constantly repeated, never-questioned talking point. It could be lower, or higher, depending on who's counting what."
Federal laws
Main article: Gun law in the United StatesFederal gun laws are enforced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Most federal gun laws were enacted through:
- National Firearms Act (1934)
- Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (1968)
- Gun Control Act of 1968 (1968)
- Firearm Owners Protection Act (1986)
- Undetectable Firearms Act (1988)
- Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 (1990) (ruled unconstitutional as originally written; upheld after minor edits were made by Congress)
- Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (1993)
- Federal Assault Weapons Ban (1994) (expired 2004)
State laws and constitutions
Main article: Gun laws in the United States by stateIn addition to federal gun laws, all U.S. states and some local jurisdictions have imposed their own firearms restrictions. Each of the fifty states has its own laws regarding guns.
Provisions in State constitutions vary. For example, Hawaii's constitution simply copies the text of the Second Amendment verbatim, while North Carolina and South Carolina begin with the same but continue with an injunction against maintaining standing armies. Alaska also begins with the full text of the Second Amendment, but adds that the right "shall not be denied or infringed by the State or a political subdivision of the State". Rhode Island subtracts the first half of the Second Amendment, leaving only, "he right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed".
The majority of the remaining states' constitutions differ from the text of the U.S. Constitution primarily in their clarification of exactly to whom the right belongs or by the inclusion of additional, specific protections or restrictions. Seventeen states refer to the right to keep and bear arms as being an individual right, with Utah and Alaska referring to it explicitly as "he individual right to keep and bear arms", while the other fifteen refer to the right as belonging to "every citizen", "all individuals", "all persons", or another, very similar phrase. In contrast are four states which make no mention whatever of an individual right or of defense of one's self as a valid basis for the right to arms. Arkansas, Massachusetts, and Tennessee all state that the right is "for the common defense", while Virginia's constitution explicitly indicates that the right is derived from the need for a militia to defend the state.
Most state constitutions enumerate one or more reasons for the keeping of arms. Twenty-four states include self-defense as a valid, protected use of arms; twenty-eight cite defense of the state as a proper purpose. Ten states extend the right to defense of home and/or property, five include the defense of family, and six add hunting and recreation. Idaho is uniquely specific in its provision that "o law shall impose licensure, registration, or special taxation on the ownership or possession of firearms or ammunition. Nor shall any law permit the confiscation of firearms, except those actually used in the commission of a felony". Fifteen state constitutions include specific restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms. Florida's constitution calls for a three-day waiting period for all modern cartridge handgun purchases, with exceptions for handgun purchases by those holding a CCW license, or for anyone who purchases a black-powder handgun. Illinois prefaces the right by indicating that it is "ubject ... to the police power". Florida and the remaining thirteen states with specific restrictions all carry a provision to the effect that the state legislature may enact laws regulating the carrying, concealing, and/or wearing of arms. Forty states preempt some or all local gun laws, due in part to campaigning by the NRA for such legislation.
See also
- 2018 United States gun violence protests
- Concealed carry in the United States
- Gun culture in the United States
- Gun ownership
- Gun show loophole
- High-capacity magazine ban
- One handgun a month law
Organizations
See also: Category:Firearms-related organizationsNotes
- The right to keep and bear arms is said to belong to "every citizen" by the constitutions of Alabama, Connecticut, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, and Texas; to the "individual citizen" by Arizona, Illinois, and Washington; and to a unique but very similar variant therof by Louisiana ("every citizen,") Michigan ("every person,") Montana ("any person,") New Hampshire ("all persons,") and North Dakota ("all individuals.")
- Defense of one's self is listed as a valid purpose for the keeping and bearing of arms by the constitutions of the states of Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
- The defense of the state or simply the common defense is indicated to be a proper purpose for keeping and bearing arms by the constitutions of the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
- Defense of one's home and/or property is included as a protected purpose for the keeping and bearing of arms by the constitutions of the states of Colorado, Delaware, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, and West Virginia.
- The defense of one's family is listed as a valid reason for keeping and bearing arms by the constitutions of the states of Delaware, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Utah (which includes both family and "others,") and West Virginia.
- Hunting and recreation are included in the state constitutional provision for the right of keeping and bearing arms by the states of Delaware, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
- The scope of the state constitutional right to keep and bear arms is limited by the states of Colorado, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, and North Carolina as to allow the regulation or prohibition of the carrying of concealed weapons; the constitutions of Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas allow for regulations on the carrying or wearing of arms in general.
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All four books being reviewed discuss how mobilization of the militia movement involved fears of gun control legislation coupled with anger over the deadly government mishandling of confrontations with the Weaver family at Ruby Ridge, Idaho and the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas.
- More militia movement sources:
- Chermak, Steven M. (2002). Searching for a Demon: The Media Construction of the Militia Movement. UPNE. ISBN 978-1555535414. OCLC 260103406.
describes the primary concerns of militia members and how those concerns contributed to the emergence of the militia movement prior to the Oklahoma City bombing. Two high-profile cases, the Ruby Ridge and Waco incidents, are discussed because they have elicited the anger and concern of the people involved in the movement.
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Chapter 4 examines the actions surrounding, and the political impact of, the standoff at Ruby Ridge.... Arguably, the siege... lit the match that ignited the militia movement.
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appear to have taken on a mythological significance within the cosmology of the movement....
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Patriots, however, saw events as the first step in the government's attempt to disarm the populace and pave the way for imminent takeover by the new world order.
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Justice Stevens begins his opinion by conceding Justice Scalia's point that the Second Amendment right is an 'individual' one, in the sense that 'urely it protects a right that can be enforced by individuals.' He concludes, however, that all of the historical context, and all of the evidence surrounding the drafting of the Second Amendment, supports the view that the Second Amendment protects only a right to keep and bear arms in the context of militia service.
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As the Supreme Court made clear this past summer, judges can change the law, although there is less than consensus, even among conservatives, that Justice Antonin Scalia succeeded in making the case for the majority in Heller. Federal Judge Richard Posner (2008) opined recently that Scalia's opinion, though lengthy, 'is not evidence of the disinterested historical inquiry. It is evidence of the ability of well-staffed courts to produce snow jobs.'
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Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States.
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{{cite book}}
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Further reading
Books
- Adams, Les (1996). The Second Amendment Primer. A Citizen's Guidebook To The History, Sources, And Authorities For The Constitutional Guarantee Of The Right To Keep And Bear Arms. Odysseus Editions. Birmingham, Alabama
- Carter, Gregg Lee (2006). Gun Control in the United States: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO. p. 408. ISBN 978-1851097609.
- Davidson, Osha Gray (1998). Under Fire: The NRA and the Battle for Gun Control. University of Iowa Press. p. 338. ISBN 978-0877456469.
- Edel, Wilbur (1995). Gun Control: Threat to Liberty or Defense against Anarchy?. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 978-0275951450. OCLC 246777010.
- Goss, Kristin A. (2008). Disarmed: The Missing Movement for Gun Control in America. Princeton University Press. p. 304. ISBN 978-0691138329.
- Halbrook, Stephen P. (2013). Gun Control in the Third Reich: Disarming the Jews and "Enemies of the State". Independent Institute. ISBN 978-1598131611.
- Lund, Nelson (2008). "Right to Bear Arms". In Hamowy, Ronald (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; Cato Institute. pp. 438–440. doi:10.4135/9781412965811.n269. ISBN 978-1412965804. OCLC 750831024.
- Melzer, Scott (2009). Gun Crusaders: The NRA's Culture War. New York University Press. p. 336. ISBN 978-0814795972.
- Snow, Robert L. (2002). Terrorists Among Us: The Militia Threat. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Perseus. ISBN 978-0738207667. OCLC 50615207.
- Utter, Glenn H. (2000). Encyclopedia of Gun Control and Gun Rights. Phoenix, Ariz.: Oryx. p. 378. ISBN 978-1573561723. OCLC 42072246.
- Winkler, Adam (2011). Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 361. ISBN 978-0393082296.
Journals
- Berryessa, C.M., Sierra-Arévalo, M. & Semenza, D.C. Portrayals of gun violence victimization and public support for firearm policies: an experimental analysis. J Exp Criminol (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-022-09517-x
- Brennan, Pauline G.; Lizotte, Alan J.; McDowall, David (1993). "Guns, Southerness, and Gun Control". Journal of Quantitative Criminology. 9 (3): 289–307. doi:10.1007/bf01064463. S2CID 144496527.
- Cramer, Clayton (Winter 1995). "The Racist Roots of Gun Control". Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy. 42 (2): 17–25. ISSN 1055-8942. Archived from the original on September 22, 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
- Kates, Don B.; Mauser, Gary (Spring 2007). "Would Banning Firearms reduce Murder and Suicide? A Review of International and Some Domestic Evidence" (PDF). Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. 30 (2): 649–694. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 28, 2014. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
- Langbein, Laura I.; Lotwis, Mark A. (August 1990). "Political Efficacy of Lobbying and Money: Gun Control in the U.S. House, 1986". Legislative Studies Quarterly. 15 (3): 413–440. JSTOR 439771.
- Tahmassebi, Stefan B. (1991). "Gun Control and Racism". George Mason University Civil Rights Law Journal. 2 (1): 67–100. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
- McGarrity, Joseph P.; Sutter, Daniel (2000). "A Test of the Structure of PAC Contracts: An Analysis of House Gun Control Votes in the 1980s". Southern Economic Journal. 67 (1): 41–63. doi:10.2307/1061612. JSTOR 1061612. S2CID 153884370.
- Wogan, J. B. (May 6, 2014). "Lessons in Gun Control from Australia and Brazil". Emergency Management. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
- McKeever, B. W., Choi, M., Walker, D., & McKeever, R. (2022). Gun violence as a public health issue: Media advocacy, framing and implications for communication. Newspaper Research Journal, 43(2), 138–154. https://doi.org/10.1177/07395329221090497
News
- Bingham, Amy (July 27, 2012). "Shootings That Shaped Gun Control Laws". ABC News Internet Ventures.
External links
- Guns and Gun Control collected news and commentary at The New York Times
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