Citation:

Doherty, Brian. Gun Control on Trial : Inside the Supreme Court Battle over the Second Amendment, Cato Institute, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/citytech-ebooks/detail.action?docID=690464.

Summary:

The title of the first chapter of the book is the roots of the second amendment, it tells the origin of the second amendment from a historical perspective. This chapter begins with the District of Columbia v. Heller and discusses the second amendment, which gives people the right to use weapons for self-defense. The author stated that one of the advantages of the Second Amendment is it prevents the United States from becoming tyrannical, because the people will have superior firepower. The author believes that the Second Amendment should be understood through the background in English history. The declaration of rights in Britain stipulated English right to arms. After Charles II came to power, in order to restore the monarchy, he disarmed tens of thousands of former soldiers of the Cromwell era, and also formulated strict gun control laws. The article mentions the unique “gun culture” of the United States, guns are common equipment in daily life during the founding era of America, which represents the American tradition. The United States is a country born in the revolution. Gun culture represents the spirits of America which are the revolutionary spirit of brave resistance and the adventurous spirit of conquering the frontier. Aristotle, a philosopher of Western civilization, and Cicero, a Roman statesman, both believe that self-preservation is the most basic of classical liberal rights. The second half of this chapter presents a couple of cases on gun control, it tells how the court adjudicates, and how it affects the gun control laws today.

 Reflection:

The biggest controversy in the Second Amendment is whether the militia’s right to bear guns means that the individual has the right to own guns. District of Columbia v. Heller was a landmark decision, because it protects the individual’s right to keep and bear arms, which did not relate to the militia. The law also states that the right to bear arms is limited. Guns will continue to be controlled but will not be banned. Charles I was executed by Cromwell in 1649. Cromwell took over the power of Britain and was basically a tyrant. This is a warning to the United States Constitutional Convention more than a hundred years later, how to prevent a tyrant like Cromwell in the United States in the future. After the US Constitution was promulgated, the Founding Father of the United States, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, realized that the Constitution only considered the rights of the government and Congress. They believe that there should be laws to protect the rights of the people. The Bill of Rights introduced later gave the people rights and the second amendment in this law which gave the people’s right to keep guns. Unlike when the Constitution was promulgated, the Bill of Rights was passed without objection at the Constitutional Convention, which reflected the support of the people and representatives for personal gun ownership at that time. Historically, the American people had always had the habit of holding guns during the colonial period. The War of Independence was due to the first shots fired by 70 militiamen in Lexington. The continental army established by General Washington was composed of militiamen from each colony. In the magnificent Westward Movement in the United States, every caravan was packed with guns in addition to carrying food. They had to face wild beasts and Indians when they settled in the west, and they needed guns to protect themselves. In Hollywood movies that reflect western culture, the cowboy’s waist is always equipped with a revolver, which is the iconic element of the United States. The Second Amendment gives the people the right to bear guns, and it is also a symbol of the American spirit of freedom.

Quotation:

“The United States was a country whose citizens had a right— which the government could not abrogate—to possess arms for their personal use.”(Doherty, 2008)

“To most, it would have been so obvious that the government can’t legitimately disarm a free people that even spelling it out would have seemed bizarre and pointless.” (Doherty, 2008)

Citation:

OLIVIA B. WAXMAN. “How the Gun Control Act of 1968 Changed America’s Approach to Firearms—And What People Get Wrong About That History”. TIME. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: OCTOBER 25, 2018. Retrieved from https://time.com/5429002/gun-control-act-history-1968/

Summary:

This article was published in time magazine on the 50th anniversary of the gun control act of 1968. The author introduced how The Gun Control Act was passed. The reason was because of the April 4, 1968, assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., shortly followed by the June 5 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. The most important things the law changed are it banned the sale of guns to minors, drug addicts and mentally unbalanced people, it also banned interstate shipments of firearms and ammunition. The Gun Control Act changed people’s concept of guns and restricted the trade of guns. The article mentioned the Firearms Owners Protections Act proposed by the NRA, which modified some parts of The Gun Control Act of 1968. The Firearms Owners Protections Act makes it easier for individuals to sell firearms without a license. The author thinks people get wrong about the history of gun control because people consider that early colonial America had no gun laws. But in fact, gun laws existed from the beginning of the 1600’s, and people didn’t realize that gun laws were much tougher 150 years ago.

 Reflection:

1968 was a period when civil rights were taken seriously in United States. After the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., black riots occurred in some large cities in the United States. Robert F. Kennedy is a potential presidential candidate. If he is not assassinated, the history of United States may be rewritten. At the beginning of the journal, Time Magazine described The Gun Control Act as “better than nothing” in 1968. This shows how difficult it is to pass the gun control laws. This reminds me The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act enacted in 1993. The cause of the law was James Brady, who was shot and wounded while John Hinckley tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan. John Hinckley Jr. has mental problems, but he has guns. Although the law clearly stated that mentally unbalanced people were unable to own guns, gun dealers were not virtually subject systematic scrutiny. Every time when a new gun control law comes out, it undoubtedly comes with blood, which means there are always tragedies behind it.

Quotation:

“Though the 1968 law was a victory of sorts for gun-control activists, many were disappointed it didn’t include a registry of firearms or federal licensing requirements for gun owners.” (Waxman, 2018)