The right to bear arms! The Second Amendment gives Americans the right "to keep and bear arms." But people disagree over exactly what that means.* OBJECTIVE Students should understand * why the question of who has the right to "keep and bear arms" has long been the subject of hot and intractable intractable /in·trac·ta·ble/ (in-trak´tah-b'l) resistant to cure, relief, or control. in·trac·ta·ble adj. 1. Difficult to manage or govern; stubborn. 2. debate in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . * CRITICAL THINKING COMPREHENSION: What is the difference between a militia and a professional army? (A militia is a small group of ordinary citizens who have joined together for common defense. A professional army is trained by, paid by, and answerable an·swer·a·ble adj. 1. Subject to being called to answer; accountable. See Synonyms at responsible. 2. That can be answered or refuted: an answerable charge. 3. to the federal government.) MAKING COMPARISONS/MAKING INFERENCES: How were the firearms This is an extensive list of small arms — pistol, machine gun, grenade launcher, anti-tank rifle — that includes variants. : Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A
* ACTIVITY WRITE ABOUT THE RIGHT: Have each student pick a side in the gun rights/limits debate. (It need not be the one they personally agree with.) Then ask students to write a defense of their positions based on the language of the Second Amendment. (The complete text is in the speech balloon on p. 8.) A question to be pondered: How much might changing times alter the specific meaning or intentions of the Amendment's language? STANDARDS SOCIAL STUDIES, GRADES 5-8 * Time, continuity, and change: Trying to interpret and apply 18th-century concepts to 21st-century life. * Individuals, groups, and institutions: The inability of government authorities, interest groups, and citizens to reconcile differing perceptions of rights and responsibilities. RESOURCES * Gottfried, Ted, Gun Control: Public Safety and the Right to Bear Arms The right to bear arms refers to the right that individuals have to weapons. This right is often presented in the context of military service and the broader right of self defense. (Lerner Publishing Group, 1993). Grades 6-12. * Hanmer, Trudy J., The Hunting Debate: Aiming at the Issues (Enslow Publishers, 1999). Grades 7-10. WEB SITES * Gun Violence Prevention Game bradycenter.org/game * NRA NRA (National Rifle Association of America) organization that encourages sharpshooting and use of firearms for hunting. [Am. Pop. Culture: NCE, 1895] See : Hunting Gun Safety Rules nrahq.org/education/guide.asp For most of his life, 14-year-old David Mlostek has been around guns. David, an eighth-grader at Bark River-Harris School in Harris, Michigan, lives on a dairy farm. He has a special permit to shoot deer on his family's 80-acre property. "If you live in the Northern Peninsula, where there's deer hunting and lots of fishing, there are still people who get their own meat," David told JS. David and his family also rely on hunting to control the area's deer population, so that it doesn't destroy hay and corn crops. For many people in rural communities like David's, learning to use a rifle is a normal part of life. To them, a rifle is viewed as a tool. But in the United States as a whole, firearms have been the source of a long and fierce debate. Every day, news stories tell about people killed by guns, in crimes or by accident. Most of the weapons used in those incidents are handguns or assault rifles A
Such guns should be controlled or banned, many people say. Many others fiercely defend gun ownership as essentially American. An Individual Right? At the center of this debate is the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights, originally drafted by James Madison and ratified rat·i·fy tr.v. rat·i·fied, rat·i·fy·ing, rat·i·fies To approve and give formal sanction to; confirm. See Synonyms at approve. in 1791. "A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed," the amendment reads. Many Americans disagree over what Madison intended. After living under British rule, says Saul Cornell, a Professor of History at Ohio State University Ohio State University, main campus at Columbus; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1870, opened 1873 as Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College, renamed 1878. There are also campuses at Lima, Mansfield, Marion, and Newark. , the Founding Fathers thought that a citizen militia was the only defense possible in a truly free country. Today, however, a professional army and national guard units defend the country. Also, the nature of guns has changed. "Our Founding Fathers carried muskets," says Daniel Vice, an attorney with the Brady Campaign The Brady Campaign or The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence or The Brady Campaign united with the Million Mom March was founded in 1974 as The National Council to Control Handguns (NCCH) by Dr. Mark Borinsky, a victim of gun violence. to Prevent Gun Violence. "They never could have imagined that in our society we'd have semiautomatic assault rifles for sale." Most gun-control supporters want those kinds of weapons banned. They seek background checks, age minimums, and other measures for individuals who want to buy other types of guns. But gun-rights groups, such as the National Rifle Association National Rifle Association (NRA) Governing organization for the sport of shooting with rifles and pistols. It was founded in Britain in 1860. The U.S. organization, formed in 1871, has a membership of some four million. Both the British and the U.S. (NRA), hold tightly to their interpretation of the Second Amendment. "The Founding Fathers designed the right to keep and bear arms as an individual right for law-abiding Americans," says Autumn Fogg, an NRA spokesperson. Gun Laws Are Needed The U.S. is flooded with guns that have been illegally sold or stolen. In 2000, one government study found that 89 percent of guns linked to crimes had changed hands at least once before law-enforcement officials recovered them. To some people, this suggests that gun sales in states with weak gun laws help fuel crime everywhere. Gun violence affects many young people. In 2003, 2,849 Americans under the age of 20 were killed in gun-related deaths, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), agency of the U.S. Public Health Service since 1973, with headquarters in Atlanta; it was established in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center. . "I think it's shocking that [nearly] eight young people die every day in this country by guns, and that as a country we allow that to continue," Vice says. He tells JS that his group is not trying to prohibit guns used for hunting or self-defense. "Where we draw the line is criminals getting [hand]guns and military-style weapons," Vice says. Such weapons, he adds, were never meant to be protected. Gun Laws Do Not Work Gun-control opponents say that such laws will chip away at individual rights until no American can carry any kind of firearm firearm, device consisting essentially of a straight tube to propel shot, shell, or bullets by the explosion of gunpowder. Although the Chinese discovered gunpowder as early as the 9th cent., they did not develop firearms until the mid-14th cent. . Robert Levy Robert Levy may refer to:
The Institute's stated mission is "to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets, and peace" by striving "to achieve , a conservative research group. "These laws don't do anything to keep guns away from criminal elements," he tells JS. "They keep them away from law-abiding citizens who would like to keep firearms in their homes to defend themselves." Levy does not think that gun ownership increases crime. Many states have laws that allow citizens to carry concealed (hidden) weapons. "I haven't seen any evidence that conceal/carry [laws] result in an outbreak of the Old West, with people running around shooting up the town," Levy says. Trevor Cochrane of Harris, Michigan, supports gun ownership. But he believes that with rights come responsibilities. Trevor, 12, took a hunter-safety course last summer. "You have to have discipline to be able to own a gun," Trevor says. "If your parents see you point it at another person, they should take the gun away from you and wait for you to be able to respect your gun." WORDS to Know * infringe in·fringe v. in·fringed, in·fring·ing, in·fring·es v.tr. 1. To transgress or exceed the limits of; violate: infringe a contract; infringe a patent. 2. : to limit or interfere with another person's rights. * militia: a military force formed of regular citizens. * musket musket: see small arms. musket Muzzle-loading shoulder firearm developed in 16th-century Spain. Designed as a larger version of the harquebus, muskets were fired with matchlocks until flintlocks were developed in the 17th century; flintlocks were : a long-barreled gun used before the invention of the rifle. * ratify ratify v. to confirm and adopt the act of another even though it was not approved beforehand. Example: An employee for Holsinger's Hardware orders carpentry equipment from Phillips Screws and Nails although the employee was not authorized to buy anything. : to approve and thus make officially valid. fact Where the Guns Are According to a recent survey, about 35 percent of U.S. households have a gun. This graph shows the percentage of households in each region with a gun. Your Turn THINK ABOUT IT How do gun-rights supporters interpret the Second Amendment? How do gun-control supporters interpret it? With whom do you agree? Explain.</p> <pre> Gun * in the Household Percent of household, by U.S. region South 44% Midwest 35% West 28% Northeast 26% Source: 2001 National Gun Policy Survey, National Opinion Research Center Note: Table made from bar graph. </pre> <p>QUICK QUIZ * Decide whether each sentence is true, false, or an opinion. Write your answer on the blank line (Print.) a vacant space of the breadth of a line, on a printed page; a line of quadrats. See also: Blank provided. 1. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights is the basis of Americans' gun-ownership debate. 2. Hunting rifles are the only guns that regular citizens should be allowed to buy. 3. The Founding Fathers did not know about semiautomatic assault rifles, 4. The National Rifle Association (NRA) is an organization that lobbies for stricter gun-control laws. 5. Gun ownership is a basic right of every American. Answers 1. false (The Second Amendment is.) 2. opinion 3. true 4. false (It supports gun ownership and opposes restrictions.) 5. opinion 
people should be able to carry hunting rifles, including shotguns and pistols but not assult rifles or any automatic rifle
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