The Debate about Bearing Arms in the US

Bearing arms and the usage of guns in the US is such a sensitive matter that has been and still is debated. There are two sides to the debate; the constitutional right of bearing arms on the one side and on the other side, the negative consequences that are attached to this phenomenon. 

Bearing arms in the US is a constitutional right that the second amendment of the US constitution has emphasized as a right to every citizen. The second amendment of the American constitution reads as follows: “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.” (Second Amendment). The second amendment of the American constitution leaves limited possibilities to infringe and eliminate this constitutional right. 

This is only one side of the debate while the other side is about being against this right or the unlimited use of guns according to the second amendment. That is, the right of bearing arms in the US is a debatable constitutional right that has been taken before different juridical bodies and there are several precedents about the matter, mainly to restrict this right due to the following bloody consequences and mass shootings that took place and still are in the US, according to Hughes (2019). 

The issue of bearing arms has two clear sides, one is pro-gun policies and the other is anti-gun policies. However, the matter is not as simple as it seems but rather so complicated that it has been debated for several decades now. In simpler words, the right of bearing arms is a constitutional right that has so bloody consequences represented in mass shootings and the limited possibility to infringe this right. The issue is not getting better when lawmakers and the American constitution do not further clarify what this right is and how it should be. That is, lawmakers stated this right and never stated any limitation or context for this right to be used. The discussion about this right is neither new in the US nor is revolutionary but rather a traditional issue that characterizes the United States of America. 

Sources

LII / Legal Information Institute. n.d. Second Amendment. Available at: https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/second_amendment 

Hughes, R., 2019. US gun debate: Four dates that explain how we got here. BBC News. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42055871