Guns, Bullets, Death: Reform
Posted: 30 Jan 2013
Date Written: January 30, 2013
Abstract
On March 8, 1998, my brother, Henry Lee Baber III, was shot 14 times and died instantly in Los Angeles, California by an unknown suspect, leaving behind a devastated mother, a child, a brother, a twin sister, and a sister who uses his tragedy to give a sense of urgency about why gun control needs to become next on the agenda for reforming current gun policy. Guns and the lack of control lead to the culture of violence seen in so many communities throughout the United States of America, especially in the Black community and this is an urgent matter. Multiple deaths and an intensifying violent culture have led thinkers to conclude that we need increased gun control. However, many conservative politicians and the gun industry argue that the regulation for gun control of the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution is unconstitutional. The amendment states: A well-regulated militia, necessary being to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.2 In a historical context, the Second Amendment grants the right to bear arms, but originally was founded to protect citizens from a tyrannical government from British rule; not against other citizens. The Second Amendment states that the right to bear arms shall not be infringed, but it does not say it cannot be regulated. Therefore, gun control does not violate the Second Amendment.
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