Topics on the Page
Gun Deaths and Firearm Violence
Second Amendment Court Cases
Regulation of Firearms Legislation
Second Amendment Sanctuary Resolutions
Learning Activities
Gun Deaths and Firearm Violence
History Channel Second Amendment Video
Interactive Graphic of Gun Death in America, FiveThirtyEight (August 2019)
- 33,000 gun deaths every year
- Two-thirds are suicides, 85% of whom are males
- The rest are homicides, two-thirds are young black males
- Homicides includes assaults and shooting by police officers
Here are instances of gun usage for defense
- Roughly 500,000 - 3 million defensive gun uses occur each year
U.S. Mass Shootings, 1982-2019: Data from Mother Jones' Investigation (August 4, 2019)
- In the past four decades; most mass shooters got guns legally but over 90% of overall gun crime has been committed by firearms obtained illegally.
https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fv9311.pdf This is a federal report from the department of justice detailing firearm violence in the US.
Second Amendment Court Cases
How the Court Has Historically Ruled on Gun Control
Supreme Court Cases on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)
- Court in a 5 to 4 vote upheld the right of individuals to own guns under the Second Amendment, finding the District of Columbia's ban on owning handguns unconstitutional.
Caetano v. Massachusetts (2016)
- a Supreme Court case in which the Supreme Court unanimously vacated a Massachusetts conviction of a woman who carried a stun gun for self-defense
McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010)
- a Supreme Court case that found that the right of an individual to "keep and bear arms" is incorporated by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment against the states
Regulation of Firearms Legislation
Overview from Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
- National Firearms Act of 1934
- Regulates fully automatic weapons, suppressors, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, and destructive devices such as bombs or grenades
- Gun Control Act of 1968
- Firearms Owners' Protection Act of 1986
Federal Acts Regulating Firearms, Giffords Law Center
- Federal Firearms Act of 1938
- Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993
- Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 (expired 2004)
- Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms and Child Safety Lock Act (2005)
- National Instant Criminal Background Check System Improvement Amendments Act (2007)
Reaction to 2019 New Zealand Shooting This is a very interesting summary about how New Zealand has already banned military-grade weapons after having one mass shooting, while the United States has had several mass shootings and have passed no further legislation.
A timeline of many of the Supreme Court Cases as related to the 2nd Amendment, and many laws/legislation regulating firearms
Second Amendment Sanctuary Resolutions
The Right's Latest Tactic on Gun Laws? Just Don't Enforce Them. Rolling Stone (May 28, 2019)
Text of Proposed Logan County (Colorado) Second Amendment Sanctuary Resolution (2019)
Is the Second Amendment a Collective Right for Militias or an Individual Right for People to Possess Firearms?
Second Amendment Speech Very interesting Second Amendment speech given by a former Green Beret.
https://youtu.be/ENw2y0ek1Jg Video on background checks by Vox
https://youtu.be/bX4qUsgHa4Y Video on gun violence by Vox
https://youtu.be/jtDF4EeCo2s Video supporting gun rights by John Doyle
Engaging: What Steps Can Communities and Governments Take to Reduce Gun Violence?
AMA to Court: Illegal Firearm Sales are Public Health Emergency. American Medical Association (May 9, 2019)
Could a National Buyback Program Reduce Gun Violence in America? Salon (August 6, 2019)
THE AUSTRALIAN FIREARMS BUYBACK AND ITS EFFECT ON GUN DEATHS
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1465-7287.2009.00165.x Wiley Online Library (2010)
Quiz Question
Which of the following most accurately describes the text of the Second Amendment?
A) The right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.
B) 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.
C) The right to form a well regulated Militia shall not be infringed.
D) The right to a well regulated Militia to defend against tyrannical powers and bear Arms to defend property shall not be infringed.
Answer B
This is the definition of the second amendment so it’s self explanatory.
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