...Challenging the Second Amendment The second amendment in the Constitution states, “…the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” This amendment has become a controversial topic in the U.S. Many people support this amendment, arguing that it allows people to protect themselves. However, others disagree with this claim because guns are a safety issue themselves. I challenge the second amendment because presented by allowing guns outweigh the potential safety they provide. The founders of America created the second amendment to protect colonists in a time of war. These people had no other choices than to fight or be enslaved under the monarchy of Britain. Their situation encouraged the creation of the right to bear...
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...recent data and continues to be updated as new stats and facts become available. It is also neutral in nature, giving just the facts and referencing both the affirmative and negative sides of the argument. 2. McEntee, Peg. “Utah Teacher Shoots Herself in Leg With Concealed Weapon.” Huffington Post 11 Sept. 2014 Web 18 Sept. 2014 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/11/teacher-shoots-self-concealed-weapon_n_5807826.html?utm_hp_ref=gun-control The Huffington Post is a news site with an entire section dedicated to news surrounding gun control, both recent and past. This article is helpful because it outlines the concealed carry laws in Utah schools, a state which has closely modeled it’s laws after Colorado’s. This article is useful because it describes some of the negative effect that concealed carry on campus has for the person carrying as well as the student population/their parents if they find out about the firearm. 3. Students for Concealed Carry. “Common Arguments Against Campus Carry.” Concealed Campus 2011-2012 Web Sept. 18 2014 http://concealedcampus.org/common-arguments/ Students for Concealed Carry is a student run organization which advocated for legal concealed carry on campuses in the United States. This article is helpful because it outlines some of the opposing arguments that the affirmative side of our case may face, and provides useful rebuttal to those with facts, stats, and other information that is relevant to our central question. 4. Henigan,...
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...27543 May 1, 2013 Manipulation and Spin Surrounding the Proposed Firearms Legislation Manipulation and Spin Surrounding the Proposed Firearms Legislation One of the most contentious political debates currently embroiling the United States and its legislative bodies is Senate Amendment 715 To protect Second Amendment rights, ensure that all individuals who should be prohibited from buying a firearm are listed in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and provide a responsible and consistent background check process co-sponsored by Democrat Senator Joe Manchin and Republican Senator Pat Toomey. The essential purpose this amendment intended to address is strengthen the procedures utilized when purchasing firearms from private citizens. However, there were several addendums included within the amendment that ultimately led to it not obtaining the prerequisite sixty votes required to achieve cloture on April 17, 2013. To understand the rationale of why Senate Amendment 715 did not receive the sixty vital cloture votes necessary, an examination of the manipulation and spin mass media sources employed must be undertaken. Throughout this debate, it seems like the typical arguments in favor of and against remained from the identical organizations that spawned them in the past. It is worth noting, there were a small number of new pro firearms control organizations created to try an ensure victory for this amendment. In an attempt to further dominate the information...
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...Starbuck's policy on firearms should remain in place. Their policy is fair and legal, even though many would disagree. In the second paragraph of the article, "Starbucks Under Fire," it states, "Starbucks, however, allows customers to carry guns in all states where it's legal." On the surface, Starbucks allows customers to open-carry, but underneath, they allow or dismiss customers to do so based on the laws of each state, individually. Due to this, if Starbucks changed their policy, "... [they] would be asking law-abiding customers to leave stores" (12). It does not make sense for someone who is abiding the law to leave a location because another person is offended by his or her presence. Contrasting to the idea presented in paragraph...
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...have the right to keep and bear arms as stated in the Second Amendment of the Constitution. One major debate over gun control is the Second Amendment. It states, “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.” There are many different arguments over this amendment. One argument is if the second amendment was created to ensure the state militias were a means of defense, or was it created to ensure an individual's right to bear arms? Back then, militia stood for all men who were capable of bearing arms. Today’s militia now refers to the National Guard in every state. The second amendment clearly says “the right of the people to keep and bear arms.” Therefore, the right to bear arms was meant for everyone, not just a militia. Also, many gun owners use their handguns for hunting and target shooting. “Every year millions of handgun owners practice or compete in marksmanship competitions, sight in their guns in advance of hunting season, or perfect personal protection skills. Hundreds of thousands participate in thousands of local, state, regional and national handgun matches annually, using a wide variety of pistols and revolvers in a broad range of formal competitions” (NRA). Gun control laws violate our right to bear arms, and would prevent millions of handgun owners from hunting and target shooting. An additional argument is whether firearms increase violent crimes, or does the...
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...The debate surrounding gun control is one that can be very emotional and is often fueled by anger. This makes it an argument that is hard to balance if that emotion isn’t utilized effectively. In her piece “Get a Knife, Get a Dog, but Get Rid of Guns” columnist Molly Ivins fails to properly utilize emotion in a way that gets the reader on her side. In the article “The Progressive Gun-Control Charade” law professor and author Nicholas Johnson stays level-headed which, ultimately, works to his advantage in making him more agreeable. Both writers manage to add something to the discussion; however, Johnson argues his case just a bit better. Ivins’ clearly states her case: get rid of guns – all of them. While her unwavering conviction condemning the usage of guns entirely can be considered admirable, her overpowering anger works against her. She puts herself on one side of the extreme in such an aggressive way it alienates herself from being understood by the other...
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...Final Project: Persuasive Research Paper ENG102 March 30, 2014 The finality of misuse of a firearm sometimes ends up in catastrophic injury or death which pulls at the heart strings of almost all Americans. Many choose to use them for sport or recreation while others use them as a way of furthering their criminal actions. In turn there are many that feel it is their legally protected right to own firearms and enjoy their recreational uses. Due to the multiple conflicting arguments for and against the owning of guns many turn to powers above themselves such as the government to regulate gun use. When a cause that is so vast in the distance between its’ opposing sides we must ponder, does legislation for or against gun control really obtain its intended effect. In a literal sense, gun control and legislation does not have enough effect on overall crime rate to be the number one focus in the reduction of crime. The debate on gun control is an ongoing battle which has continued to span many decades. Some feel they need more gun laws to protect us while others feel that they need more guns in our possession to protect us. There has been very limited data available to determine whether gun laws or guns themselves that positively impact crime statistics. There is a school of thought that states that have passed conceal to carry laws would lower crime rates. Over the last twenty years there have been 10 states to pass new CCW laws. Oddly enough the intended overall impact...
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...of the ethical and legal dilemma surrounding physician assisted suicides. The subject of physician-assisted suicide has raised many thought provoking and controversial questions. This paper will evaluate, the ethical dilemma surrounding physician assisted suicides, the case of People v. Kevorkian, the differing laws pertaining to physician assisted suicide in Michigan, Georgia, and Oregon. The purpose of this paper is to provide the reader with information on the state’s most current laws regarding assisted suicide and how the case of People v. Kevorkian was a unique case involving physician-assisted suicide. The Ethical Debate of PAS In his article, Hosseini (2012), argued that physician-assisted suicide (PAS), is a moral and ethical dilemma faced by physicians, ethicists, legal experts, and others. Hosseini went on to explain that PAS is opposed by the American Medical Association (AMA) and all the US states except for Oregon. In his research, Hosseini (2012) used the case, People v. Kevorkian, as a basis to argue that although there is an ethical dilemma surrounding PAS, it was not the act alone that resulted in Dr. Kevorkian’s arrest and sentence. Hosseini posed the question in his research “Is Physician-Assisted Suicide Ethical?” to which he answered “… this problem too has two sides to be considered; we can also find ethical justification for the other side of the argument.” (p 5). According to Hosseini (2012) there were arguments both in favor and against PAS. Hosseini...
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...The Canadian political process is as complicated as it is interesting: though many laws are solidified in writing, many more processes that are unwritten and are thereby influenced by external factors. That is the very challenge surrounding the events of May 10, 2005, and more broadly, confidence voting in the House of Commons. Andrew Heard’s article titled “Just What is a Vote of Confidence? The Curious Case of May 10, 2005” addresses the issues with defining the elements that form a vote of confidence. The article, summarized below, examines important events in Canadian political history that can provide a measure of confidence votes in government. The prologue of the work introduces confidence votes as the subject being addressed. Heard...
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...necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed," the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution provides the citizens a means of protection against the unjust excesses of government.[2] The Framers placed this guarantee in the Bill of Rights because they considered the right to keep and bear arms peculiarly important and also uniquely vulnerable to infringement. The Amendment's command protects individuals against even popular conceptions of the public good. In addition to this protection within the United States Constitution,[3] the constitutions of forty-three states guarantee the right to keep and bear arms.[4] Despite the constitutional authority for this right, legislators and judges have consistently attempted to devalue it. Methods such as giving misleading labels to select firearms like "assault weapons"[5] or "Saturday Night Specials"[6] have been used to justify incremental disarmament.[7] American jurisprudence has deliberately devalued the right to keep and bear arms by disingenuously interpreting the right so as to effect a gradual change in American culture. To this end, for example, the Seventh Circuit has already upheld a civilian handgun ban by dismissing an historical analysis of the Constitution: "The debate surrounding the adoption of the Second and Fourteenth Amendments ... has no relevance on the resolution of the...
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...long as you have your permit you can carry your handgun on your person. There are several more laws than these simple, common sense laws. Although gun laws help keep this nation safer, the laws can be unfair to many responsible citizens who have earned their right to carry their firearm. An example of a group of people who are against gun control laws is the National Rifle Association. (Scalia, 2011) They are against these laws because they feel the laws violate the second amendment right. (Reassessing, 1991) The second amendment right was created in the seventeen-hundreds, when our country was first being founded. William Lambert created the amendment. The amendment was adopted into our constitution on December 15th, 1971. (Wikipedia, 2011) The constitution help create what laws we have in place today. The second amendment is basically a right Americans are born with, and are proud to be able to have the right to this amendment. No one should be able to totally change an amendment like the second one. It is old, and it is a part of our...
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... Despite its popularity, there is no serious evidence that campaign finance regulation has actually accomplished any of the goals set out for it by its supporters. Efforts to regulate campaign finance have been little short of disastrous. They have distorted the political process, hindered grassroots political involvement, infringed on First Amendment rights, and helped to entrench incumbents in office while doing nothing to address the allegedly corrupting influence of money in politics. The 1974 amendments to the federal election campaign act constituted the first effort to establish a comprehensive, national system of campaign finance regulation. Specifically, the amendments established these limits for federal campaign finance, individual contributions were limited to $1,000 per candidate per election, with primary and general elections counting as separate elections, individuals were limited to $25,000 per calendar year in total contributions to candidates, party committees, and political action committees, PAC’s and party committees were limited to contributing $5,000 per candidate per election. In addition, the 1974 amendments established the presidential financing system of matching funds to candidates for amounts raised in contributions of $250 or less, established overall spending limits for eligibility to receive matching funds, and provided for public funding of major party candidates in the general election for president. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of...
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...Bensiek v. Lamone, both cases address the issue of the constitutionality of gerrymandering. If referring to judicial precedent, there is a strong reason to argue that partisan gerrymandering should be allowed to exist, albeit not without limitations. Racial gerrymandering should be deemed unacceptable, which can be seen through the clear examples shown in this paper of the constitutional violations, particularly the 1st, 14th, and 15th Amendments. In Gill v. Whitford, Republicans sliced up Milwaukee because the minority presence in the city proved to greatly disadvantage their party when it came to electing candidates. In turn, the surrounding districts struggled to vote in Democratic representatives as it lost its concentration of minority voters. Clear racialized gerrymandering should be unconstitutional, whether or not it is “partisan gerrymandering.” On the other hand, Bensiek v. Lamone does not present any form of racial discrimination in its case. Political retaliation is cited in the argument as the motivation for gerrymandering, albeit this argument appears weak and unjustified. In a broad sense, both parties retaliate against one another in various...
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...The Second Amendment by Steven Weir Sweir112@email.itt-tech.edu 14491334 Network Systems Administrator Paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for EN 1320 A6 Sept 2012 ITT Technical Institute March 4, 2013 Introduction On December 15, 1791 ten amendments to the Constitution of the newly formed United States of America were put in effect, these were called the Bill of Rights. The second article of this document reads; “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” (James Madison, 1791) Many people are familiar with the Bill of rights, such as the First Amendment which guarantees the right to free speech, or the Third Amendment which protects people from housing soldiers unwillingly. Now, why did the founding fathers put these Rights into law? Was it perhaps because they had just fought a bloody war for their independence from a nation that restricted the rights of the people? And why is the second article (That’s the second most important right) about ownership of firearms and militias? Is it because they had firsthand experience about what happens when you take away the right to bear arms? Today, laws are in effect that hamper the ability for citizens to own and carry firearms. A crucial right to the inhabitants of the United States has already been infringed by gun regulations and there is no end in sight to...
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...Opinion over Christopher Pittman’s Adult Trial Verdict Name Professor Institution Date Just to quote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. words, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. Human beings are not entirely fit. Thus judges just like any other human being are bound to make mistakes in dispensing justice. However, Judges are obliged to be ever watchful and mindful in their endeavors of delivering justice. Every day, all over US judges dispense justice to convicted persons and defendants. However, absolute justice ideally is hardly realizable across board since its effectiveness demands human infallibility. Although it might be even harder to reap justice, justice is achievable and pursuit for justice remains a noble order. In this case, a 12 years old boy, Christopher Pittman from the state of South Carolina on February 15, 2005 shot his two grandparents using his father’s shotgun while they lay on their beds, he then set the house on fire, drove his grandparents truck and fled with cash and weapons in his possession. The petitioner, Pittman was only 12 years of age when he committed this malicious acts. He was charged with premeditated murder and put on an adult court for trial. Christopher Pittman’s defense team claimed that young Christopher Pittman remained an innocent child because he still could not differentiate what was right or wrong while under influence of Zoloft, an antidepressant. The defense urged the court to consider Pitman a child thus unable...
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