The Second Amendment Essay Example for Free

The Second Amendment Essay America has given many rights and has offered protection to US citizens. Like the second amendment states, â€Å"The right of people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. † However many riots and shootings have recently broke out in the last couple of years. So therefore the right to bear arms has been taken advantage of and as lead to many malicious events like The Columbine Shootings, Virginia Tech, Aurora Shooting, and New Town Shootings. In 1999, a failed bombing which turned into a shooting occurred at Columbine High School. This event is known as the Columbine Shootings in which two high school seniors, by the name of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, were involved. According to an article â€Å"7 Myths about the Columbine Shooting† by Trevin Wax, both convicts seemed like regular teenagers that, â€Å"attended football games, dances, and school plays†¦ [they were not] part of a street gang or known to dress in gothic style,† but they had been arrested a couple of months before for stealing. They also seemed to be part of the Trench Coat Mafia, which were a group of students dressed in black coats that were against school bullies. Since Eric and Dylan were targets of bullying, they both decided on a plan to get revenge on the people who were mean to them last year. So for that whole year, both teenagers gathered up materials to carry out their plan. They had been researching, building pipe bombs, and purchasing guns from their older friends who were unaware of what the consequences could lead to. Their plan for revenge was to blow up Columbine’s cafeteria by placing â€Å"explosives to kill about 100 people. † However that was not enough for their plan. They decided that once the explosives go off inside the school, they would be waiting outside and shoot the remaining students and teachers that would come out of the school, trying to escape. However, everything didn’t go as they expected. The bombs that they had placed inside school never went off, so therefore Eric and Dylan just decided to go in and shoot whoever they could. They had no specific range; everyone was a target to them. After killing twelve students, one teacher, and injuring 24 others, Eric and Dylan pointed their weapons towards hemselves and committed suicide. They were both found dead on the floor, fully armed, and with their explosives around them. According to Eric and Dylan’s journals, they didn’t expect to come out of there alive. They knew they would end up dead from either police bullets or by their own hand. So committing suicide or ending up dead was part of their risky plan. The Columbine Shooting in April of 1999 is one of the most violent and memorable shootings to occur in American’s high school. It is heart-breaking to see how far bullying can reach to. Because Eric and Dylan had such high temper, they felt as if they needed to get revenge on everybody who ever brought their confidence down by killing them, and illegal weapons were their first reaction. Even though teenagers aren’t allowed to purchase guns, Eric and Dylan had access to them due to irresponsible private gun sellers. Now a day, people are trying to argue that placing restrictions on the 2nd amendment is against the US Constitution and that it’s violating their rights. However risky behaviors and actions, like the Columbine Shootings have shown that restrictions over gun control are needed for safety reasons due to the fact that it has gotten out of control. Society, in the few previous years, has shown how they cannot be trusted with illegal weapons. If every single person owned a gun in the US, then this country would not be a safe place to live in. When an individual is mad, they usually react in a violent way and can make irresponsible decisions, like pull out a gun on somebody. So placing restrictions on the right to bear arms is necessary. The government should make it clear that the second amendment was written for self-defense and not to motivate society to kill each other. Another event that will forever be etched in the memory of all Americans is the day of April 16th, 2007. On April 16th, 2007 32 people lost their life’s and 17 others were left severely injured in the hands of the gunmen Seung-Hui Cho. Today this incident is known as the Virginia Tech Shootings. The Virginia Tech shooting is known as the deadliest mass murder by single gunmen. The event happened as follows: The first killings began at 7: 15 a. . in West Ambler Johnston Residence Hall, two people in the same dorm as Cho, were the victims. At 9:26, more than two hours after the first killings began did the school decide to notify the students via email that the shootings had occurred. By that time it was too late for the students and teachers having class to escape the fury of Cho. Cho chained the doors shut in the building known as Norris Hall; he also decided to leave a bomb threat if anyone decides to come in. The shootings took place on the second floor of the building. The second shooting left 30 people left and over fifteen injured. The victims were caught off guard and killed by a senseless act of evil. After the damage had been done the police break into Norris Hall, police officers not only find the bodies of the victims but they also find the body of the perpetrator. Cho had taken his own life after noticing that the officers were coming into the building. With the killer dead many questions of why the massacre took place were left unanswered. As it turns out Cho mailed a package to the NBC network between the first and the second shooting. The package contained many irrelevant towards the massacre that is except one letter. That letter basically said that he was tired of the rich kids around him; he blames them for what took place. Cho also compares himself as being like Eric and Dylan from the Columbine Shootings. Ironically like Eric and Dylan Cho also went through bullying as a teen himself. In fact Cho was considered mentally ill, but when applying to Virginia Tech he did not inform the school about his special needs. Virginia Tech is a perfect of how The Second Amendment has failed to do what it was intended to do. As stated before The Second Amendment clearly states 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. † Most people will interpret The Second Amendment differently than what it truly was meant to mean. A lot of people are very protective of their right to bear arms but the truth of the matter is that the second amendment was meant to prevent the government from becoming a threat to society. The Second Amendment has allowed almost anyone to be in possession of a gun and in return has caused deadly massacres to ccur. It is obvious that Cho was mentally ill yet he was not denied the right to have a gun. The second Amendment was made to fit the time period of 1791 and it should respectively be altered to today’s day and time. It is not fair to the public to be on guard all of the time in case of another mass shooting. There should be extensive background checks in order for a person to come in contact with a gun. No mentally ill person or any criminal should be allowed to be in possession of any firearms for the safety of everyone around them. The Second Amendment should not be omitted but it definitely needs to be altered in order to prevent any extensive damage than what has already been done. Gun Control laws are desperately needed to stop these crimes from taking over. In 2012 the Aurora and Newtown Shootings, to name a few, have taken the life of innocent people. The Second Amendment has done the opposite of what it was originally meant to do, which was just for defense. How many more Newtown’s and Columbines need to happen in order to see the reality. The NRA (National Rifle Association) needs to be aware of the intensity of the situations that are taking place. Omitting the Second Amendment would be against the Constitution yet altering it for the safety of the public is not. Gun Control is a crucial thing and not unconstitutional! Another example of why The Second Amendment has failed to do what it was intended to do is the incident now known as the Aurora shooting. On July 20, 2012, a mass shooting occurred at a movie theater during a midnight screening of the dark knight rise, in Aurora, Colorado. Killed 12 people and leaving 58 injured. The police identified him James Eagan Holmes, as the shooter. It is said that he bought a ticket and entered the theater. He sat in the front row and after 20 min into the film he exited the building through an emergency exit door and kept it slightly open with a rock. Then to return 30 min later into the film around 12:38, the police say, from his car that was parked near the exit door, he changed into protective gear wearing a gas mask. The audience didn’t at first considered him a threat because they assumed he was wearing a costume also like the others that dress up for the screening. Some also thought that he was playing a prank or he was part of a special effects installation set up for the films premiere as a publicity stunt. The gunman then threw a canister releasing a gas obscuring the audiences’ vision. He then started to fire a shot gun, semi-automatic rifle and finally a Glock 22 handgun at the audience, first at the back, then toward the people in the aisles. Around 12:45 am, police detained Holmes behind the cinema next to his car. He even told the police that his apartment was booby-trapped with explosive devices, so if anyone tried to open his door, the entire apartment would explode. James Holmes was described by those that knew him as a doctoral student, who was quiet and responsible; an image that confuses us with the man that opened fire at the movie theater. Holmes was a scholarship student who attended the University of California, Riverside, in 2006 and graduated with highest honors with a bachelor’s degree in 2010, later enrolling at University of Colorado School of medicine, as a doctoral candidate. The university police state that they have no record of having contact with him but only for a speedy summons. The biggest mystery around the 24-year-old doctoral student was why he did it, as a police allege. Holmes didn’t appear to have any social media contact. A along time neighbor told the authorities that he was to believe that he were just a â€Å"normal kid†. â€Å"You would never guess he was a violent guy,† Mitchell said describing Holmes as a â€Å"nerdish† and â€Å"a book-smart type guy. † Lynne Fenton, a psychiatrist who treated accused Colorado theater gunman James Holmes, stated that Holmes made a remark on June 11, about fantasizing about killing â€Å"a lot of people,† six weeks before the shooting. He rejected the offer to be confined for 72 hours. No one knew that he was actually mentally ill other than the psychiatrist that treated him. After the shooting the Colorado gun sales spiked, with number of background checks for those who seek to purchase a firearm, the increased also occurred in Washington, Florida, California and Georgia. The shooting reignited the political debate on gun control with one of the issues being â€Å"easy Access. † â€Å"There is a common thread that we see in these massacres,† said State Representative Rhonda Fields, a Democrat from Aurora who sponsored both pieces of legislation and whose son was shot to death in 2005. They’re using high-capacity magazines so they can unleash as many bullets as they can, to kill as many people as they can, in our schools, our theaters and our churches. † It is sad that as a country we have come to the point of self destruction. We have seen over the years the violence getting worse there need to be some kind of stop to it all, somekind of control taken by the government. The right to bear arms has now effected the new generation. About three months ago there was a shooting in Newtown Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary school . A act done in revenge to Adam Lanza mother, ended up killing twenty children and six adults. On December 14, 2012 a gun man named Adam Lanza came into sandy hook elementary and began to open fire towards the classrooms . The principle ran out once she heard gunshots once Lanza spotted them he then approached them and killed them. He then made his way into the office while an office administration was on the intercom telling the kids and faculty to take cover. He makes his way in and shoots them and all the kids hear it. He then makes his way into a first grade class where there was a sub and although she attempted to hide the children he killed all of the students besides a six year old girl. It has been told that the only way the little girl made it thru the shooting was playing died and stayed still till she heard no nose. The gunman then went into another first grade class with a teacher by the name of Victoria told the gun man that her kid where in the auditorium. Many of the kids ran out of the hiding place trying to escape the room and Lanza the shot them dead. Out of that class only six children were able to escape. Many of the teachers and faculty along with kids had a near death experience. One of the teachers saw two kids in the hallway on their way to the office and pulled those kids to safety. Along with the Liberian helping saved fourteen kids life by putting them in a lock that had a door that no one could get in without the lock. Although most of the kids and faculty was in first grades this sad day took a toll on not only the school, city but the whole nation. After this many students did not feel safe going back to school as parents were scared to send them back. The debate over whether to enhance restrictions on firearms has become a contentious focal point of state legislative sessions around the country this year. The Aurora shooting is a perfect example on how restrictions on gun control would have helped prevent anything related to that matter from ever happening. Yes although the second amendment states we have the right to bear there should be gun control laws that prevent any mentally ill person from purchasing any fire arms. If that had taken place Virginia Tech, Newtown and the Aurora Theater shooting would have been prevented.