The right to bear arms in the USA has been a part of the US constitution since 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights. It remains heavily contested, however, and earlier today the US Supreme Court ruled in favour of it’s preservation.
A 5-4 result at the proceedings documented that a ban on hand-guns in Chicago was unconstitutional, based on the amendment, “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed”.
The decision comes as a significant blow to anti-gun protestors, who could now see the hand-gun reinstated as a weapon of choice for household security.
It’s a tough one to argue against, because household safety is an important element in everyone’s lives, but surely there are arms & security devices that are not so fatal or easily abused as the gun, that still provide household safety.
It’s also tough to say that the constitution is old and so no longer relevant; Michael Faraday was born in 1791 and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. However, protestors argue that it was an invention of its time and that the sheer amount of gun crime in the US, compared to other countries, far outweighs the constitution’s relevance to modern day America.
The constitution of the United States may not change for a long time, if ever, despite the accidental deaths that occur as a result of the right to bear arms, so it looks like the gun culture is there to stay for now. The death of Presidents, Beatles and children has done nothing to dissuade the US from it’s love of the gun. Who knows what it will take to make them kick the habit.
