School Shootings Influenced by the Second Amendment
Every year, nearly 2,900 children and teens are shot and killed and nearly 15,600 more are shot and injured. Many schools have been affected by gun violence. The Second Amendment states that, “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”(“Second Amendment). The amendment influences gun violence because of its ambiguity. This constitutional right is ambiguous because it allows room for people to interpret gun laws however they want to. People all over the United States are curious about how many schools have truly been affected due to this vague amendment. How have schools in the United States been affected by the ambiguity of the Second Amendment and its influence on gun control?
Everyone should be aware of gun violence in school and how serious this issue is. Schools from preschool to college have experienced gun violence. The lack of gun control from the Second Amendment makes it easier to have these horrific events occur. The Second Amendment is ambiguous because it states that everyone has the right to bear arms, but it does not say what they can and can’t do with the weapons. Since it says everyone has this right, there are people in the U.S. that should not own weapons because of their backgrounds and what they want to use the guns for is not safe. Even though these people are dangerous and should not own these lethal weapons, they still are able to own guns.
The Second Generation of Second Amendment Law and Policy was created by the NYU School of Law Brennan Center for Justice. This article went and examined the Sandy Hook school shooting. After the shooting was examined, the law center wrote an article about how the Second Amendment played a large role in this masacre. “The attitudes of Republicans and Democrats are assessed, along with a right to keep and bear arms in the U.S.”(Murphy). The government does not believe that changing the Second Amendment is going to end mass shootings. Even though it might not end the deaths due to gun violence, it could decrease the amount of people being injured or even killed by guns. Even though the Law center believed that the Second Amendment played a role in the massacre, no one did anything about this amendment to fix the issues.
Other things have been done to try and stop the gun violence, people have even tried to repeal the Second Amendment. Since the amendment is so vague, it allows people to interpret the constitution however they please. People believe that repealing the amendment would put an end to gun violence. “True, stricter gun laws would not have prevented all these tragedies. But it is very likely that stricter measures could have prevented at least some of these incidents and could have minimized the number of casualties involved” (“Repeal the Second). Making gun laws stricter is not going to end all of the tragedies, but it could decrease the amount of tragedies. If more action was taken when it comes to gun control, then less and less tragedies would occur in America.
In the last decade, school shootings have increased drastically. There have been many studies on school shootings. Many of these studies did not know what to consider a school shooting, which made it hard to do studies on this topic. “The longest period without a school shooting was one year and six months, from April 2001 to November 2002” (“Are School Shootings”). This quote demonstrates that the last time there was that large of a break in school shootings was years ago. Since then, the period between shootings has decreased. The average days between school shootings is 77 days and the average went from 124 days to 77 days. “The United States has not gone more than 231 days without a school shooting” (“Are School Shootings”). The fact that the U.S. has not gone longer than 231 days without a mass school shooting shows how frequent these horrific events occur.
School shootings have become a serious issue in today’s world. The days between each school shooting are continuing to decrease too. Giving everyone the right to bear arms allows everyone to believe that it is their constitutional right to own these deadly weapons. The Second Amendment needs a change in wording to end people’s own interpretation of the amendment. If people had to have a thorough background check before being able to own a gun then dangerous people would not have these deadly weapons. If someone wants to purchase a gun they should have to go through paperwork, background checks and more to ensure that they are not a threat to society if they own a gun. Once people stop believing that they can own guns and hurt others using these weapons, maybe gun violence will be controlled.
Works Cited
“The Long, Shameful List of Gunfire on School Grounds in America.” EverytownResearch.org, 3 Apr. 2019, everytownresearch.org/gunfire-in-school/#12909.
“Repeal the Second Amendment.” America, vol. 208, no. 6, Feb. 2013, pp. 4–5. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db=aph&AN=85784133&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
MURPHY, CHRIS1. “Nyu School of Law Brennan Center for Justice Keynote: The Second Generation of Second Amendment Law & Policy.” Law & Contemporary Problems, vol. 80, no. 2, Apr. 2017, pp. 233–238. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db=ssf&AN=123059367&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
“Are School Shootings Becoming More Frequent? We Ran The Numbers.” KUNC | Community Radio for Northern Colorado, 17 May 2019, www.kunc.org/post/are-school-shootings-becoming-more-frequent-we-ran-numbers#stream/0.
“Second Amendment.” Legal Information Institute, Legal Information Institute, www.law.cornell.edu/wex/second_amendment.
