It seems all too easy to access a gun and use it to commit crime. Both adults and kids are resorting to gun violence in what they feel is self-defense and revenge. The Columbine High School massacre was so shocking and tragic that the U.S. Supreme Courts reconsidered the gun control law, and the Second Amendment protecting the rights of individuals to bear arms. The Trayvon Martin case caused an upheaval in this country, with many people divided amid the “Stand Your Ground” law in Florida. As a result, state and federal legislators have decided to rectify the gun control law to protect its citizens.
While lawmakers are changing the gun control law in hopes of reducing gun violence, it’s not enough to simply ban people from owning and using guns. The next big issue is whether people can display or use guns outside the home. The Second Amendment protects the right to own a gun at home, but the question of public places has been impending. Many states have been implementing restrictions to guns in public places, such as requiring a verified need to carry a gun regardless if it’s concealed or in plain sight. Several lower courts have upheld those restrictions. But eventually the courts will have to answer if such restrictions are constitutional. To date, the high court has strike down numerous petitions from firearms groups rather than answer that question.
However, last month the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals punched down San Diego County’s gun control limitations as an infringement of the Second Amendment rights. This decision may undergo a review by the full appeals court soon. But if the ruling holds, it will contradict other appeals court rulings that have sustained the restrictions. Another issue of the proposed gun control law is increasing the legal age for one to have gun rights. Right now the legal age is 18-years-old, but some legislators are suggesting 20-years of age should be the age limit for the gun control law.
Despite recent injuries and deaths caused by people using firearms, the nation is separated about the revised gun control law and if it is effective in reducing the number of innocent victims killed each year.
