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Civics CBA: Gun Control

Gun Control

Guiding Questions

Should gun regulations be tightened?

Should every gun owner have to register all of his or her guns with the government? Why or why not?

The United States' peer nations have stricter gun laws and lower rates of gun violence—if the United States had similarly strict gun laws would it have similarly lower rates of gun violence? Explain your answer.

To what extent does the individual have the right to defend him/herself from harm? At what point should the individual abdicate this right to government?

 

"Gun Control: Discussion Questions." Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 22 Nov. 2011.

Databases

SIRS: Gun Control

On the Web

National Rifle Association. http://www.nrahq.org
    A nonprofit organization established in 1871 with over four million members that works to advocate gun ownership as a civil liberty protected by the Second Amendment.

Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. http://www.handguncontrol.org
    A nonprofit organization founded by James and Sarah Brady that lobbies the government and seeks to educate the public on the need for gun control.

Gun Owners of America. http://www.gunowners.org
    The second largest gun rights organization after the NRA, described as "the only no-compromise gun lobby in Washington."

Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. http://www.csgv.org
    A nonpartisan organization founded in 1974, the CSGV consists of 45 anti-gun rights organizations that seek to toughen gun control laws and prevent gun violence through lobbying and legislation.

Court Cases

Second Amendment

"Few, if any, provisions of the Constitution are more controversial than the Second Amendment. Ratified in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, it is now the source of heated debates over the right to own guns and the constitutionality of gun-control legislation. To date, the Second Amendment remains one of the few guarantees in the Bill of Rights that has not been applied to the states via the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment."

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.

Library of Congress

 

"Second Amendment." Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 22 Nov. 2011.

KCLS Resources