Gun Regulation
The topic is: Gun Regulation. The objective of the report is to get you thinking about how concepts covered in the course apply to things that are happening around the nation and in your own community. The objective of this assignment is to analyze a newspaper article and discuss how it applies to or incorporates key concepts covered in the course. Requirements: Students should begin the report by summarizing the article (approx.2 pgs). Article summaries should include: description of the event(s) covered, the significance/importance of the event, the level of governance the activity/policy occurs at (i.e. local, state, federal) and sources used in the article (i.e. quotes, eyewitness report, government report/spokesperson). Next, students should discuss and analyze how the article relates to key concepts from this course (approx. 2 pgs). In this discussion be sure to include: definitions of the terms and concepts being employed (students may wish to cite the textbook definition), and an analysis of how the newspaper article relates to the course concepts (i.e. does the article show how the concepts are applied/used in politics?, does the article challenge our understanding of the concepts in the real world of politics?, etc.) The assignment should be approximately 5 pages in length, typed, double-spaces, in 12 pt. times new roman font, with 1-inch margins all around. Choosing Key Concepts for the assignment: Choose an article and topic that you’re interested in! You may choose to write on any major concept in the textbook. (I.e. federalism, political ideology, redistricting, civil liberties, civil rights, campaigns, media and politics, etc.) In your paper please make sure to identify where you found the concept in the textbook (I.e. chapter and page). ( The book is “ The struggle for democracy, 8th edition) You must provide citations from the textbook and the article!!! List of Approved Newspapers: (Students MUST attach a copy of the article to their paper in order to receive credit for the assignment.) Associated Press Los Angeles Times New York Times Orange County Register Chicago Sun-Times San Francisco Chronicle New York Post USA Today Washington Post Chicago Tribune Wall Street Journal New York Daily News The Constitution starts at page 24. Detainees, checked and balanced ... 24 The American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence ... 28 The Articles of Confederation: The first Constitution .... 31 Factors Leading to the Constitutional Convention .... 32 The Constitutional Convention .... 36 The Struggle to Ratify the Constitution ... 49 The Changing Constitution, Democracy and American Politics ... 51
The Constitution is the basic rule book for the game of American politics. Constitutional rules apportion power and responsibility among governmental branches, define the fundamental nature of the relationships among governmental institutions, specify how individuals are to be selected lor office, and tell how the rules themselves may be changed. Every aspiring politician who wants to attain office, every citizen who wants to influence what government does, and every group that wants to advance its interests in the political arena must know the rules and how to use them to their best advantage. Because the Constitution has this character, we understand it to be a fundamental structural factor influencing all of American political life.
Like all rules, however, constitutional rules can and do change over time, which is why we sometimes speak of the "living Constitution." Constitutional changes comc about in three specific ways: formal amendment, judicial interpretation, and political practices.
The Constitution may be formally amended by use of the procedures outlined in Article V of the Constitution (again, refer to Figure 2.2). This method has resulted in the addition of 27 amendments since the founding, the first 10 of which (the Bill of Rights) were added within three years of ratification. That only 17 have been added in the roughly 220 years since suggests that this method of changing the Constitution is extremely difficult. Over the years, proponents of constitutional amendments that would guarantee equal rights for women, ban same-sex marriages, and ban the burning of the American flag have learned how difficult it is to formally amend the Constitution; none of these amendments were added, despite public opinion polls reporting majorities in favor of them. Nevertheless, several formal amendments have played an important role in expanding democracy in the United States by ending slavery; extending voting rights to African Americans, women, and young people ages 18-20; and making the selection of senators the business of voters, not state legislatures.
The Constitution is also changed by decisions and interpretations of the U.S. Supreme Court found in the written opinions of the justices.
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GUN REGULATION
Summary of the article
Article: Chen, Cathaleen. A Right-to-Bear-Arms Twist: Rallying With a Gun in Hand. The New York Times, 2014. Web.
Description of the event covered: people who advocate for stringent limits on guns rallied in Austin City Hall, Texas. At the same time, another group comprising opponents, albeit a smaller group formed a counter-rally outside, as they carried guns and waved a flag that was inscribed with a firearm and the caption Come and Take It (Chen 1). The advocates for firearm rights, just like their counterparts arguing for firearm control, have been more and more active following the recent mass shootings. They have continued to organize many grass-roots protests throughout Texas. It is of note that their strategy comprises a straightforward strategy: an open display of their arms, at times before their foes (Chen 1). The founder of Open Carry Texas, Mr. C. J. Grisham stated that “you have a grouping of people carrying guns, women and children waving and smiling,” Open Carry Texas basically wants policymakers to let the people of Texas to publicly carry handguns just as they can carry long arms. C. J. Grisham adds that “if we really intended to harm anyone, would we draw attention to ourselves through smiling and waving flags?” according to him, when one thinks about it in a logical manner, then the fact that someone gets alarmed is utterly irrational (Chen 2).
In the State of Texas, the article reveals that it is unlawful to publicly carry handguns, and a license is needed in order to carry a hidden pistol. However, it is lawful to openly carry a long arm including a rifle as well as a shotgun, provided that it is not carried in a way that is intended to alarm others (Chen 2). In regards to this, the executive director of the Texas Municipal Police Association, Mr. Kevin Lawrence stated that “we are completely okay with individuals carrying their arms legally under the 2nd Amendment, although the right of carrying arms is not unfettered correctly”. He added that “there is a particular point in which the law enforcement has a right of stepping in and say, ‘you have crossed the line’” (Chen 3).
C. J. Grisham together with his supporters maintains that the United States Constitution guarantees them the right of carrying whichever firearm at any given point in time. Open Carry Texas generally rallies multitudes of people who carry AK-47s, hunting rifles, shotguns and AR-15s. However, those who support tighter controls, particularly of universal background checks, on firearms consider carrying guns in areas in the likes of busy streets or shopping malls as being ill advised (Meltzer 1489). The plans of groupings in the likes of Open Carry Texas have been criticized by the gun control group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, Texas branch. The spokeswoman of the branch in Texas stated that virtually every time that this control group convenes, “we wind up with gunmen carrying weapons in the parking lot” (Chen 4).
The article’s author is of the view that although Moms Demand Action along with its affiliates have no official standpoint in regards to the legitimacy of Open Carry, the provoking nature of armed demonstrations generally puts them off. In responding to the 2012 school shootings that occurred at Newtown, Connecticut, the president of Texas branch of Moms Demand Action, Kellye Burke said “Think how disgusting that is” (Chen 4). The event described in the article is significant since it talks about the issue of people carrying firearms at any time openly; something that some groups believe is their constitutional right provided in the 2nd Amendment, whilst gun control groups in the likes of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America oppose.
How the article relates to the concept of constitution
The article relates to the concept of constitution in the sense that people have a right established by the United States Constitution to possess firearms. The rules of the Constitution rules, in essence, share out responsibility as well as power amongst branches of the government. They describe the basic nature of the relationships amongst institutions of the government. Moreover, they specify the way in which people are to be selected for various offices; and describe how the law themselves might be altered (Greenberg 51).
It is notable that the 2nd Amendment of the United States Constitution stipulates that a properly regulated militia, being very important to the security of a free nation, the right of persons to carry and keep firearms, will not be breached (Johnson & Shortey ...