The United States and Assault Rifles Essay -- gun control

The United States of America was founded on laws to stop a single person from ruling the country. These laws were later known as the Bill of Rights, which lists every living person’s rights. On this Bill of Rights is what is know as the Second Amendment which gives United States citizens the right to bear arms. Over the years this amendment has been questioned by the government on how it affects the safety of citizens. Safety is important and the new high-capacity magazines could be a true threat to America's safety. As big of a threat as they may seem, assault rifles are not the first major weapon to wreak havoc on the citizens of the United States. If we take a time machine back in time, we can see that when there are weapons crimes can happen. The greatest example of weapons being a threat on the United States would be the lever-action weapons. These weapons had pre-made firing cartridge that fired faster than the common musket. These new rifles were developed and mass produced during the American Civil War. The lever action rifle was more accurate and could shoot two hundred yards further than the standard smoothbore Model 1842. This made the Henry lever action rifles some of the most feared rifles in its era. Now, no mass shootings were recorded using a rifle like this, on civilians that is, but it has been used in some of the biggest and bloodiest battles in the American Civil War.(Pritchard, Russ A. Civil War Weapons and Equipment. Globe Pequot, 2003.). The United States used these n ew fast firing rifles to completely annihilate one another in the Civil War, but the Henry Lever action rifle was just the beginning of the fast firing rifle systems. As the world began to evolve it became clear that the need for b... ...an people. This right should not be taken away or altered like it has been, but it should be tweaked so that it is harder to own a military style rifle. It is a hard choice to make but one is needed now. No longer can the United States allow mentally unstable citizens own guns that our soldiers fight with. This is a topic that undergoes far more discussion than any other subject when it comes to the safety of the people, yet there is still no answer. Works Cited 1. Pritchard, Russ A. Civil War Weapons and Equipment. Globe Pequot, 2003. 2. "United States M16 Assault Rifle." armed forces history museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2014. . 3. "United States Senator Dianne Feinstein." Assault Weapons -. N.p., 5 Dec. 2012. Web. 3 May 2014. .