The Gun Control DebateWritten by Kenny Du
The gun control debate in America is a battle between personal freedom and public safety. For nearly 160 years, there were no limits to Second Amendment, which guarantees "the right of people to keep and bear arms." In 1934, however, and especially in last four decades, Americans have begun to proscribe and debate extent of that right. The National Firearms Act of 1934 was first restriction on gun rights in American history. As a result, fully automatic weapons are available only after an extensive background check on owner.In 1968, term "gun control" gained new meaning with passage of federal Gun Control Act. Ratified in wake of two important political assassinations -- Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. -- Act requires that all guns carry serial numbers forever tied to original purchaser. Additionally, it prohibited gun ownership by convicted felons and, as a result of a 1990s amendment, it requires a criminal background check for purchasers at time of sale. Certain states have their own gun control legislation, although all are governed by federal Act of 1968. Individual states can deem their own levels of restriction on concealed weapons and “open carry,” or visible transporting of a weapon. And restrictions vary widely by state, with New York and Illinois seen as most restrictive and Arizona and Texas, most relaxed.
| | Obit.Written by The Indy Voice
A popular political party that rose to tremendous power in 20th century, Republican party redefined nation's political agenda and dramatically reshaped role of government in private lives of its citizens. The resilience of party was observed throughout such morally testing times as Nixon resignation and Iran-Contra affair hearings. The party was symbolized by an elephant and possessed animal-like quality of stubbornness that was often imitated but never duplicated. Placing an inordinate amount of "political capital" in an oft repeated but rarely defined term known as "values," contradiction between party's actions and its rhetoric on subject ultimately lead to its demise. The beginning of end started on November 7th, 2000 with a great revolutionary crisis that eventually caused party to wind up on ash heap of history. The party is survived by 62,040,610 bewildered citizens. Eventually those that supported party came to learn of its great hypocrisy and strict adherence to its single tenet of profit and power before country. The beginnings of schism which ultimately lead to an unrepairable fracture of party was fostered by group's recruitment of corporations and religious right, who's competing interests and dogmas were too diametrically opposed for a public ultimately concerned with political pragmatism. The final shot to great political beast was administered by ideologue and capitalist President George W. Bush, who embodied what party had morphed into, from a pragmatic and benevolent organization into world's biggest corporate and religious special interest group. Bush, while leading party towards "ash heap," never came to realize that his wanton lust for power and profit would never allow his moral motivations to be ratified. Some claim that this internal tug-of-war was created by Bush's political master, Karl Rove, conclusions cannot be easily drawn except to say that Rove's obvious Machiavellian machinations lead a majority of public to question validity of their initial judgement that party and its leaders were trustworthy. In fact, while many of religious right claimed that there did indeed exist a morally unambiguous truth, their observations of Bush administration and Republican party lead them to believe that truth as party observed it was malleable and justice would only be dished out to those who dare question right of ruler to rule.
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