Supreme Court Case Law and Gun Control Laws in the United States

Abstract

I looked at mass shootings that have happened in the United States in the past decade and was inspired to do research and discover what was behind these tragedies. In my Honors Thesis paper, I dug up important historical background and context that has given rise to the creation of the 2nd Amendment. I took a stab at assessing the significance and profound impact that the original constitutional framework wages on 21st century America. From there, I discussed the implications of Supreme Court precedent in individual gun rights cases that have interpreted 2nd Amendment doctrine. Next, I created a comprehensive assessment of gun laws broken down by state. I also provided a brief summary of Congress's Bill No Break session that attempted to curb national gun violence in the aftermath of Sandy Hook. At the end, I shed light on a couple of countries; Australia and Japan, who have scaled back access to guns and initiated educational gun safety programs that promote national gun policy reform. I used these two standard-bearers as a collective model for the U.S. to try to emulate in terms of enhancing awareness and understanding about the real danger that guns pose to society.