Third, reverence for the Constitution, plus the unceasing propaganda of gun organizations, sustain the mistaken but widespread belief that the Second Amendment guarantees every individual the right to keep and bear arms." (Edel 141).
When I look at these facts, I have determined that since there is a lot of crime in the United States, people want to protect themselves. Since they see that it is allowed to own a gun under the Constitution and that there are organizations promoting the use of guns, it assures them that they are able to own a gun. I agree with Edel when he says that people have the mistaken belief that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to bear arms. This is why a big percentage of Americans own guns.
The one factor that will always give anti-control activists leverage is the Second Amendment to the Constitution. It states:.
"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country; but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person. No soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner; nor at any time but in a manner warranted by law." (Edel 23).
There is a big argument to be made on this amendment. More specifically, on the words "the people". Those words could be looked at in two different ways. One way is that when the writers of the Constitution wrote "the people", they meant it as a collective group or organization. An individual would not be allowed to keep his or her own gun at home, but would allowed to be in possession of one if he or she was in a gun club or organization, such as the National Rifle Association. Supporters will use this argument because the word "people" is plural and that it could denote that a person can only own a gun if it is together with other people.
