Background

The United States is currently split between those for an increase in gun control and those for a decrease in gun control. Not only is this the current status of the debate, but this has been the status for around the past 135 years. The gun control debate has been going on for about 135 years with progress being made early on. The gun control debate began with the court case United States vs. Cruikshank. Cruikshank was a member of the KKK who had murdered two black men because he believed they were interfering with his second amendment right to bear arms. The court came to the conclusion that because these men tried to take away an inalienable right of Cruikshank's, it was lawful for him to take the action that he did. Years later, in 1939, the court case United States vs. Miller also dealt with the second amendment right to bear arms. In this case, Miller, a private in the army, was caught transporting sawed off shotguns used by military through the south and selling them to locals for a profit. The court had come to the conclusion that what he did was a case of theft, but it now had to decide if it was lawful for them to take the guns back from the people that they were sold to. The court decided that because these guns were sold with the intent of forming a militia, that it was unlawful for them to take these weapons back. This case stirred up much debate due to an increase of murders and thefts at this time in the south and many people believed that this was due to the increase in availability of guns.

This increase in crime made the Supreme Court reevaluate the previous decisions on gun control, ultimately leading to court cases that allowed for an increase in gun control. The major case that caused an increase in gun control, although indirectly, was the case of Brown vs. the Board of Education. After this case, the Black Panther Party believed that equality between blacks and whites was still not met and they decided to use violent resistance to get their way. On May 2nd, 1967, thirty members of the Black Panthers marched to the California State Courthouse with loaded weapons declaring, "The time has come for black people to arm themselves against this terror before it is too late." - Bobby Seale. This act of organized rebellion made the United States realize that new laws must be passed for gun control before things get out of hand. In the next thirty years, many laws were passed through the courts that increased gun control, allowing many American's to feel safe once again.