The Early American Origins of the Modern Gun Control Debate: The Right to Bear Arms, Firearms Regulation, and the Lessons of History
Abstract
The gun control arguments are a development from the Jacksonian era, as the debate was inherited from the Founding period when the Second Amendment was instated. The original argument maintained that the right to bear arms was a right belonging to citizens in pursuit of public defense. In the nineteenth century, some Americans began to believe their individual right was threatened as new restrictions, such as the time, place, and manner regulation, were enacted.