Essay --

Abuse of the Second Amendment: The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre Senior Historical Paper Ashleigh Rogers Mr. Todd Gonion Ninety bullets rang through the air, seven bodies hit the asphalt, and blood pooled N. Clark Street in Chicago, Illinois. The St. Valentine's Day Massacre represented one of the bloodiest, catastrophic maltreatments of the Second Amendment, and illustrated how citizen’s ignored the responsibilities that came along with the ownership of a weapon. This massacre relates to the theme â€Å"Rights and Responsibilities in History† because it shows a group of individuals irresponsibly taking their unalienable Constitutional rights and using it to solve trivial conflicts with other citizens. On February 14, 1929, the true intentions of the second amendment were massacred as a Chicago gang ignored their responsibilities as gun owners and decimated other citizens. The Second Amendment states â€Å"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.† As America was once dependent on England, Americans looked to England’s governmental institutions as a base on how to govern the United States. America configured the Second Amendment based off political ideologies that originated in England. In 1181, King Henry issued the Assize of Arms, stating citizens were to possess weapons at all times to secure that England citizens would be protected against foreign invasions. In England, males as young as seven were required to bear arms to ensure an extensive defense for their country; it was considered an Englishman’s obligation to his country. In addition, Militias became vital to English life, as they leveled monarchial rule... ...elling example of how citizens took the privilege of owning weapons for their own security in the home and nation, and used it for venomous reasons. A concept that was effective in the eleventh century lost its value as citizens began to ignore their responsibilities as gun owning United States citizens. The Federalist foresaw that citizens were going to expunge their right, yet it was still ratified in the Constitution. The discernment of a plan to execute seven individuals conveys how citizens have ignored both the meaning of their rights and their responsibilities. A few individual’s decision to configure the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, consequentially led to a stringent of regulations placed on gun owners. â€Å"Violence is an evil thing, but when the guns are all in the hands of me without respect for human rights, then men are really in trouble†- Louis L’Amour.