Hensley Moh 11/08/2012 Prof.

Marion Bruner IF #8

The right to carry concealed handguns is guaranteed by the Second Amendment in the US Constitution. The Second Amendment states, "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." The main idea behind the U.S Constitution is that we all deserve the right to posess property and the idea of free state as long as we do not affect the lives of others. According to the Individual rights interpretation, the individual right to bear arms is a basic right on the same order as the right to free speech. Tom Head, The Second Ammendment.

Concealed handguns are not an effective form of self-defense. In a peer-reviewed study published in the American Journal of Public Health by Charles Branas, it was found that someone carrying a gun for self-defense was 4.5 times more likely to be shot during an assault than an assault victim without a gun. Although successful defensive gun uses occur each year, the probability of success may be low for civilian gun users in urban areas. A gun may falsely empower its possessor to overreact, instigating and losing otherwise tractable conflicts with similarly armed persons. Along the same lines, individuals who are in possession of a gun may increase their risk of gun assault by entering dangerous environments that they would have normally avoided. Alternatively, an individual may bring a gun to an otherwise gun-free conflict

only to have that gun wrested away and turned on them. Even those who attack often surprise their victims, giving these victims no chance to use a concealed gun.. Charles Branas, et al., "Investigating the Link Between Gun Possession and Gun Assault," American Journal of Public Health, Nov. 2009 My research proposal is about the right to bear for civilians to bear arms. In the United States, only Washington DC and Illinois are the two states that do not allow carrying of handguns except by active and retired law enforcement officers. The 2nd Ammendment of the U.S Constitution states that "right of the people to keep and bear arms," and argue that most adults who legally carry a concealed gun are law-abiding and do not misuse their firearms. I will be focusing on analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of bearing arms. I have gotten some books and studies for my research proposal and Im

looking forward to getting more materials for my topic.