A Controversial Right: Study on the Ambiguity of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.210916.016How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Constitution of the U.S, The Second Amendment, Ambiguity, Gun rights, Gun culture

Abstract

While the Second Amendment remains an essential constitutional basis for the gun rights in America, its ambiguity has led to different interpretations of gun rights, thus making gun rights controversial in American society. Focusing on this unique ambiguity, this paper analyses its manifestations in the text of the Second Amendment. By investigating the conflicts between the historical context of the Founding Era and the realistic concerns in the contemporary American society, this paper explains the causes of this ambiguity. Finally, from political and cultural perspectives, this paper further examines the consequences of the ambiguity. This paper argues that the tensions of this ambiguity have cultivated American gun culture while perpetuating an irreconcilable confrontation between gun rights and gun control in the shadow of gun violence, and thus acting as a hidden peril that divides and polarizes the American society.

Copyright

© 2021, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Jie Li
AU  - Zhongni Zeng
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/09/16
TI  - A Controversial Right: Study on the Ambiguity of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States
BT  - Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Social Science:Public Administration, Law and International Relations (SSPALIR 2021)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 106
EP  - 117
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210916.016
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.210916.016
ID  - Li2021
ER  -