Introduction

Gun Control: Should there be stricter laws or not?
Photo credit: Paul Tong / Tribune Media Services
Gun control has become a more heated debate thanks to recent mass shootings. These massacres have rekindled the age old debate about stricter gun control laws in the United States of America. On one side of the debate, people want to impose stricter gun control laws to help decrease homicides and increase safety. On the other hand, people opposing stricter gun control laws say that stronger enforcement will infringe on their constitutional right to have a gun for protection and also for recreation.

What most of the arguments have come down to are the amendments written in the constitution. In past years, there was no clear definition of what was meant in the Second Amendment of our nation's Constitution, which states:

AMENDMENT II
"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 Supreme Court recently defined the amendment in two court cases: District of Columbia V. Heller and McDonald V. City of Chicago. Here's what the Supreme Court defined:
  • "Guarantees the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation."
  • "Arms" pertains to “any thing that a man wears for his defense, or takes into his hands, or useth in wrath to cast at or strike another.”
  • "The most natural reading of ‘keep Arms’ in the Second Amendment is to ‘have weapons'".
(University)

It is imperative that U.S. citizens be able to define and clearly understand what each amendment in the U.S. Constitution means because they are principals we use to lead our country. They are the root of our system and guide how we rule it. 

Below is a video made by BU Today which is a private research institution ran at Boston University. They asked a random sample of people, "should there be stricter gun control laws?" In the video you will hear lots of concerns from both sides of the debate.
     

There are many opinions on either side of the gun control debate. But here, we are only interested in the facts. It is our job as Teddy's Angels to seek the truth. The purpose of this blog is to analyze the editorial cartoons around the world that depict both sides of the gun control debate. Even though the cartoons over-exaggerate to frame the meaning, cartoonists are not allowed to construe the facts. So behind the wit and satire, there is truth to the issue.

Throughout the blog, we will dissect each cartoon that deals with gun control. On our "Cartoon" page, you will see all the cartoons we found and broke down. (On the "Extras" page you will find more cartoons that we analyzed. Feel free to take a look.) There are some that reflect both sides of the debate. We will look at the content of the cartoon and research the elements brought up by the cartoonist. Aside from the "Cartoon" page, there are several other pages. Each one includes a topic that has to do with the gun control issue. This is where our research for the elements brought up by the cartoonists will be. Below each cartoon there is a link that will direct you to a specific page with more information regarding the content of each cartoon. On these pages, we hope to clarify what is the truth and what is just someone's opinion. We hope to educate our audience about which side we should be on in this gun control debate. 
Should there be stricter gun control laws?
Time to SEEK the TRUTH.
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