Regarding Todd’s situation, I do believe that the registration requirement and his subsequent arrest were violations of his Second Amendment right (by definition) because the Second Amendment clearly guarantees a right to bear arms. Todd’s argument is valid because of District of Columbia v. Heller, 2008, a case in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to possess firearms independent of service in a state militia and to use firearms for traditionally lawful purposes, including self-defense within the home. With that being said, I also find the infringement that Todd encountered necessary in order to protect everyone’s constitutional right to assemble in public without fear of gun violence.

Now, with tremendous respect to the Second Amendment, it is important to institute regulations to limit others from infringing on the lives and well-being of others through gun violence. With that goal in mind, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 (Brady Act or the Brady Bill) was enacted mandating federal background checks on firearm purchasers in the U.S., and imposed a five-day waiting period on purchases. Barack Obama further defended the need to place regulations on the Second Amendment during his Common-Sense Gun Safety Reform speech in 2016. He essentially stated that the regulations regarding the right to bear arms within the Second Amendment are no different from the regulations on free speech within the First Amendment with the goal being the protection of innocent people

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