Below: On January 6, 2016, BBC News ran a report on the popular reception of President Obama's executive order extending the types of gun sales for which a background check has to be completed.
Below: On October 1, 2015, President Obama issued another plea for the United States to adopt stricter gun laws. This followed an earlier mass killing.
Below: June 19, 2016, the chief executive officer of the NRA was interviewed explaining his position on the terrorist watch list.
Below:In May, 2016, presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, gave a speech pledging to support the NRA after receiving their endorsement
Below: A June 13, 2016, ITV News report on Omar Mateen, the perpetrator of the Orlando massacre. It features an interview with his father.
Below: a PBS report released on June 13, 2016, in which President Obama declares that those on the no fly list should not be able to buy guns. These comments were made only days before the Orlando massacre.
Web links, documents
On June 27, 2016, Quartz published an opinion piece by Meredith Bennett-Smith titled 'Americans can no longer be trusted with the Second Amendment'
The comment criticises the historical basis for the Secondment Amendment, the manner in which it has been subsequently interpreted and the consequences of wide-spread ownership of semi-automatic assault weapons.
The full text can be accessed at http://qz.com/714884/we-should-come-for-american-guns/
On June 22, 2016, Hamodia published an opinion piece titled 'Most People on Terror Watch Lists Can't Buy Guns Anyway'
The comment argues that most of those on the terror watch list are not United States nationals and so are ineligible to legally buy guns.
The full text of this article can be accessed at http://hamodia.com/2016/06/22/people-terror-watch-lists-cant-buy-guns-anyway/
On June 21, 2016, CNN reported on the United States Senate's rejection of four bills, each of which would in some way have regulated or limited citizens' access to guns.
The report is titled 'Senate rejects series of gun measures'
It can be accessed at http://edition.cnn.com/2016/06/20/politics/senate-gun-votes-congress/
On June 21, 2016, Vox published a background piece explaining the operation of the no-fly list and how it could be used to restrict gun ownership.
The full text can be accessed at http://www.vox.com/2015/12/7/9865756/no-fly-list
On June 20, 2016, FiveThirtyEight published a comment by one of its editors, Andrew Flowers, titled 'The Problems With Using The Terrorist Watch List To Ban Gun Sales'
The comment looks at the shortcomings of using the terrorist watch list to limit gun sales.
The full text of this comment can be accessed at http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-problems-with-using-the-terrorist-watch-list-to-ban-gun-sales/
On June 19, 2016, the United States ABC News reported on an interview in which the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, declared his support for those on the terrorist watch list or the no-fly list being prevented from buying guns.
The full text of this article can be accessed at http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-inclination-terrorism-shouldnt-buy-guns/story?id=39961668
On June 17, 2016, the Los Angeles Times published an opinion piece by Timothy Edgar, a visiting fellow at Brown University. The comment is titled 'Guns and the no-fly list: Of course we shouldn't allow suspected terrorists to buy firearms'
Edgar argues that those on suspected terrorist lists should not be legally able to buy firearms. The full text can be accessed at http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-edgar-watch-list-no-fly-guns-20160617-snap-story.html
On June 17, 2016, the Los Angeles Times published an opinion piece Charles C.W. Cooke of National Review. The comment is titled 'Guns and the no-fly list: Whatever happened to due process?'
Cooke argues that the basis on which the no-fly list has been established and the relative inability of those on it to challenge their inclusion make it an inappropriate basis on which to deny gun ownership.
The full text of this comment can be found at http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-cooke-no-fly-list-guns-fifth-amendment-20160617-snap-story.html
On January 5, 2016, CNBC reported from the White House of President Obama's plans to toughen the requirements on gun sellers regarding background checks of their customers.
The report is titled 'Obama announces gun control plans: "I believe in the Second Amendment"'
In addition to outlining Obama's plans, the report includes his comments on the extent to which such measures are misrepresented as an attack on personal freedom.
The full report can be accessed at http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/05/obama-announces-gun-control-plans-i-believe-in-the-second-amendment.html
On December 7, 2015, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) published a comment by Hina Shamsi, Director, ACLU National Security Project, titled 'Until the No Fly List Is Fixed, It Shouldn't Be Used to Restrict People's Freedoms'
Shamsi argues that until the weaknesses in the No-fly List have been addressed it should not be used to restrict Americans' access to guns.
The full text of this argument can be found at https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/until-no-fly-list-fixed-it-shouldnt-be-used-restrict-peoples-freedoms
On December 3, 2015, CNN published an opinion piece by David Wheeler, a freelance writer and journalism professor at the University of Tampa, which argues that those on terrorist suspect lists should not be legally able to buy firearms in the United States and which blames the NRA and extremists within the Republican Party for allowing this to happen. The piece is titled 'Why does NRA allow guns for terrorists?' It can be accessed at http://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/02/opinions/wheeler-nra-guns-terrorists/
On July 24, 2014, The Intercept published a leaked copy of the guidelines employed in the compilation and use of the terrorist watch list. The document is titled 'Watchlisting Guidance' and is dated March 2013. It has been criticised for its inadequacies.
The full text of the guidelines can be accessed at https://theintercept.com/document/2014/07/23/march-2013-watchlisting-guidance/
On January 9, 2013, People's World published a comment by Rick Nagin titled 'The Second Amendment Is a dangerous anachronism'
The comment argues that the circumstances which gave rise to the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution no longer pertain and that the guarantee of gun ownership rights is now hazardous and socially irresponsible.
The full text of this article can be accessed at http://peoplesworld.org/the-second-amendment-is-a-dangerous-anachronism/
(The United States) Library of Congress keeps overviews, books and articles dealing with the country's Constitutional law.
The library holds and overview of Supreme Court rulings regarding the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The overview is titled 'United States: Gun Ownership and the Supreme Court'
It begins with an overview of the 2008 Supreme Court ruling that the Second Amendment conferred upon individual United States citizens the right to bear arms.
The overview can be accessed at https://www.loc.gov/law/help/second-amendment.php
In 1996 The Atlantic Online published an opinion piece by Wendy Kaminer, public-policy fellow at Redcliff College, titled, 'Second Thoughts on the Second Amendment'. The piece disputes the right of the individual citizen to bear arms and does so from a conservative perspective. Interestingly it was written 12 years before the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment guaranteed just such a right.
The full text of the comment can be accessed at http://www.theatlantic.com/past/issues/96mar/guns/guns.htm
In 1994 Valparaiso University Law Review published an essay by David Vandercoy, Professor of Law, Valparaiso University School of Law, titled 'The History of the Second Amendment'
Vandercoy argues that the historical context and the intentions of the framers of the United States Constitution indicate that the aim of the Amendment was that each individual citizen should be able to own and bear arms.
Interestingly this was written 14 years before the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment guaranteed just such a right.
The essay can be accessed in pdf format at http://www.constitution.org/2ll/2ndschol/89vand.pdf
