In the United States, the right to own a firearm is enshrined in the Second Amendment to the American Constitution. The text of the Second Amendment reads: “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” (Adams, 2004). The founding fathers borrowed this idea from Niccolo Machiavelli, the Italian thinker. He wrote about the weapons necessary for freedom to defend, hunt, and protect the state against foreign invasions. Over the past two hundred years, this tradition has become an integral part of American culture and has given rise to numerous cultural phenomena that have become the hallmark of the United States. For example, duels in the desert areas of the Wild West and mafia wars between criminal groups in Chicago, which formed the basis of many books, films and video games, have become an integral part of American culture. However, recently, calls for "gun control" have become major topics when mass shootings against civilians take place. In the late 18th century, the United States did not have a regular army, but simply an armed militia. Today, opponents of free gun ownership are trying to prove that the Constitution only refers to weapons necessary for a militia. However, the United States Supreme Court did not subscribe to this "narrow" interpretation and ruled in 2008 that Americans' right to bear arms is not tied to their participation in a militia (Agresti & Smith, 2013).On December 14, 2012 At Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, a 20-year-old named Adam Lanza armed himself with a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle and two pistols, a Glock and a Sig Sauer. He first killed his own mother, Nancy Lanza, 52, at home, then killed 20 children and 6 adults...... middle of paper ...... to effectively counter the criminals, they must also be equipped with assault weapons. Such a measure is in the interests of weapons manufacturers, but it represents an additional burden on the federal budget. Even within the ruling Democratic Party, there is no unity on the issue of gun control. Millions of ordinary Americans consider the right to own guns a sacred constitutional right. Today, supporters and opponents of Gun Control clash. Both camps have the same goal: to reduce the number of murders in the country. They propose achieving this goal by choosing one approach over another: banning gun ownership altogether or allowing the public to defend themselves with a gun, without fear of prosecution. The decision to choose one or the other might prove impossible, as both are too extreme and a compromise is unlikely to be reached in the near future..