The Start of Restricted Gun Rights in the US

When Virginia was drafting its state constitution in 1776, American founding father Thomas Jefferson wrote that â€Å"no freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms.† Yet Jefferson had been dead just 11 years before the first attempt was made to severely restrict gun ownership. It happened in Georgia in 1837, nearly 100 years before the first federal gun control laws would be passed. The Nation’s First Gun Ban Georgia’s state legislature passed a law in 1837 that banned the sale of knives â€Å"used for offensive or defensive purposes† and all pistols except flintlock  Ã¢â‚¬Å"horseman’s pistols.† Possession of those weapons was also prohibited unless the weapons were worn in plain sight. History did not well record the reasoning behind the legislature’s vote. What is known  is that the legislation stood as the law of the land in Georgia for eight years before the state’s supreme court declared it unconstitutional and voided it from the books. Applying Federal Rights to State Law America’s founding fathers made sure to include a right to keep and bear arms in the Bill of Rights. But the right to keep and bear arms wasn’t limited to the Second Amendment; many states incorporated a right to bear arms into their constitutions as well. Georgia was a rare exception. The state’s constitution included no right to bear arms. So when Georgia’s ban on small handguns was finally challenged in the state’s supreme court, in the 1845 case of Nunn v. the State of Georgia, the court found it had no precedent and no state constitutional mandate to apply. So, they looked to the U.S. Constitution and cited the Second Amendment heavily in their decision to strike down the gun ban as unconstitutional. In its decision, the Nunn court held that while the Georgia legislature could ban citizens from carrying concealed weapons, it could not ban openly carried weapons. To do so, stated the court, would violate the Second Amendment right to carry weapons for purposes of self-defense. Specifically the Nunn court wrote, â€Å"We are of the opinion, then, that so far as the act of 1837 seeks to suppress the practice of carrying certain weapons secretly, that it is valid, inasmuch as it does not deprive the citizen of his natural right of self-defence, or of his constitutional right to keep and bear arms. But that so much of it, as contains a prohibition against bearing arms openly, is in conflict with the Constitution, and void; and that, as the defendant has been indicted and convicted for carrying a pistol, without charging that it was done in a concealed manner, under that portion of the statute which entirely forbids its use, the judgment of the court below must be reversed, and the proceeding quashed.† Perhaps even more significant to the current gun control debate, the Nunn court ruled that the Second Amendment guaranteed all people — not just members of the militia — the right to keep and bear arms, and that the type of arms carried was not restricted only to those borne by the militia but arms of any type and description. The court wrote, â€Å"the right of the whole people, old and young, women and boys, and not militia only, to keep and bear arms of every description, and not merely such as are used by the militia, shall not be infringed, curtailed, or broken in on, in the slightest degree; and all this for the important end to be attained: the rearing up and qualifying of a well regulated militia, so vitally necessary to the security of a free state.† The court went on to ask, since when does â€Å"any legislative body in the Union have the right to deny to its citizens the privilege of keeping and bearing arms in defense of themselves and their country.† The Aftermath Georgia finally did amend its constitution to include a right to bear arms in 1877, adopting a version very similar to the Second Amendment. Except for a handful of relatively minor and overturned state laws attempting to ban freed slaves from owning guns, efforts to restrict gun rights were largely over after the Georgia Supreme Court’s 1845 ruling. Not until 1911, when New York City enacted a law requiring gun owners to be licensed, would major laws restricting gun rights resurface in America. Updated by Robert Longley

The Is The Right Of Freedom Of Expression - 1760 Words

Throughout this I will be providing advice on what kind of story/pictures, that Evan Evans can publish about Brad Pitt being on holiday, in Barry island with his children, how this may breach Brad Pitts human rights especially Article 8 of the European convention of the Human rights (ECHR), which is the right to a private and family life and how it conflicts with article 10 of the ECHR, which is the right of freedom of expression. I will then be providing advice on what Evan Evans can publish about Dylan Davies attending a meeting of Gamblers Anonymous, how Dylan Davies being outspoken in his public criticism of the gambling culture in professional football may affect the liberties that Evan Evans could have speaking about Article 10†¦show more content†¦In the case of van Hoover 2 the photographs that were taken of the princess of Monaco and her husband on holiday and she was denied an injunction and the court considered that; ‘the applicant, who was undeniably a cont emporary â€Å"public figure†, had to tolerate the publication of photographs of herself in a public place, even if they showed her in scenes from her daily life rather than engaged in her official duties. The Court referred in that connection to the freedom of the press and to the public’s legitimate interest in knowing how such a person generally behaved in public.’ Therefore it may be the case that Evans may be able to publish this event, as Brad Pitt is a ‘Public figure’ as he may have to tolerate the publications of himself, even if it is of his daily life out of his career, as there is a freedom of the press and to the public’s interest of actually knowing how they behave in normal life ‘off camera’, this could mean that Evan Evans could publish about this event, without including Brads children. Would the publication of photos/stories interfere with their right of privacy? 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Statement of Cash Flows Free Essays

Statement of Cash Flows Larry D. Abernathy ACC 421/Intermediate Financial Accounting I Richard Burden Statement of Cash Flows The facts contained in the balance sheet and the profit and loss statement is connected by the bridge that is the statement of cash flows. By recording the flow of cash and cash equivalents into and out of the company the statement of cash flow is a good indicator of a company’s health. We will write a custom essay sample on Statement of Cash Flows or any similar topic only for you Order Now Thus, the purpose of the statement of cash flow is to reflect in record form the cash balances reflected in the balance sheet. The statement of cash flow has three main sections and each section tells us a unique thing about the company. The operating section tells us how the company is generating and using cash to support its day to day activities. Specifically, it gives information about the payments for the sales of loans, debt or equity instruments in a trading portfolio, the interest payment, tax payment, payments to suppliers for goods and services, dividends on equity securities, interest received on loans, receipts received on loans and receipts from sale of goods and services. Also the cash flow statement helps assess the ability of the entity to pay its bills and meet its obligations. The investing section tells us how a company is using its cash to grow long-term. If you see a lot of investments outflow, that means that the company is investing in capital projects that will sustain its earnings in the long-term. It gives information about the investing activities that are used with operating activities. The cash that goes into the investing activity of the firm is disclose by the cash flow statement. This includes loans made to suppliers, assets like and, purchase. Financing sections tells us the equity and debt situation of the company or how a firm is raising money to support its short-term and long-term goals. In detail the cash in financing activities provides information about the proceeds from issuing shares, from issuing short term or long term debt, from capital leases, repayment of debt principal, payments made for repurchase of shares and payments of dividends. Fundamentally, the purpose of the cash flow statement is to inform about the past sources of cash to forecast the bility of the entity’s ability to generate a positive cash flow in the future. The cash flow statement provides information from where the entity’s cash is coming from. Is it coming from operations mainly or it is coming from other sources. The cash flow statement also provides information about the effect of investment and financing on the operations of the business. There are three par ts of the cash statement namely cash from operating activities, investing activities and financing activities. The cash flow statement gives us the opening balance of cash, the amount of cash received during the operating period, the amounts paid during the period, the net increase or decrease in cash for the period and the final cash flow balance. When assessing the financial strength of a business it is important to know the cash flow statement because it gives an idea if the firm will be able to pay salaries and other immediate expenses. The cash flow statement also gives information if the firm will be able to repay its creditor. The cash flow statement also informs the lender or potential lenders if the company is financially sound. The contractors and future employees can assess if the cash flows of the company will be able to pay them salaries. While assessing the financial strength of a business it is necessary to know the time, amount and chances of future cash flows, the cash flow statement provides this information. For assessing the financial strength of a firm it is important to compare the operating performance of different companies, the cash flow statement allows this comparison. Further, it is important to ass the changes in assets, liabilities and equity. The cash flow statement provides such an opportunity. Most importantly, it is necessary to know the liquidity and cash in hand of a firm. Essentially the cash flow statement helps assess the financial position of the company by indicating to an investor how much cash flowed into and out of the company over a period of time and in addition it helps reconcile the income statement with the balance sheet. The accounting assumptions that are used for preparing the income statement and the balance sheet are compared with the hard cash earned. No assumptions are made in the preparation of the cash flow statement, and there are not estimations in the cash flow statement. Finally, by closing observing the statement of cash flow, one can determine the solvency of a company and how liquid it is. Having excess cash is an indicator that a company is very liquid and will likely return money to the stakeholders and is likely to be in sound financial condition. If a company is struggling then it will have very little cash. It will struggle to meet its debt obligations and may go into bankruptcy as well. References The accounting process. (2010). Retrieved on December 12, 2012 from http://www. netmba. com/accounting/fin/process How to cite Statement of Cash Flows, Papers