It’s in the Constitution, the supreme law of the land, which applies in each of its fifty states.

The second amendment of this text, written in 1791, guarantees it:

« The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. »

It is specified that this allows the possibility of forming militias to defend, if necessary, the security of the state.

Indeed, a short time before, the Americans had a revolution to get rid of the English and founded a democracy.

This young country was afraid of having its hard-won independence taken away.

The right to bear arms to defend oneself is therefore, for many Americans, a guarantee of their freedom.

It’s also a symbol of heroism in American popular culture.

The problem is that with millions of weapons in circulation, deadly shootings occur regularly.

Some states have therefore taken measures on their territory, by banning assault weapons for example.

But it’s much more difficult to pass laws on this subject at a nationwide level.

Especially since a powerful pro-gun association, the NRA, finances many political figures.

However, with each new murderous shooting, the issue of gun control in the United States comes back to the forefront.