Do people kill people, or do guns kill people? According to the U.S. Constitution, the Second Amendment states that the right to bear arms shall not be altered (Bill of Rights). Many American citizens believe that this amendment constitutes an individual right, while others believe that it is only a collective right intended to prevent Congress from taking away a state's right to self-defense. This, along with other current events, has given rise to a heated debate on the topic of gun control. History has shown that there are positive and negative effects regarding gun control laws, which has resulted in a very controversial and emotional debate. Around 1788, James Madison said that the Second Amendment was written to assure the Southern states that Congress would not "injure the system of slavery by disarming the militias, which were then the principal instruments of control of slaves throughout the South” (Bogus 1). Gun control laws, which determine how guns are used and who can possess them, come from the Second Amendment. Throughout American history, gun control laws have been continually changed. Beginning in the 1930s, President Roosevelt won approval of the National Gun Act of 1938, which "prohibited sales to individuals charged with or convicted of violent crimes" ("History of Gun Control to fire "). Some 30 years later, the assassination of John F. Kennedy once again placed gun control in the national spotlight. President Lyndon B. Johnson responded by implementing the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 and the Gun Control Act of 1968. These laws "banned all convicted felons , drug addicts and the mentally ill to buy firearms" ("History of gun -control"). Twenty-five years later, background checks... in the middle of a paper... are At the time, it was the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. Although it caused a lot of fear in the country, it had no effect on the students. gun control laws A bill, Bell5, passed the Senate requiring background checks for sales at gun shows, but it did not pass the House. Another student who attended Virginia Tech is responsible for the deadliest school shooting. This student killed 32 classmates with two handguns he purchased legally. A year after this tragedy, background checks were changed to include millions more people, especially the mentally ill and criminals. This was the first major change to gun laws in the United States in over a decade (Bingham 3). Although these events are well known and extreme, they have not resulted in major changes in gun control laws throughout history..