Face the issues John Adams spoke in favor of "arms in the hands of citizens, to be used at individual discretion ... in
private self-defense."

(a) Which side of the gun control
debate is more likely to cite this quote?

(b) How might indi-
viduals on the other side respond?

After the U.S. Constitution was ratified (approved by the states), the states wrote or amended

their own state constitutions. Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution states: “The United

States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government”.

Because the U.S. Constitution served as a guideline, many state constitutions look very similar

to the national constitution, including the Florida Constitution. The U.S. and Florida

constitutions both have a preamble (an introduction that states the purpose and goals of

government), articles (sections that describe the powers and functions of the government), and

amendments (changes that have been made to the constitution). While the basic outline of the

U.S. Constitution and the Florida Constitution are the same, the contents of the two documents

have major differences.