The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution 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." This amendment has been understood amongst the American people, as simply “the right to bear arms”. The creation of the United States constitution was left in the hands of young men whom had served in the Continental Army prior to the draft of the historical document. Having witnessed the violence of the Revolution, these Federalists had the fear of suffering from a weak centralized government. “Anti-federalists”, members that opposed the Constitution, feared that this new government could build one centralized professional army, disarming the 13 state militias.
During this time of United States history, militias were formed from citizen-soldiers. “These militias were the product of a world of civic duty and governmental compulsion utterly alien to us today…was actually required to own—and bring—a musket or other military weapon” (POLITICO.com) As initially pushed my James Madison, the constitution included 17 amendments, the second
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Hobbes describes the natural condition of mankind, prior to communities/society and the creation/enforcement of law. War and violence would be continuous, meaning that death is inevitable as a result. It is every man against each other. During the initial development of the second amendment, the colonies feared a dominant centralized government; there was mistrust within colonies themselves. Violence was high as it was the most commonly used method to resolve conflicts against higher authority. According to Hobbes, fear will make man want to escape the nature of state. There is a struggle of fear and power. Similarly, because of fear of a strong, dominating central authority, gun holders will want to have the power for this method of
The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution 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." A militia is an armed group of citizens who defend their community as emergencies arise.
The U.S constitution is in place to protect citizens rights from the government. It plays as a check in balance in powers amongst the most powerful. But why is that even with the constitution in place to protect us, we find certain discrepancies which result in Supreme Court cases or Landmark cases. One of the most disputable amendments in our constituting governmental platform is, to much surprise, the 2nd amendment. In my opinion, its due to its broadness in explanation. According to constitutioncenter, the 2nd amendment Passed by Congress September 25, 1789. Ratified December 15, 1791, and its states as followed, “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.” As you can see, its brief in what its prerogative is, but not specific on situational based questions. We as humans want to know the “what ifs” in any situation especially when something isn’t addressed. This results in cases that end up in the Supreme court. One of the most notable cases regarding the 2nd amendment, was District of Columbia v. Heller (2008).
These gun control advocates argue that the Second Amendment grew out of the colonists’ fear of standing armies and their belief that having militias that were composed of ordinary citizens was the surest way of maintaining their freedom (3).
The Second Amendment to the Constitution gave United States citizens the right to bear arms. Although, the Second Amendment stated: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms. However, the framers could not foresee the type of violence we have in our cities today. Innocent citizens have and are being brutally killed due to this amendment. Stricter gun control laws must be enacted to receive these types of weapons.
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is part of our countries Bill of Rights. The first amendment is perhaps the most important part of the U.S. Constitution because the amendment guarantees citizens freedom of religion, speech, writing and publishing, peaceful assembly, and the freedom to raise grievances with the Government. In addition, amendment requires that there be a separation maintained between church and state.
The First Amendment is the first section of the Bill of Rights and is often considered the most important part of the U.S Constitution because it guarantees the citizens of United States the essential personal freedoms of religion, speech, press, peaceful assembly and the freedom to petition the Government. Thanks to the rights granted by the First Amendment, Americans are able to live in a country where they can freely express themselves, speak their mind, pray without interference, protest in peace and where their opinions are taken into consideration, which is something not many other nationalities have the fortune of saying. The Founding Fathers were the framers of the Constitution of the U.S., and the responsible for the
The interpretation of the rights guaranteed by the second amendment generally falls into one or more of three distinct categories. The first is the collective right that allows a state to organize and arm a militia. At the time that the second amendment was ratified in 1791, America had no standing army and there were internal issues and rebellions still going on while our country was in its infancy. The right of the states to form militias was seen as a right for all men to have the means to protect themselves from even the government itself if necessary.(Busch 2003) The second interpretation is that
One of the most highly debated amendments of the United States Constitution is the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment has been disputed for hundreds of years on exactly of its exact true meaning. The United States Constitution wrote the Second Amendment as “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."
“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.” - Second Amendment. Throughout history, this sentence of twenty seven words has caused an intense debate. The polemic is that some people claim that a gun control policy is unconstitutional, while others disagree and even say it is necessary in order to reduce crime. Now, what does gun control mean? If it means to analyze who is responsible enough to own a gun by a “Universal Background Check”; that sounds right to everyone. But in the article “What Are Obama’s Gun Control Proposals? An Easy Guide” published in the National Journal by Matt Vasilogambros. The author states that the “gun-control
According to The Second Amendment of the Constitution, the citizens of the United States have the right to own and bear arms, in order to form a well-regulated militia for the security of the states. This right has been discussed for decades as an important issue for the American society, and it has been one of the most controversial issues in the second half of the twentieth century until nowadays. This right germinated with the threat to freedom that the standing army of professional soldiers brought to the Americans. Some argued that the right to bear arms is mainly concerned with self-defense while others argued that this right was implemented to avoid militia disarmament and protect the Free State. This right was
In this essay highlighting the second amendment, I will focus mostly on the right to bear arms. The Second Amendment states, “ 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.” I think that the founders put this in the constitution to keep the sense of freedom they had in England concerning arms, and other than a small force of paid officers, the United States had no professional, trained army. Instead it relied almost exclusively on civilian militias for self-defense, focusing primarily on men aged 18-50. In the event of attack by a foreign country, there would be no trained military force to hold back the British or the French. This changed when John Adams became president. When John ADams became president, he made a proffessional navy to protect vessels and trade ships from pirates. Today, there is no military draft at all. The U.S. Army is made up of a mix of full-time and part-time professional soldiers. This is important in maintaining the US armed forces and the morale of the troops. Finally, this paper will focus on the current controversies of the second amendment, the past precedents, and the overall meaning of the amendment. Its important to realize how the meaning of the amendment has changed over the years, and how it affects your life and how you live it. Knowing all the amendments current meanings is vital to being a knowledgeable citizen.
The second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right of people to bear arms and was adopted in 1791. It guarantees all Americans "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." It is more described as supporting the natural rights of self-defense, resistance to oppression, and the civic duty to act in concert in defense of the state. Former Chief Justice of the United States, Warren E. Burger writes an essay regarding “The Right To Bear Arms,” that originally appeared in the Parade Magazine in the 1990’s that questions if “The Right To Bear Arms,” is an outdated idea. Burger argument is that the gun control would lower if handguns were lowered. He also talks about the”Militias,” which is an army that protects the security of the state. Our “State Militias,” in our time, serves as a huge national defense.
We have had several of the worst mass shootings in our nation's history in quick succession over the past few years. Certain legal restrictions and acts from our government could have prevented numerous deaths. Common sense background checks and limitations to cartridge size and assault weapons would surely have saved many lives at the Las Vegas Massacre, but certain men and women claim that these restrictions violate their second amendment right. They claim that guns aren't the problem. That guns don't kill people, people kill people. So limiting access to devastating guns is just avoiding the problem. The Second Amendment right presumably violated by common sense gun control is “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” (Second Amendment). The Second Amendment states that for the need of a well regulated militia to protect the security of the free state and the right for the people to keep and bear arms. Militias have been inactive for decades so in a sense the intent of the amendment is no longer relevant. Based on the 2nd Amendment, the Constitution is not still a valuable and viable document in modern America because it stands in the way of thorough background checks, training courses, and its vague wording and absolute intent make it inefficient to maintain peace and order and should be amended “To the People of the United
The Second Amendment was created so that states within America could form militias to get rid of rebellions because, the federal government did not have a standing army. The Founding Fathers were afraid of having a standing army because they feared that the army would take away power from the government. Without a standing military, the only protection the federal government and the people had, were militias. The Second Amendment states, “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.” ("The Constitution of the United States," Amendment 2). In other words, the Founding Fathers wanted to give people the right to own guns, so that the people could defend themselves against local rebellions or uprisings. When the second amendment was ratified in 1972 this was the only way the people were able to defend themselves against dangers because there was no army to help protect the people. Therefore, it was very important that people owned guns during this time. However, while our Founding Fathers found the second amendment to be a necessary constitutional right, the topic of gun rights has proven to raise controversy throughout the years. There have been differing opinions on whether people should have a right to bear arms: one side arguing for self defense and the other fearing the increase of
The Second Amendment of the United States’ Constitution states “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”. The amendment was adopted December 15, 1791. The Second Amendment keeps the government from being able to impose dictatorship, while granting people the right to protect themselves. America was founded from rebels, those who opposed King George III and demanded equality. The Declaration states if a dictatorship rises, it is up to the citizens of the United States to demolish the threat to democracy. Through expansion and growth, America’s point of view towards firearms has changed drastically. What once was viewed as a necessity is now viewed as a threat.