Right To Bear Arms

In the United States the right to own a gun is enshrined by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The text of the Second Amendment 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” (Adams, 2004). The founding fathers borrowed this idea from Niccolo Machiavelli, the Italian thinker. He wrote about the weapons necessary for freedom to defend themselves, to hunt, and to protect the state against foreign invasion. For two hundred years, this tradition has become an integral part of American culture that spawned many cultural phenomena that have become the hallmark of the United States. For example, duels in the desert areas of the

One of the most intriguing concepts about the Constitution is that it contains "the right to bear arms". This influences many people today in thinking that it is irresponsible for the authorities to support this right as long as society has

“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.” (Free dictionary,1). It was passed for citizens to be allowed to keep their guns after the revolutionary war. Mostly used for hunting and protection against Native Americans. As time as changed and the US progressed as a nation, the amendment has changed as well. The control and ban of guns is a federal issue but each state regulates guns differently. Certain states have open carry, others concealed carry and different types of registrations on rifles, handguns and other firearms. States with more hunting rights,

“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 is the second amendment, the right to bear arms. Throughout history, it has been, seen as one of the most controversial and significant pieces of text in the United States Constitution with many debating over its meaning, context, and role in modern society. Since its ratification, Americans have been arguing over the amendment's meaning and interpretation. One side interprets the amendment to mean it provides for collective rights, while the opposing view is that it provides individual rights. Although the meaning of the second amendment continues to be a hot-button issue for both sides of the aisle one thing is certain, the role that it plays in the American way of life and the lives that it has affected remains a critical aspect of

First of all, the right to bear arms is just because guns are weapons of self-defense, and can be used to prevent the

The founding fathers created this country on certain rights and ideals that shape our laws and government today. These rights and privileges were written down and kept in the bill of rights as amendments. The amendments are the laws that our country was made on and are still in effect today. One of these amendments is the right to bear arms. Meaning the right to own and use guns and other weapons. This is a big topic of discussion today because it is said to be a danger to the American people, but many others believe that it is our basic right to be able to defend our homes and our families.

The Amendment opens with the sentence that mentions the need of ‘a well-regulated militia’, but then declares that the right protected by the amendment is to be free from ‘infringement’. The right is not just a right of a state or the country but is rather ‘the right of the people to keep and bear Arms’. (Alstyne, 1236)

The second amendment, a now widely talked about topic. With recent issues in society, this amendment has become controversial. This amendment states “A well regulated militia, be necessary to the security of the free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” This amendment was ratified in 1791 and is in the original bill of rights. In colonial America, before its ratification, the right to bear arms was considered a necessary due to their believed nature right to protect themselves and their property. However, there was a need to declare gun ownership as a specific right. This amendment have proven itself important to American from the beginning. At first, it prevented the new federal government from

“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. (Brooks, 2013)”

Bearing arms for personal protection was an unquestioned right in the minds of the Founding Fathers. The framers of the second and fourteenth amendments intended to guarantee an individual right to carry firearms and other common hand-carried arms. It is inconceivable that they would have tolerated the suggestion that a free person has no right to bear arms without the

The right to keep and bear arms may be the single most controversial and contentious right listed in the constitution and this might be because the right was listed in 1791 and understanding what the founders and framers actually meant. Some people think that the Second Amendment is outdated and if the founders even had any idea of what kind of weaponry we would have today they would have included that the right to keep and bear arms should only be used in hunting and sportsman ship.

Being an American in the 21st century to me means giving up what my four fathers worked hard for. The Second Amendment give us Americans the right to bear arms. That amendment also allows us to defend ourselves from intruders. The right to bear arms is suddenly in question because of a single individual’s actions. Our right to possess weapons shouldn’t have to change because politicians have a different view.

In 2010, in the decision McDonald v. Miller, the U.S. Supreme Court formally incorporated the second amendment of the U.S. Constitution through the fourteenth, and in so doing officially applied the District of Columbia v. Heller decision to the states (McDonald v. Chicago, 2010). The opinion of the case authored by Justice Samuel Alito based its principal argument on the claim that the “right to bear arms” was not only a right guaranteed to the individual, but also a “fundamental right” in the U.S. constitution (U.S. Const. amend. II. and McDonald v. Chicago, 2010). Gun control and gun rights in the United States based on the second amendment have been a subject of intense debate only relatively recently with the emergence of groups such as the National Rifle Association and the Brady Campaign (in class notes). These initiatives have shaped public opinion on guns and spurred countless debates among scholars, judicial figures, and citizens over the meaning and purpose of the second amendment. In light of these arguments and conflicts between those employing collective theory to understand the amendment and those interpreting the right to “bear arms” as pertaining purely to an individual, it is not surprising that gun control and regulation in the United States continues to motivate such passionate defenses and condemnations (U.S. Const. amend. II and Cornell, 2010). These two arguments regarding the meaning and intent of the second amendment present significantly different interpretations. While those who advocate for collective theory argue that the amendment protects only the right of individual to use “arms” in

The right to bear arms across all states by citizens trained in the handling of such weapons would produce a superior nation, where protection and security would become a mere hands’ length away. Guns provide necessary protection against those who wish to harm others. For instance, imagine a shooting, where citizens have the power to protect both themselves and others from the assaulter with several precise shots, thus saving countless lives that would otherwise be lost. In the same situation, this time with defenseless citizens, the shooter freely kills the innocent, knowing that they have no means to oppose him, such as happened in San Bernardino and in France. Taking away the right to bear arms infringes the natural rights given to Americans

The right to keep and bear arms was considered a fundamental, individual right in the original 13 colonies from the pre-Revolutionary period through the ratification of the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution in 1791. The 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 right to keep and bear arms has been a topic of extreme controversy in this century and can be argued equally from both sides. The first side says that it is our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. On the flip side, it is too dangerous and would increase the number of violent crimes. No matter which side is