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The Second Amendment And The Amendment

Decent Essays

The Second Amendment “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 paltry twenty-seven words, present in the 2nd Amendment to the United States Constitution, have been a major focal point of the seemingly endless debate over whether, and for what purposes, US citizens have a right to own firearms. Positions vary wildly from those that hold these words to mean citizens have the right to violent revolt to those that believe they only allow the United States Armed Forces to exist, as well as a multitude of positions in between. The two primary positions presented on this issue are generally referred to as the “individual rights” and “states’ rights” positions (“Second”). The “individual rights” position posits that the amendment was written to secure private citizens’ personal right to own firearms as they see fit. This conclusion is generally concluded by looking at the rest of the Bill of Rights as well as many personal writings of the framers of the Constitution. The Bill of Rights was originally written due to issues many states brought forth concerning the power of the federal government to restrict personal liberties. These ten amendments were meant to enshrine certain liberties into the constitution (“Bill”). Each amendment in the Bill of Rights exists to ensure individuals maintain freedoms deemed important enough to directly block the government from taking. The

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