"You have an expanding country, and the principle defense use of the militia would be to protect local residents from attack and invasion," Rakove says.

The court determined the relationship between these phrases, as well as the historical context of the Constutition's creation, clearly provided an individual right. Our guides will be Constitutional experts Jeffrey Rosen and Jack Rakove. This ruling stood for nearly 70 years, until the Supreme Court reversed the decision in the case of The District of Columbia v. Heller. It also meant physical protection from government overreach.

It says the people have a right to keep and bear arms. "The idea of a state militia would also be attractive because it serves as a deterrent against national tyranny," says Rakove. Asked By Wiki User. 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.
In the case of United States v. Miller in 1939, the U.S. Supreme Court basically ruled that the amendment only applied to firearms that have "some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia....". Passed by Congress September 25, 1789. Of course, with the size and scope of the modern United States military, and the fact that militias as we know it no longer exist, that notion is hard to imagine today. "You say people, you mean individual persons," says Rakove. Michael Waldman: I started the book after Newtown. "They believed we are born into a state of nature before we form governments, and that we are endowed with certain fundamental rights.". Ratified December 15, 1791. Until then, you can use Writing Rights to explore key historical documents, early drafts and major proposals behind each provision, and discover how the drafters deliberated, agreed and disagreed, on the path to compromise and the final text. Second Amendment Right to Bear Arms. ", "When we think about 'rights,' we think of them as regulations and exemptions," Rakove says. You see, you can use the term 'people' to imply a collective mass, but there are some categories of people that can be excluded.". Fact Check: What Power Does the President Really Have Over State Governors? In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that the amendment protected an individual's rights to own firearms that are not connected to any military service.

This amendment was created so that if the government at any point became to powerful and the citizens wanted to destroy it and create a new government they would have the power and the means to do so. However, there is also the states' rights theory, which suggests that this amendment merely restricts Congress from passing any laws that would limit a state's ability to defend itself, i.e. By AJ Willingham, CNN. For modern applications and purposes, Rosen agrees that we must turn to how the Second Amendment is presented in a court of law. Updated 1346 GMT (2146 HKT) March 28, 2018. Read Interpretations of the Second Amendment. There is much debate as to what this amendment means, due to its confusing wording. His book "Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution" won a Pulitzer Prize in History. "James Madison had the 1777 Virginia Declaration of Rights by his side when he wrote the Bill of Rights and he essentially copied and pasted language from it.". "It didn't mean 'regulation' in the sense that we use it now, in that it's not about the regulatory state. Is the Coronavirus Crisis Increasing America's Drug Overdoses? More on that below. The Interactive Constitution is available as a free app on your mobile device.

7 8 9. The country had just fought a war, won its independence and was expanding west. 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. There's been nuance there. But they did not, Rosen says, specifically include the tenets of the Second Amendment. "They also disagree about how we should interpret the constitution in terms of history or in light of new technologies.". He is also talking about a broader state of freedom. At the time of the American Revolutionary War, militias were groups of able-bodied men who protected their towns, colonies, and eventually states. "While there is a common law right to self-defense, most historians think that it would be remarkable news to the framers of the Second Amendment that they were actually constitutionalizing a personal right to self-defense as opposed to trying to say something significant about the militia," he says. One of the biggest challenges in interpreting a centuries-old document is that the meanings of words change or diverge. Top Answer. The decision struck down the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975, which heavily regulated owning and keeping firearms in the District of Columbia. Here's a look at the Second Amendment, its phrases parsed and placed in legal and historical context. This is another highly-contested area where it helps to know more about how the framers of the Constitution thought about complex ideas like "rights. Get the National Constitution Center’s weekly roundup of constitutional news and debate. "One thing people disagree about is whether assault weapons bans are constitutional," says Rosen. "But, if you go to Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution, it says the House of Representatives will be chosen by the people -- who are the persons? What Does the Second Amendment Really Say About Owning Guns (JustPatriots.com) – Throughout history, one of the habits of monarchies and other forms of leadership was to keep their people unarmed. More from the National Constitution Center, © Copyright 2020 National Constitution Center, Amy Coney Barrett Confirmation Hearings Recap, The Constitution Drafting Project: Libertarian and Progressive Constitutions, On this day, a divided Supreme Court rules on the Second Amendment, Scholar Exchange: The Bill of Rights with Linda Monk. To get to that, consider the climate of the United States at the time. Jeffrey Rosen is a law professor at George Washington University and is the President and CEO of the National Constitution Center. The second amendment doesn't say anything about gun control. Coming soon for this provision! Jack Rakove is the William Robertson Coe Professor of History at Stanford University. ), The Secret Science of Solving Crossword Puzzles, Racist Phrases to Remove From Your Mental Lexicon. That way, they were no threat to the Crown or anyone else and could be easily overcome.
"Back at the birth of our nation, they had a different quality. (CNN)It's only a sentence long; 27 words that barely take up a full line on the Bill of Rights. Festival of Sacrifice: The Past and Present of the Islamic Holiday of Eid al-Adha. If there were any clear answers, these 27 words wouldn't be so incendiary. Amendment 2. The first 10 amendments form the Bill of Rights.

Rakove thinks the framers of the Constitution would be surprised at the conversations we are having today. Passed by Congress September 25, 1789. Words like "militia" and "rights" are loaded with historical context and nuance that can act as a Rorschach test, leading even the best-intentioned interpreters to different conclusions. In other words, it didn't mean the state was controlling the militia in a certain way, but rather that the militia was prepared to do its duty. The first 10 amendments form the Bill of Rights.

Some people believe that the Second Amendment protects the rights of individual citizens to possess firearms, meaning that it would be unconstitutional for Congress to restrict this right in any way.

The NCC's website hosts a fully interactive version of the Constitution featuring commentary and primary source documents.

"This is referring immediately to 'state' as in one of the states of the original colonies," Rosen says. The Second Amendment to the U.S. 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." Right to keep and bear arms- The second amendment gives citizens the right to own have guns in their possession. ", "In that sense, it is historically accurate to say that the framers did recognize a natural right of self-defense.". On June 28, 2010, a deeply divided Supreme Court upholds gun-ownership rights within homes on a national basis, expanding on a…, In this Fun Friday session, award-winning author and constitutional scholar Linda R. Monk joins Center President and CEO Jeffrey….

There is much debate as to what this amendment means, due to its confusing wording. In the debate over the Second Amendment, this phrase, "a well regulated militia," remains one of the most cited and argued parts of the sentence. Answer.