2nd Amendment

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."

As part of the Bill of Rights, the Second Amendment was written by James Madison in order to appease Anti-Federalists who were concerned that individual liberties might not be upheld under the Constitution.

It was introduced to the House of Representatives by Madison on June 8, 1789, approved on September 25, 1789, and ratified by the states on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights.

Its influence is drawn from the English Bill of Rights of 1689 which gave Protestants the rights to arms for the purpose of self-defense:

"That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defense suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law."

When first proposed on June 8, 1789, the Second Amendment read:

"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person."

It went through several other versions before the version we read today was finally accepted.

There is debate about how the Second Amendment is to be interpreted. Some argue it refers to the collective right of the state to arm its militia in order to protect the state against tyranny while others argue it refers to the individual right of citizens to possess arms for individual protection.

So why was the Second Amendment included in the Bill of Rights? In short, at the time of its proposal there was debate between Federalists and Anti-federalists regarding whether there would be a standing army. Anti-federalists feared a standing army would disarm state militias and turn on its people. The Second Amendment was primarily a way for Federalists to assure these Anti-federalists that this would never happen — state militias would not be taken over by a federal army.

Although the current debate has shifted from these concerns to those of individual gun rights, it is nevertheless insightful and necessary that we understand the context in which the Second Amendment was ratified.