by RNH Nello

Created on: May 20, 2009

Answering this question begins with articulating a factual foundation. The first step is to state what some may consider as 'splitting a hair.' That is, the Second Ratified Amendment is not the definition of rights or the granting of rights or even the stating of rights. It is the stating of a restriction on government so that it doesn't 'infringe on' a right recognized as predating the ratification of the Constitution. A right which is rooted in The Common Law.

More over, when the 1787 convention was held in Philadelphia the 13 Colonies were all existing States and each already had their own Constitution. Each of these existing States were recognized as Free, Independent, and Sovereign in Article One of the 1783 Treaty of Peace signed between Great Britain and the United States (under the Articles of Confederation) in Paris. This reaffirmed the intent of the Declaration of Independence and the independence of the States within the Articles of Confederation.

The point is that it was accepted by those who wrote and ratified the Constitution of the United States that the 'right to keep and bear arms' (as with other rights) was individual and predated the Constitution of the United States. However, due to a concern held by many of the Founders that any general government would expand and intrude on these rights it was held (by many of the Founders) that there was a need for a Bill of Rights. it is unlikely that the Constitution of the United States would have been ratified without an agreement within the convention that subsequent to that ratification, a 'Bill of Rights' would be written and proposed to the States for ratification.

Within that context the Bill of Rights was written (as one of the first acts of the new Congress) but not as a list of rights but rather as a list of specific restrictions on the general government. (For reference on this use the Multiple volume set of books "Debates on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution" arranged by Jonathan Elliot, which includes both the convention notes of James Madison as well as the debates in the States for ratification.)

The Second Amendment is one such restriction on the general government, particularly in its correctly ratified form (refer to the Library of Congress for the authorized copy of the 'ratified' Second Amendment.) which 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." This

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>