Second Amendment Rights - article by Good English Article Sites

An overview of your second amendment rights: the right to defend yourself

Second amendment rights are two in number, and are specified in the U.S. Bill of Rights. The amendment says, “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”. We can plainly see that the second amendment allows a well regulated state militia on the one side, and for the people to keep and bear arms on the other.

The right to keep and bear arms was not originally conceived as a privilege, but as a social obligation. English law as early as the twelfth century had required all men between fifteen and fifty to keep and bear arms in readiness for the defense of the realm. In the seventeenth century, English law granted men to bear arms for self-defense. These laws had popular approval because a well-armed populace meant that a standing army was not necessary. Standing armies were seen as threatening and intimidating to the people. Second amendment rights grew out of this disdain for standing armies and their historical abuse against the people.

Second amendment rights recognized that weapons were to be used in self-defense, for the protection of life and property. Weapons in the hands of the people also means that they are able to protect themselves against the forces of tyranny. The writers of the Bill of Rights had just revolted against British tyranny and few of them had faith in government to protect and promote the people's liberty. They feared the reverse: that the government they were constructing might itself fall to the temptations of tyranny. A well armed population would act as a deterrent, but if the government should fail, an armed population could resist.

The second amendment does not explicitly encourage insurgence, rebellion, and armed conflict with government, but the implication is highlighted by the context in which the amendment appears. Since then, some would say, the Federal government has become what the framers of the constitution feared. They point to the many efforts of political entities to rescind our second amendment rights as a sure sign that the Federal government is set on invoking martial law and is out to remove any means of resistance, especially armed resistance. A standing army is now installed, with a mandate to engage in civil affairs when necessary. Whether the people of the U.S. are being set up or not, we can not say. History suggests our forefathers were not paranoid or delusional.

Irrespective of the political implications of the second amendment rights, one argument for allowing citizens to bear arms continues to stand the test of time: the argument that asserts all people have a natural right to defend themselves against attacks, and that a part of this natural right is that of bearing arms. Violent crimes continue to justify private ownership of weapons, and yet weapons are often used to perpetrate these crimes. Laws prevent crimes it is true, but criminals break the law. A law prohibiting the ownership of arms will not make a difference, when you're facing an attacker who doesn't obey the law, but a forty-five revolver will.

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