 |
| The Bill of Rights of The Constitution of The United States of America. |
 |
| One of the most unnecessarily argued amendments of the Constitution. |
Greetings everyone. I am going to start getting things rolling here by discussing the history surrounding the Constitution, specifically the Second Amendment. As a gun owner and an avid supporter of the right to own guns with minimal interference, I wanted to help enlighten those who rarely see beyond the above transcription from the document that helped establish this country. We will discuss where the 2nd Amendment came from, who was key in authoring it and why it is important, even in today's "civilized" society. A word beforehand: I don't claim to be an expert on American history. I am doing my own research and showing how I, and many citizens of this country, have come to the conclusions we have. Now, with no further gilding the lilly, let's dive into this thing!
The Consitution of the United States of America was drafted on August 6th, 1787 after the Constitutional Convention debated back and forth over the balance of power. As you may know, some in the Continental Congress believed that there was a need for a strong federal government while others believed that the State governments, which had taken the majority of control following the end of the Revolutionary War, should retain their measure of strength. Several plans and compromises had to be made which led to the Constitution that we know today. For more information regarding the Constitution, you may visit
Archives.gov
Now, the leaders of the new United States had a big issue on their hands. The Constitution, as it was ratified on January 9th, 1788, was seen by those in congress calling themselves Anti-Federalist as laying the groundwork for a strong, and eventually corrupt, Federal Government. After their, shall we say, "disagreement" with Great Britain, who could blame them? Alternately, the Federalists, seeing the troubles of each individual state as well as issues between states, believed that a strong central government was the way to go. Indeed it was a significant rift between parties and as the Constitution was ratified by only 5 of the 9 needed states, a major compromise had to be made.
Enter James Madison. A statesman from Virginia and oftentimes referred to as the Father of the Constitution as well as the Father of the Bill of Rights. As such, this man was instrumental in helping the young United States become the country it is. Before all of that, however, he considered himself a Federalist, strongly opposing the idea of such a Bill. One reason he gave was that, at the state levels, such Bills amounted to little more than paper barriers. Another was that enumeration of specific rights could be construed that only THOSE rights were protected and others were not. However, thanks to the wise words of his friend, Thomas Jefferson, he was taken by the idea that, as much as a strong Federal Government was necessary, it made the State Governments weak by comparison through the existing form of the Constitution. He also faced pressure from the Anti-Federalists who claimed they would call on another Constitutional Convention in order to satisfy the needs of the people. As the government was in a state of construction and couldn't wait for another convention to convene, Madison was convinced to introduce the Bill of Rights so that the needs of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists could be served. He wrote, on October 17, 1788 that such "fundamental maxims of free
Government" would be "a good ground for an appeal to the sense of
community" against potential oppression and would "counteract the
impulses of interest and passion."
 |
| James Madison: 4th President of the United States of American and "The Father of the Constitution" |
Originally, the Bill contained 17 amendments or articles and was slimmed down by the First US Senate to 12. At this time, the 2nd Amendment that we all know and love was actually the fifth article in the original bill. It read:
"A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, being the best security of a free state, the right of the people to keep an bear arms shall not be infringed, but noone religiously scrupulous of bearing arms, shall be compelled to render military service in person."
 |
| A partial picture of the Original 17 Amendments, featuring the 5th Article which would become the 2nd Amendment. |
A
well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, being the
best security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear
arms shall not be infringed, but no one religiously scrupulous of
bearing arms, shall be compelled to render military service in person. -
See more at:
http://www.sethkaller.com/item/182-First-Draft-of-the-Bill-of-Rights:-17-Amendments-Approved-by-the-House-(SOLD)#sthash.PE2MmCBM.dpuf
After the Senate slimmed the Bill of Rights down to 12, a more familiar language for the 2nd Amendment was adopted.
"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."
Upon the acceptance of the Bill of Rights, and more importantly the acceptance by Anti-Federalists, the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified and signed on September 17, 1787. Since then, the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights has been the law of the land, protecting those that bear arms in the name of defense of their life, liberty and property. It has been said that the 2nd protects the 1st (Amendment that is) but it is also true that the 2nd Amendment is there to protect the entire Bill of Rights.
Now that we have discussed HOW the 2nd Amendment came about, we will talk about the WHY.
We could look as far back as the first guns but for the interest of brevity we will start at the early settlers of America. These settlers believed in numerous reasons for having and bearing arms, among them include bearing arms for personal and community defense, organizing militias in defense of the state and, in a last resort, as a means of insurrection against an oppressive government.
Pre-Revolutionary War conflicts were fairly often. Even European conflicts spilled over into their American interests. An excellent example would be the French and Indian War, also known as the Seven Year War, which pitted French forces against English colonials (and later English regulars) over frontier land. English colonials on the edge of the frontier faced aggression from French forces without much early assistance from British Parliament. If firearms were not available to these colonists, they may well have been even harder pressed to defend themselves and their communities from French invasion.
Incidentally, due to financial depletion, Parliament began to pursue means of generating additional revenue following the French and Indian War. One way that the British used to generate this revenue was to tax the American colonies. This "Taxation without Representation" was a combination of several acts by the British government passed into law which the colonists felt were oppressive. With British threatening to enforce laws though military strength and Patriots threatening to fight and die rather than live under the tyranny of British rule, tensions reached an all time high. As a result, Royal Governor, General Thomas Gage sent British regular military to confiscate gun powder from colonists whom he believed would rebel. Furthermore, Parliament passed laws preventing importation of firearms and powder to the colonies to stem an uprising.
 |
| General Thomas Gage. This is why we can't have nice things. |
The Patriots, however, did not respond well to the threat of force. As the British attempted to exert more control over the colonists, the more the colonists fought back, thus sparking the Revolutionary War.
As we can see by the issues faced by the American colonists, it was very important that they retain their right to bear arms. If they had allowed the British to confiscate their firearms, then who knows what exactly would have happened. I can guarantee that this country would not be the same one that we enjoy today. Because the colonists chose to not just follow what they were told blindly, they fought off the oppression that threatened to contain them.
It is in that spirit of protecting their right to defend themselves against all enemies that the 2nd Amendment was born. The Amendment that defends all of the others and ensures safety for all. Sadly, it seems that some don't see it that way. Ever since 1822 (and probably earlier) the individual right to keep and bear arms has been challenged in court. Specifically in the Kentucky court case of
Bliss v. Commonwealth, the right to bear arms was "limited" by the Kentucky legislature. The original court case defended the right of the state to prevent citizens from carrying weapons in a concealed manner and thus found Bliss guilty and enacted a fine on him for $100. (A big deal at the time) Bliss appealed the decision, however, and it was shown that Kentucky's own constitution contradicted itself on the grounds that, while it said that citizen's could not carry concealed weapons, it also stated that "The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms in defence of themselves and the state shall not be questioned". The court ultimately accepted that the act of restraining concealed weapons was null and void. Thus the first court battle over the right to bear arms, concealed or otherwise, was won.
Since then, the battle over the right to keep and bear arms has been slowly increasing. Many of the same arguments are used against the 2nd Amendment today as were used almost a century ago. "Why do you need
__insert firearm type here__?" or "That's why we have police and the military, so you don't need this, that and the other thing." and even "We want to get rid of this or that so that they dont fall into the hands of criminals or, if it does, they cant massacre all kinds of people at once". In another post I will answer each of these questions, but I am already getting long winded. Forgive me lol.
Anyhow, the need for firearms in the hands of citizens is just as important today as it was in the Frontier days of the colonies and the Revolutionary War. While, of course, we in the United States have not had a serious armed conflict since the Civil War, the possibility of conflict always exists. As long as there are those who wish to do harm to the country and her people, the threat exists.
Even though open war has not existed on our soil in a long time, we still deal with violence on the streets, usually on an individual level. FBI data shows that, in 2011, there were 12,664 murders in the US. Of these, 8,583 occurred with a firearm. Before we go crazy over the fact that the majority of murders are committed with a firearm, the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council (commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control) found that "almost all national survey estimates indicate that defensive gun uses by victims are at least as common as offensive uses by criminals with estimates of annual uses ranging from 500,000 to more than 3 million per year." So, if we are conservative with the estimates, it still means that guns are at least as useful for defense as they are in the commission of a crime (considering all crimes in which firearms are involved in an offensive manner)
Right there is one of the best reasons for the Right to Bear Arms: Self defense and self preservation. As sad as it is that people are the victims of violence involving firearms, there is no proof that warrants placing limitations on the right of responsible and law abiding people to own and use a gun in self defense. Ultimately, that only leads to the criminal having the ability to acquire a gun and utilize it to take from another person. Meanwhile, the citizen who does not want to get in trouble with Law Enforcement will do his best to put up an adequate defense but, lets face it, a bat is not a good enough substitute for a pistol when defending the home.
 |
| I always loved this little pearl of "wisdom" |
I will leave this post at that for now as I could find myself rambling LOL. I hope you enjoyed this segment discussing the How and Why of the Second Amendment and if you have any questions/comments/concerns please voice them. Until the next episode, Remember to keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. God Bless our America!
The
Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council - See more at:
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/cdc-study-use-firearms-self-defense-important-crime-deterrent#sthash.bbvMEsMJ.dpuf
The
Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council - See more at:
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/cdc-study-use-firearms-self-defense-important-crime-deterrent#sthash.bbvMEsMJ.dpuf
