A little history on the Second Amendment.
James Madison is credited as the father of the Constitution. There were many equally important delegates representing their respective States during the debates and drafting of the Constitution. One of the most important in attendance was George Mason of Virginia. He was the architect of the Virginia Declaration of Rights which was the template for our Bill of Rights.
Several delegates, including Mason, refused to sign the Constitution because Rights were not enshrined within its text. For the majority, including Madison, they did not want to enshrine the Rights within the Constitution because they were concerned it would be construed to limiting the Rights of the People to just those enumerated with the Constitution, a "parchment barrier". Many states made it clear their legislatures would not ratify the Constitution unless the Rights of the People were addressed.
The delegates struck a compromise and decided to handle this via Amendments and the Bill of Rights. Madison submitted 20 Amendments to the House of Representatives. These were debated and on August 24, 1787 the House approved 17 Amendments and sent them to the Senate. The Senate approved some, rejected some, and rewrote some, sending 12 Amendments back to the House. The House approved the 12 Amendments and sent them back to the Senate who also approved them. The Senate sent the 12 Amendments to the State legislatures on September 28, 1787. By December 17, 1791 the required 3/4 State approval had been reached on 10 Amendments which became our Bill of Rights. Two of the Amendments were rejected. One of the rejected Amendments was finally passed in 1992 becoming the 27th Amendment.
It is worth noting that the Rights were not enumerated in priority order. Our 1st Amendment was originally the 3rd Amendment, our 2nd Amendment was originally the 4th Amendment and the 27th Amendment was originally the 2nd Amendment.
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On the 2nd Amendment text.
This is the text as it was proposed by the House of Representatives to the Senate:
"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."
The Senate rewrote the text and this is what was sent to the States and approved.
"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."
Now, we can look at the words above in Samuel Johnson's Dictionary, which was the dictionary used by the Founding Fathers.
Definitions
Well regulated means to make regular as in well trained, such as the British Regulars.
Militia means trainbands or the part of the community trained to martial exercise
necessary means indispensably requisite
security means protection or defense
free means not enslaved
State means the public or community
Right means just claim
keep means to retain in custody
bear means to carry
arms means weapons of offense or armour of defense
infringed means violate, destroy or hinder
We can rewrite the 2nd Amendment using these definitions and it would be:
"A part of the community well trained to martial exercise, being indispensably requisite to the protection or defense of an unenslaved public, the just claim of the people to retain in custody and to carry weapons of offense or armour of defense, shall not be hindered, violated or destroyed."
I think it is important to note that for the first two years of the Revolutionary War it was fought entirely with privately owned arms. It was not until 1777 and the agreement with France were arms imported for the war effort.
The original text, the original meaning of the words, and the very writings of our Founding Fathers clearly, at that time and thereafter, expresses their intent to ensure that the People would always remain Free and not enslaved to a tyrannical government. It is understood that a government assumes its powers by the consent of the governed. Without the ability to withdraw that consent, by force when necessary, a people is enslaved to that government.
In 1787, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to John Adams son-in-law regarding the newly drafted Constitution. In his letter he stated:
"God forbid we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion. And what country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?
Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two?
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
I would encourage everyone who has not read the Declaration of Independence in a while to do so. It clearly expresses the mindset of our Founding Fathers.
Publius Returns – Sheltered in the shade of the Tree of Liberty is what separates Americans from the rest of the world.