The Second Amendment: History and Purpose

The Second Amendment: History and Purpose
Name
Course
Instructor
Date
The Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms, with well regulated militia that can maintain the security of a state. Nonetheless, there has been controversy on the intended scope of the law. One of the controversies, surrounds the issue of whether the Amendment gives right bear arms to state governments, which have a right to use of military force or whether it is solely for each citizen. As such, it is necessary to take into account the historical evolution of the Second Amendment and how ideological alignments have influenced debate over the matter since the Amendment was first adopted. The Second Amendment was adopted in 1791 at a time when the federal government could use force to suppress dissident states, while there were threats of interstate fighting. This paper focuses on the history and purpose of the Second Amendment.
The Framers of the Second Amendment drew inspiration from the British Bill of Rights where the right of self- defence had long been adopted as being necessary to protect the rights of life. In other words, the Bill of Rights safeguards against oppressive governments as enshrined in the U.S constitution with the Second Amendment being one of the se protections. Nonetheless, there is till controversy on the extent to which the right to bear arms extends protection and to whom the protections extend. The Second Amendment was born out of the fears that a standing army was a standing thereat to peoples’ liberties, and to avoid oppression there was a need to offer more protection to the people .
The historical evolution of the Second Amendment shows that the original intention was to cover individual rights. The idea that the militia would defend against an oppressive government should be taken into context, as there was no prevalence of guns during colonial times as previously stated by gun advocates. The wording placed on the Second Amendment should not simply be taken at face value, but rather people should focus on the history surrounding the Amendment and the initial purpose. It is improbable that individuals would rise up against the government given that the rifles being used at the time were inaccurate and took a lengthy process before firing . It is noteworthy that the right to bear arms was not to be restricted to the military, as the citizens were also in a position to protect against internal and external attacks. Due to the emergence of revolutions; the federal government was allowed to maintain ready armed force to protect the national government.
The debate surrounding the interpretation of the Second Amendment garnered much interest in 1939 in the case of United States v Miller, where Courts had consistently brushed aside challenges to the Second Amendment only stating that the Amendment merely applied to state militias. Since the 1980’s the revisionist approach to the Second Amendment has gained more prominence among constitutional scholars. During the time when the Second Amendment was adopted the right to bear arms was at par with the right to free speech. As such, the revisionists are correct in po...