According to the Constitution, why was the right given to keep and bear arms?

Answer 1

It actually wasn't about having guns, it was about banning the federal government from having its own army.

It was thought that by insisting that the army be made up of civilians called at need, something like the invasion of Iraq would have been impossible, as nobody would show up, or would have left when things became obviously idiotic. If not the individual soldier than the state Governor could call them back.

While new technologies has made that concept technically difficult, and has not been operational since the Civil War, the change has not gone well for the rest of the civil rights either.

The Swiss have been much more successful with the idea, but then they haven't invaded anyone or been attacked as a result either.

(ps I am not against reasonable gun ownership, the second amendment is not the source of that however and I prefer accurate thinking to insisting on fantasy)

Answer 2

We hold these truths to be self evident : that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness- that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED, that whenever ANY FORM OF GOVERNMENT becomes DESTRUCTIVE TO THESE ENDS... IT IS THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO ALTER OR ABOLISH IT...

...but when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, It is their RIGHT, it is their DUTY, to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security.

This is from the declaration of Indepence, not the constitution. And let us never forget that our trusted government has been trying DESPERATELY for years now to destroy our right to bear Arms because they are fully aware that what they have been doing since the very early 1900s has been everything against We the People.

Answer 3

The 2nd amendment was written as a protection against standing armies. In history, all of the democratic republics were eventually overthrown by their armies. America was never intended to keep a full time army with a million men, but technology has seemingly made it necessary. Remember Eisenhower's warning about the military industrial complex? It's just a case of history repeating.

Answer 4

"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." - Amendment II, US Constitution

Answer 5

Because the founding fathers didn't trust the government and they knew that an armed citizenry is the ONLY WAY to prevent the government enslaving the people.

Answer 6

Because it was a different time back then.

There was no organized militia or National Guard; the people had to fend for themselves against British, Hessians, Indians and the native wildlife.

Today, we have a National Guard and much of the population live in urban areas.

However, with gang bangers, serial killers, drug addicts and other thieves and villains, maybe responsible citizens need firearms for protection.

However, how do you distinguish the responsible citizens from the irresponsible citizens?

Answer 7

First of all, the right to keep and bear arms was not "given" by the Constitution. The Constitution did not create or grant any rights. It simply states and declares rights that people have (such rights were "self evident"), and seeks to protect them, but we posess all of our rights independent of the Constitution or any other document.

The 2nd Amendment was intended to insure that people were not deprived of their rights and actual ability to protect themselves, their families, property, liberty and state--from criminals, foreign threats and their own government, should it become tyranical.

Let's not forget that the catalyst for the actual fighting of the American War for Independence was the British attempts to confiscate the colonists' arms and munitions at Concord and Lexington, Mass.

The 2nd Amedment to the U.S. Constitution reads:
"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"

Some folks want to say that "the people" means the STATE, but this is not so... it means individuals, in the same context as the 1st Amendment, which guarantees that "the people" have a right to assemble peacably, and the 4th Amendment's protection of "the people" from unreasonable searches and seizures. Moreover, the 10th Amendment makes it clear that "the states" and "the people" are not synonymous.

Some folks want to say that because the word "regulated" appears in the 2nd Amendment, this somehow gives government the power to control the right to keep and bear arms. This is not so. "Regulated," in this sense, should be understood to mean, well disciplined, practiced and organized--in otherwords efficient and orderly. By people exercising thier rights to keep and bear arms, this leads to a well regulated militia, and keep in check the ability of any other military force to threaten our free country.

It is true, that the U.S. Constitution grants Congress the authority to regulate the militia, but (until very recent gun-control legislation) this was always considered to be a prescriptive power, and never a proscriptive power. A prescriptive power could require men to keep arms and practice or drill every so often, while a proscriptive power might prohibit certain activities. Certainly, the civil authority had the power to require the militia to keep itelf well-equiped and drilled, but the wording of the 2nd Amendment clearly shows that the Constitution did not intend to allow the government any authority to restrict or infringe upon the peoples' ability and right to arm themselves and drill.

The 2nd Amendment states generally that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed--that means by anyone, or any level of government (city, municipal, county, state or federal).

Moreover, the grammer of the 2nd Amendment needs to be read as two distinct clauses. The first clause is a statement of fact:
Whereas, "A well-regulated militia, being necesary for the security of a free state ..." [That means: A well-equipped, organized and disciplined militia (all able-bodied men over the age of 16) is A NECESITY for the security of A FREE STATE] ...

The second clause is the conclusion:
... therefore, "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." [That means ... the RIGHT of the each person to keep (posess, own, hold) and bear (carry, wear and use) arms (weapons capable of defending people, their families, property and state) SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED.]

Moreover, it is important to point out that a government might be able to create security in a state by some other means, but this is the manner in which security is preserved in a FREE state.

And just for fun, because the wording of the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was influenced by some state constitutions, let's see what the Virginia and Pennsylvania constitutions of 1776 has to say on the matter:

"Sec. 13. That a well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state, therefore, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power." (Virginia Constitution, June 29, 1776)

and

"XIII. That the people have a right to bear arms for the defence of themselves and the state; and as standing armies in the time of peace are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be kept up; And that the military should be kept under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power." (Pennsylvania Constitution of Sept. 28, 1776)

Our "founding fathers" knew that these issues were directly linked and important. I hope that gives you a better perspective on what the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution of the United States is supposed to protect and prohibit.

Answer 8

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."

-Benjamin Franklin, 1759

An armed man is a citizen...a disarmed man is a subject

Answer 9

So the Government could not brutalize the population without fearing retribution ala the USSR

Answer 10

I'm not completely sure, but I do think it had something to do with the wars that were going on. It gave you the right for protection against any member of the different armies or troops, to protect your home and family.