History
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.
The second amendment was ratified in December of 1791, and it gave the right of owning and bearing arms to U.S. citizens. Since the Revolutionary War was just won by Americans using guns and other arms to defeat the English, the right of owning firearms was given to citizens to give the opportunity to fight back against a tyrannical government. Since the ratification of the second amendment there have been many different interpretations of the second amendment. There have been two sides to the argument on these interpretations on believing that it was the collective right and the other believing it was the individual right to bear arms.
The collective side believes that the right to keep and bear arms is given to states to keep and train a formal militia which can be used to help defend against an oppressive federal government. The individual side believes that the second amendment does not only apply to militias but also is gives to protect individual rights to bear arms to defend themselves from danger.
the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
The second amendment was ratified in December of 1791, and it gave the right of owning and bearing arms to U.S. citizens. Since the Revolutionary War was just won by Americans using guns and other arms to defeat the English, the right of owning firearms was given to citizens to give the opportunity to fight back against a tyrannical government. Since the ratification of the second amendment there have been many different interpretations of the second amendment. There have been two sides to the argument on these interpretations on believing that it was the collective right and the other believing it was the individual right to bear arms.
The collective side believes that the right to keep and bear arms is given to states to keep and train a formal militia which can be used to help defend against an oppressive federal government. The individual side believes that the second amendment does not only apply to militias but also is gives to protect individual rights to bear arms to defend themselves from danger.
Supreme Court Rulings
In 1876 in the case U.S. v. Cruikshank one of the first supreme court cases involving the second amendment involved members of the Ku Klux Klan prohibiting black citizens to certain freedoms such as the right to assembly and the right to bear arms. As part of the ruling the court said that the right of an individual to bear arms was not guaranteed under the constitution. In the case Presser v. Illinois, which took place ten years later, the ruling was affirmed when the court ruled that the second amendment only limited the federal government from prohibiting gun ownership not states. In 1894 the issue came up again in the Supreme Court in the case Miller v. Texas when Franklin Miller a Dallas native sued the state of Texas for not allowing him to conceal carry a weapon arguing that he had the right to carry under and that it was protected under the second amendment.
In all three cases that the court heard before 1900 the court ruled that the Bill of Rights and the second amendment does not ban states from setting their own rules and laws on gun ownership.
The last case that the supreme court ruled on until recently was U.S. v. Miller which took place in 1939 when Jack Miller and Frank Layton were arrested for carrying an unregistered sawed-off shotgun across state lines. This had been prohibited for the past five year when the National Firearms Act had been enacted. In the case Miller argued that the National Firearms Act was violating his second amendment rights. The court disagreed.
The first case since the took place in 2008 in the case of the District of Columbia v. Heller. In the case Dick Heller challenged D.C.'s handgun ban. The Supreme Court ruled for the first time that individuals who were not part of a state militia did have the rights to bear arms despite state laws
For more information on the history of the second amendment click here.
In all three cases that the court heard before 1900 the court ruled that the Bill of Rights and the second amendment does not ban states from setting their own rules and laws on gun ownership.
The last case that the supreme court ruled on until recently was U.S. v. Miller which took place in 1939 when Jack Miller and Frank Layton were arrested for carrying an unregistered sawed-off shotgun across state lines. This had been prohibited for the past five year when the National Firearms Act had been enacted. In the case Miller argued that the National Firearms Act was violating his second amendment rights. The court disagreed.
The first case since the took place in 2008 in the case of the District of Columbia v. Heller. In the case Dick Heller challenged D.C.'s handgun ban. The Supreme Court ruled for the first time that individuals who were not part of a state militia did have the rights to bear arms despite state laws
For more information on the history of the second amendment click here.