Original Intent and Purpose of the Second Amendment

[FWiedner]

Original Intent and Purpose of the Second Amendment


The Second Amendment:

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 original intent and purpose of the Second Amendment was to preserve and guarantee, not grant, the pre-existing right of individuals to keep and bear arms. Although the amendment emphasizes the need for a militia, membership in any militia, let alone a well-regulated one, was not intended to be a prerequisite for exercising the right to keep arms.

The Second Amendment was meant to preserve and guarantee an individual right for a collective purpose. That does not transform the right into a "collective right." The militia clause was a declaration of purpose, and preserving the people's right to keep and bear arms was the method the framers chose to, in-part, ensure the continuation of a well-regulated militia.

Read the article in it's entirety at:

http://civilliberty.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guncite.com%2Fgc2ndpur.html

[PA-Joe]

If I recall correctly the Bill of Rights were originally proposed by the State s to protect the states from the new Federal Government. During the ratification process the Bill of Rights were changed to protect the people from the new State Government and to protect the states from the new Federal Government.

The intent was to keep the people armed, on par with and equal to the armarment level of the new governments, so that the people could revolt if they so determined.