The History and Controversy of the Second Amendment in America

The 2nd Amendment is so hotly debated in part because of the order of its two clauses: The prefatory clause: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State” and the operative clause: “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

In this video, Learn Liberty aruges that its wording should have been reversed — and elucidates 8 facts about the 2nd Amendment that you might not have realized.

And for more on guns in America, see these posts on the Learn Liberty Blog:

CHAPTERS:
0:00 A Poorly Worded Amendment?
1:32 Fact #1: The roots of the 2nd Amendment can be traced to the English Bill of Rights of 1689.
3:37 Fact #2: The 2nd Amendment ALSO has roots in STATE constitutions.
5:59 Fact #3: The 2nd Amendment went through several drafts.
8:06 Fact #4: The 2nd Amendment has a “prefatory,” or “preface” clause, and an “operative” clause.
10:46 Fact #5: History has not looked kindly upon previous attempts to regulate guns.
12:33 Fact #6: The two major political parties used to be flipped on the interpretation and implementation of the 2nd Amendment.
14:40 Fact #7: There was another attack on the 2nd Amendment in 1994.
16:28 Fact #8: American police are increasingly militarized.
17:46 Last Thoughts

#2ndAmendment #FoundingFathers #gunrights

LEARN LIBERTY:

[FoeSho]

Let’s remember that all of the artillery pieces used by the Continental Army were PRIVATELY OWNED.

[odnamsrazor]

the Constitution allows US citizens to own warships. that's not even an Amendment, that's directly in the body of the Constitution itself. we are allowed to own, arm, crew and deploy warships. and the federal government can hire our warships for specific purposes.
.
Letters of Marque and privateering.

[savvycivvy]

The Founders were all highly educated men, it is not a writer issue, it is a reader issue. This should not be “controversial” nor up for debate.

[WhoIsJohnGaltt]

Sure bro. As if “shall not be infringed” can’t be understood for thousands of years. There ain’t not “but if…” there

[phyiscalsteam]

Our gammar and how we say s*** has evolved a lot
Read a book from 100 years ago
Totally different of how we do it today
Let alone a few hundred years ago

It's like reading Shakespeare and complaining how he doesn't write like we do today
It's a reader problem not a writer problem

[reidwhaley]

The first half is a preface or context to compliment the second half.
The right of the People to bear arms shall not be infringed BECAUSE it is necessary for preventing or driving out a tyrannical body, either foreign or domestic.

[Gravedigger]

Your reading comprehension is at a first grade level. So I'll make this simple.
We the people are the militia. We have the right to keep and bear the very arms available to the government, in order to protect this nation and her people from said government or the hostel intentions of another, This ability to keep and bear arms of any kind cannot be curtailed by the government for any reason.

Any afront to the second amendment is a direct attack on the security of America and is nothing short of treason.

[carlsteffens]

Just ignoring that's not all that james Madison wrote for the 2nd amendment, those are just the 4 lines Congress ratified as the 2nd amendment

[Chaos]

"The right of the PEOPLE to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" is simple and direct language. The only people harping about the militia are people who want to infringe upon that right.

[inigomontoya]

We have to read this in context. The States were, for all intents and purposes, independent countries. Collectively they agreed not to have their own armies, relying on a federal military for protection. So if they aren't going to have their own armies, who is going to protect them from a tyrannical fedgov? "The militia". How can you have a militia if the fedgov has disarmed the populace? The fedgov is not authorized by the Constitution to regulate arms - enter the 10A - but that wasn't enough assurance for Madison, et al., so they ratified the 2A making their intent crystal clear - except to those who want to disarm people because they mean to do things to them for which they ought to swing.

[cerneysmallengines]

the people are the militia. it is saying that with the goal of keeping the people as the militia, the right of those people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. the militia of the revolutionary was the common folk. you had farmers, lawyers, rope makers, sailors, tailors, everyone chiming in to help. hell, paul revere was a silver smith, he wasn't a "soldier". he was a common person stepping up when the need arose to perform a service to his country.

and the same holds true today. let's say that china breached our shores tomorrow. the common person would have the weapons, training and know-how to operate that weapon I'm a manner capable of defending our country.

this actually happened with the war of 1812. that's not something they teach about in school

[lv]

If you’re afraid of guns and defending your rights, by all means remain vulnerable and unarmed

[ThomasNux]

What part of "the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed" do you not understand?.. is it only poorly written because it means what you don't like?

[Engineer]

The 10th Amendment Center Channel is clearer on this issue. Self defense is an inherent human right that underpins all others. Period. Full stop.

[Sand_superglue]

They used to hunt people down for questioning the second Amendment. To much talking.

[justinvankoughnett]

Sounds pretty clear to me. What part are you having trouble with? It’s always good to ask questions.

[ghostrazgriz_blaze]

Don't forget to draw the correlation between the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of the Rights of Man.

[y]

There is no debate, shall not infringed

[carultch]

Look at the second amendment's scorecard, and you'll know why.

[Sand_superglue]

Sworn oath by Anyone who stands for the people guns, glory and God f*** the rest no more explaining.
That's all you need to know about second amendment period