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The Definition of the Second Amendment is not Difficult to Understand.

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Easily the most contested and debated Amendment to the United States Constitution is the Second Amendment which protects the rights of citizens to keep and bear arms, and protects the right to form militias.

When an individual is interpreting the Second Amendment, it is important to consider the circumstances under which that document was written, in order to better gain a grasp on it’s intentions and the definition of the Second Amendment.

The United States Constitution was written in order to create a new government after the American colonists had driven the British government out of the area by force of arms.

The Patriots were known to own weapons, as the era in which they lived was exceptionally dangerous and it was in the best interests of citizens to be armed, and in that time it was not uncommon for the government to call men to arms in a militia to protect their territory.

Most battles fought in North America prior to the Revolutionary War were fought primarily by ordinary citizens who were called to aid the local militia in a battle, and so it was commonly expected that every citizen have weaponry just in case.

After the Revolutionary War, the Patriots and Founding Fathers thought that the ability for free responsible citizens to bear firearms was so important, that they made it the Second Amendment and stated clearly “the right of the people to carry and bear Arms shall not be infringed”.

The obvious purpose of such a statement, when considering the historical implications of the period of which these men lived, and the events which took place in their lives, is that the Founders intended that all free citizens be armed for the sake of their own freedom.

Unfortunately, the definition of the Second Amendment has been twisted by politicians in recent decades.

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Definition of the Second Amendment

There are two official versions of the Second Amendment that are used by the United States government, and both are essentially the same with only slight punctuation and capitalization differences.

The Senate version reads as “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”.

Historically, this derives from English Common Law, where it was considered the fifth auxiliary right of Englishmen to bear arms for their personal defense and preservation against criminals and oppressive government.

Perhaps the definition of the Second Amendment would not be so controversial in the manner of which it is today, if critics were willing to take a look at the Common Law origins of the Second Amendment.

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Why is It Controversial?

Many people have become very critical of the Second Amendment, and others have argued that it’s meaning is different than what many people interpret it to be.

The average American tends to interpret the Second Amendment as protecting their right to bear arms, and to organize into State militias.

However many argue that this is not the case, although some of these arguments are genuine philosophical debates, many are not.

Often when people criticize the Second Amendment, is it because they either misunderstand it’s intentions or they do not understand the history from which it derived.

Many people believe that the Second Amendment is to protect hunter’s right to hunt, but that is not exactly the case as the history of the American Revolution shows as the Second Amendment was born out of a Revolutionary War where the people fought against an oppressive government.

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Protect the Second Amendment

Despite the controversial nature of the Second Amendment, finding a reasonable definition to understand it’s meaning is not too difficult.

The definition of the Second Amendment can be determined by first reading what it says, and understanding the meaning of it’s words.

Then, by taking a comprehensive look at the history from which it was born and considering the implications surrounding that history, we can better gain a grasp on the definition of the Second Amendment.

By realizing that the people whom wrote the Second Amendment had been fighting a life and death struggle with an oppressive government, it becomes easier to gain a grasp on their intentions.

People during the Revolutionary War were treated horribly, brutalized, and murdered by their government on various occasions.

So, it is no real surprise to see that they wrote an Amendment which protected the rights of citizens to bear arms in case those events transpired again.

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