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There is probably no subject in the Constitution of the United States of America that is debated more in the present day than the Second Amendment. To some, this amendment is seen as giving citizens the ultimate right to own guns as they see fit. To others, it’s seen as something meaning that citizens have a right to bear arms in the service of our country and not as an unlimited right to own arms as one sees fit. Still others ignore the Second Amendment entirely when trying to pursue their policy of abolishing guns. Therefore, I shall now attempt to explain what the Second Amendment really says about owning guns. Keep in mind that this article is meant to be INFORMATIVE and, as such, will attempt to be as neutral and unbiased as possible using only the word and letter of the Constitution and various official court rulings regarding the Second Amendment.

To begin with, let us first examine what the Second Amendment actually says. We’ve all heard various spliced versions of it throughout our lives, but it is essential to read the complete amendment in order to understand it fully:

“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.” [1]

Okay, so now that we’ve established what it literally says, it’s time to decode what it actually means.

The first part of the Second Amendment makes it clear that the amendment is for creating a strong, “well regulated Militia”. Let us therefore consider what the term militia means for to understand the Second Amendment better. Dictionary.com defines militia as such:

1. a body of citizens enrolled for military service, and called out periodically for drill but serving full time only in emergencies.

2. a body of citizen soldiers as distinguished from professional soldiers. [2]

Given this definition, it’s plain to see that the militia is composed of civilians who are members of an auxiliary-type wing of the military itself. Let us now consider a more authoritative definition of militia. The Militia Act of 1903 defines militia in two ways. The first is the organized militia which is the official name for the National Guard and the Naval Militia. The second definition of the Militia Act of 1903 is the reserve or unorganized militia. This branch of the militia consists of every able-bodied, male American citizen between the ages of 17 and 45. [3] [4] Given this, a good majority of the American male population is a member of this pool of unorganised militiamen..

Now that we’ve established exactly what and who the militia is, let us move on to the next part of the Second Amdendment.

“[…] The right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” [1]

The first two words of this section are “the right”. That means that whatever follows next is not a privilege or gift, but a right. “Of the people” is the next part of this section. Although I’m sure we all know what “the people” means, to give a brief definition based upon all of the numerous other times the words “the people” appear in United States law, it is safe to say that “the people” refers to the citizens of the United States of America as a whole and not to one population of citizens but to citizenry as a whole. Therefore, “the people” in the Second Amendment is obviously referring to American citizens as a whole. To quote the United States Supreme Court in the case United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez:

“This suggests that “the people” refers to a class of persons who are part of a national community or who have otherwise developed sufficient connection with this country to be considered part of that community.” [5]

Therefore, it seems absurd that the Second Amendment could be referring only to the military’s right to bear arms instead of American citizenry as a whole. Therefore, we’ve now established WHO has the right to “keep and bear arms” (US citizens as a whole). Next, let us establish what it means to “keep and bear arms”.

The final part of this section is “to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed”. Many people commonly cite definitions of bearing arms referring to a military sense of the word. Indeed, dating back to its earliest known use in the epic poem Beowulf, the term bear arms has always referred to using arms (weapons of course, not the bodily limbs) in a military sense. This usage of the term “bear arms” is furthermore the one supported by the United States government in regards to the Second Amendment.

To quote the Tennessee Supreme Court (Amyette v. State) on this terminology:

“A man in the pursuit of deer, elk, and buffaloes might carry his rifle every day for forty years, and yet it would never be said of him that he had borne arms; much less could it be said that a private citizen bears arms because he has a dirk or pistol concealed under his clothes, or a spear in a cane.” [6]

Therefore, it is true that bearing arms only refers to using arms in a military sense. However, one key word that is overlooked by almost all anti-gun supporter is the verb “to keep” that precedes the word “bear”. Therefore, while the words “bear arms” only refers to a military sense, the verb “to keep” does not. To quote the United States Supreme Court in the case District of Columbia v. Heller:

“We think “keep” is a straightforward term that implies ownership or possession of a functional weapon by an individual for private use.” [7]

Therefore, while the right to BEAR arms does inherently and always refer to using arms in a military sense, the right to KEEP does not. Given this authoritative definition of “to keep”, it is impossible to deny that United States citizens are entitled the RIGHT, not privilege, to own arms. Anything to the contrary is contrary to both the spirit and the word and letter of the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.

While there are guaranteed to be debates on regulating what types of arms are legal, licensing and other REGULATIONS of arms, the right “to keep and bear arms” is inalienable.

Works Cited

[1] http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rights

[2] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/militia

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Militia_Act_of_1903&oldid=177729314

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Militia_%28United_States%29&oldid=193866810

[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_v._Verdugo-Urquidez&oldid=189842367

[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution&oldid=194525269

[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=District_of_Columbia_v._Heller&oldid=194441531