Argumentative Essay: Keep And Bear Arms

The Second Amendment is one of the most widely debated amendments in the Bill of Rights, let alone the 27 Amendments ratified thus far. Argument has raged for centuries over the concept of gun control and one of the most deep seated arguments within this debate is the interpretation of the Second Amendment. The exact text of the Second Amendment reads “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.” Many gun control advocates interpret the phrase “keep and bear Arms” to mean that the Second Amendment was intended as a collective right, given to the states to allow them to raise militias to prevent tyrannical rule by the federal government. However, the Second Amendment was not meant by the Founding Fathers to be used as a collective right that allows states to arm their militia, rather it was meant to be an individual liberty, designed to protect the rights of the individual against the tyranny of the government. …show more content…
It stems from a long history of personal weapon ownership in England where citizens were permitted to carry weapons for purposes of a non-military nature. It is even one of the liberties given in the English Bill of Rights under Article VII. As many colonists came to the colonies, one of the reasons they came was to escape oppression. Some of this oppression included martial rule in the 17th century under Oliver Cromwell and attempts at Catholic conversion from King James II. Under James II, attempts were made to disarm the Protestant citizens of the country, against local legal practice. Once the Glorious Revolution occurred and William of Orange and Mary II were crowned in