The Evolution of the Second Amendment: The Right to Bear Arms Then and Now

Owning guns in America is a constitutional right. The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution says, "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." These twenty-seven words written into the Constitution have sparked a two-sided debate over the last 200 years. The interpretation of this amendment has raised heated debate between the groups supporting the Second Amendment …showed first 75 words of 1087 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1087 total…Thomas Jefferson wrote: "What country can preserve its liberties if its ruler are not warned from time to time that its people preserve the right of resistance. Let them take arms." <Tab/> Bibliography Bellesiles, Michael. "Arms and the Man." The Economist 3 July 1999. Kennett, Lee and Anderson, James L. "The Gun in America: The Origins of a National Dilemma." Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1975. Woods, Geraldine. The Right to Bear Arms. F, Watts, 1986.