Right To Bear Arms Under The Constitution

Should our right to bear arms have limits?

According to the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, “fundamental rights” may include, but are not limited to, the right to vote, the right to run for public office, the right to marry or divorce, and the right to fairness in our criminal justice system.

Webster’s New World Law Dictionary defines a fundamental right as “A basic or foundational right, derived from natural law; a right deemed by the Supreme Court to receive the highest level of Constitutional protection against government interference”.

Our Constitution was originally written without any "Amendments", but we were not satisfied that these original words were clear enough to convey the actual intended purpose, so some changes were necessary and the "Amendments" were added. Since these "Amendments" can't really stand on their own, they must be a further explanation or clarification of some other part of the Constitution, right?

So what are these "Amendments" amending?

Let's take a look at the original Constitution:

Article I, Section 8 of our Constitution reads, in part:

"To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;"

Article II, Section 2, in part, reads:

"The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment."

So, what was this "militia" that is mentioned several times? In 1897, the states main protection came from the citizens, chiefly male, who were on the ready to be called into service to defend the freedoms of the states.

Now, let's take a look at the Second Amendment to our Constitution:

"Amendment II - 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."

Before we go any further, let's look at the very beginning of our Constitution:

Preamble to the U. S. Constitution

"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

The "Preamble" was an introductory statement explaining the purposes and the principals which this Constitution was meant to serve. The Second Amendment also has an introductory statement or a "Preamble" -

"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, . ."

"We the People" have the right to keep and bear arms to insure the "security of a free state".

Nowhere in our Constitution does it give anyone the "right" to have 5 shotguns, 3 assault rifles and 4 handguns in their gun cabinet in the den.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 2005 statistics on youth injury and violence indicate that firearms were the mechanism of injury in approximately 84% of homicides and 46% of suicides among children and adolescents aged 5-19 years.  It is only common sense to understand that even if everyone did have the fundamental right to bear arms, don’t we have a greater responsibility to protect our children?

The debate on gun ownership, like many other issues, will never be settled to the satisfaction of all American citizens. But hopefully, one day, we will have the ability and understanding to see our Constitution for what it was intended to be and not always second guess our founding fathers by forcing our Constitution to say what we would like.

We should all have the right to "keep and bear arms" for the protection and defense of our homes, our families, and our property, but who will make the decision as to when that protection and defense is necessary.

What do you think. I would like to hear what you have to say. Please join me on LinkedIn and Google+.

As a freelance writer, I write on many other topics outside government and politics. If you need some help writing those high quality blog posts, you can get in touch over here. - Ken