In the Colonial Declaration of Rights of October 19, 1765 it was complained that Kings had disarmed the people. Of course the colonists were by force of early circumstances bearers of arms. This prohibition upon the Nation means that it can never interfere with the people who make the militia of the States; and that therefore the States will always have the means to check by physical force any usurpation of authority not given to the Nation by the Constitution.

This right already existed. Maryland and Virginia had such provisions in their constitutions when the Constitutional Convention sat, as do all States at this time. These are prohibitions binding upon the States to preclude infringement of this right of the people by each of the individual States.

The Founders of our Nation and the Framers of the Constitution were well aware of the dangers of the tyranny and treason of a run-away governmental bureaucracy and had a very PRIMARY reason for the inclusion of the Second Amendment to the Constitution. Let's let them speak for themselves:

"Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence. From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events occurences and tendencies prove that to ensure peace, security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispenable. The very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all that's good." -- George Washington, Commanding General of the Continental Army, Father of Our Country and First President of the United States in a speech to Congress, January 7, 1790

"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in Government." -- Thomas Jefferson, Author of The Declaration of Independence, and Third President of the United States

"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms ... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants, they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man." -- Thomas Jefferson

"The highest number to which a standing army can be carried in any country does not exceed one hundredth part of the souls, or one twenty-fifth part of the number able to bear arms. This portion would not yield, in the United States, an army of more than twenty-five or thirty thousand men. To these would be opposed a militia amounting to near half a million citizens with arms in their hands, officered by men chosen from among themselves, fighting for their common liberties and united and conducted by governments possessing their affections and confidence. It may well be doubted whether a militia thus circumstanced could ever be conquered by such a proportion of regular troops. Besides the advantage of being armed, it forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. The governments of Europe are afraid to trust the people with arms. If they did, the people would surely shake off the yoke of tyranny, as America did. Let us not insult the free and gallant citizens of America with the suspicion that they would be less able to defend the rights of which they would be in actual possession than the debased subjects of arbitrary power would be to rescue theirs from the hands of their oppressors. -- James Madison, principal author of the Constitution, principal writer of The Federalist Papers, Fourth President of the United States, Mainstream Revolutionary and Militant.

"What, Sir, is the use of a militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty. . . .Whenever Governments mean to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise an army upon their ruins." - Rep. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, VP of the United States 1813-1814, spoken during floor debate over the Second Amendment, I Annals of Congress at 750, August 17, 1789

"It is not the function of the government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error." ---- U.S. supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson

For a more complete discussion of the Second Amendment to the Constitution see "The Constitution of the United States, Its Sources and Its Application"

It is of great interest to note that in the ensuing years since this Amendment was ratified that commas have been inserted after the words "Militia" and "Arms", providing misconstruction of a very explicit restriction on the legislatures and the government. These commas appear in virtually all presentations of the 2nd Amendment today, including the official NARA presentation, and in no early publication that we have found to date. The correct wording as presented to the People of the States, and their conventions for ratification, and from which they could not deviate, is shown in this image of the "True Bill" and also in The Federalist On The New Constitution, 1796, Page 16 showing the first 4 amendments. See also the discussion of the first twelve Amendment proposals.

In June 1999, I finally found a current Government presentation of the Constitution, sponsored by the United States Senate on the United States Government Printing Office web site, which has the 2nd amendment right... without the extra commas after the words Militia and Arms.

The interpretation of the words "Well Regulated" at the time that the Amendment was written was in the context of a field piece ("the militia of able bodied citizens, organized or not, is the "field piece" of the American people"). A well regulated field piece is fully manned, armed and equipped, aimed, accurate and ready to defend the rights and freedoms of the citizens. So also the description of a timepiece, "accurate, not deviating, precise and to the moment, in present time."

The second clause is the bar against any and all Federal actions by any branch thereof... executive, legislative or judicial.

The Second Amendment Stands as the Guarantor of All other Rights and of the Defense of the Constitution itself.

See also"WHY AN ARMED CITIZENRY?"
 

Declaration of Independence - 1776
Common Sense by Thomas Paine - 1776
Articles of Confederation - 1777
The Constitution of the United States, Its Sources and Its Application
Our Enemy, The State by A. J. Nock
The Classic Critique Distinguishing 'Government' from 'STATE'
Undermining The Constitution by Thom. J. Norton
A History of Lawless Government

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