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The second amendment to the Constitution grants citizens of the United States of America the right to bear arms. The reason behind the passing of the second amendment was to prevent the need for the United States to maintain a standing army. Many U.S citizens feared that if there were a standing army, the government would use soldiers to oppress citizens. This fear was generated because of the British troops occupying several parts of America at the time. The Quartering Act obliges U.S citizens to allow wandering troops to remain on their properties, causing unnecessary complications in the lives of many U.S colonists. These troops were viewed as a burden and citizens feared that members of a standing U.S army would abuse their liberties just as so. In order to prevent soldiers from causing harm to U.S citizens, the Framers decided that the government should only be allowed to raise full-time, paid army troops when needed to fight foreign opposition. For other needs such as protection from invasions, the government would rely on a citizen led militia. This militia would be made up of men supplying their own weapons in order to protect the nation.
The original purpose of the second amendment was to allow citizens to bear their own weapons when serving in the military forces in the United States. However, the most common interpretation is that the amendment grants all citizens the right to keep and bear arms. This amendment can be easily misunderstood because of lack of clarity. Legal scholars often argue that, because of the lack of clarity, the amendment is able to be interpreted in multiple ways. If I were to explain the second amendment to someone in conversation, I would explain that it grants all U.S citizens the right to bear arms. While I do not believe that this was the original purpose of the amendment, I do believe that this is how it reads. If I were to offer a slight change in the second amendment, I would suggest more specific wording in order to directly relay the purpose. However, because of recent events and increase in gun violence, I do not believe that average citizens should be offered the right to bear arms at all, and I would limit the amendment to those serving in governmental organizations such as the military or the police force.
Tags: 2nd-amendment, amendment, amendment-2, amendment-ii, calloway, ii, kellen, kellen-calloway, second, second-amendment, the, the-second-amendment
8 Responses to “The Second Amendment”
Aniya K.S.
You explained the Second Amendment really well, Kellen! I had no idea it was originally created to allow the bearing of arms in the context of creating a citizen-led militia. Is it possible that the interpretation of it allowing citizens the private bearing of arms is not accepted by all legal scholars?
c26mb1
Great video! I like your transitions and your voiceover, which was clear and easy to understand. One of my questions is: how does the Second Amendment engage with other rights from the Constitution, like the right to public safety?
Isabella
Hi Kellen, great video! What are your thoughts on a common contention with the Second Amendment being that, at the time it was written, firearms were not as dangerous as the ones we have today?
c26ae@dalton.org
Awesome job Kellen! I really liked the images you used. In light of recent and all too common gun violence, would you strike this clause entirely from the Constitution?
c26sk1
Nice video, Kellen! I really liked the format and structure of the video. Do you think that limiting the amendment so that only governmental organizations hold the right to bear arms would fully fix the issues of gun violence?
Amalia L.
Kellen, this was a really fun video to watch!! The images and gifs used were really effective at grabbing the attention of the viewer, while also staying relevant to the content being discussed. I found that the context in the video was really extensive and allowed me to properly understand the intention for the amendment as well as the interpretations. With the intention for this amendment in mind, I wonder about how these ideas haven’t become a larger topic of conversation in the debates over gun control today.
c26pt@dalton.org
I liked your use of photos in your slides; it was super fun to watch! One question I had was where specifically the second amendment is unclear and how you would clarify the unclear bits in your amendment.
Jacob Sorett
Very creative video. How has this changed with the decrease in militia overtime?