Second Amendment

Jessica Rutherford

Mr. Henry

English 12

December 1

Second Amendment

Every American who obeys the the laws should have the rights to the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment gives the citizens of America the right to bear arms in order to protect themselves. Not everyone in the U.S. believes that this right is a good thing. The argument of whether we should be able to bear arms is almost as old as people arguing over whether they should vaccinate their child or not. Some believe that this right is dangerous. Putting this right under the scope I would say that it would be even more dangerous to not have this in the Bill of Rights.

        To start off with, if you are not familiar with what the Second Amendment is about here is the full definition- “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the rights of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." This amendment was originally made up for the Bill of Rights to allow citizens to have full possession of firearms. Every American has their own opinions. Alexander Hamilton  “The constitution shall never be construed...to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.”

The controversy of whether people should be able to bear arms has been an ongoing argument for as far back as the Bill of Rights has been around. There have been many cases over this topic. One of the main cases that made an effect to the Second Amendment was the case DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA V.S HELLER. The summary of this case was that the Respondent Heller was a  special officer. As a result of this he had authorization to carry (handgun) while on duty. When he went to register to carry in his own home he was denied. Eventually  he filed a suit in the Federal District Court of the District of Columbia seeking to enjoin the city from enforcing the bar on the registration of handguns, the licensing requirement insofar as it violated the Second Amendment. In court Heller states “[T]he people,’ refers to all members of the political community, not an unspecified subset.”. This is a great quote from the court case that gets the point out there in a short and sweet sentence. The case ruled that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms.