When the framers of our constitution constructed the Bill of Rights, they did so with the gravity and attentiveness it deserved. These “limitations” to government were to protect the natural rights of property and (most importantly) liberty of American citizens.
Among those rights is the right to keep and bear arms.
The second amendment was neither put in place to require everyone to carry weapons, nor put in place to ensure the availability of adequate hunting weapons. The second amendment, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights, was put in place to guarantee the personal freedoms necessary for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The framers believed the right to bear arms was the primary right by which all other rights could be protected.
Framer Thomas Jefferson said, “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.”
When our constitution was adopted, firearms were among the most lethal weapons available. Yet, there were no restrictions put in place on the types of weapons people could keep. Now, of course, man has developed weapons so lethal that firearms could be considered child’s play. We can literally kill hundreds of thousands with a small vial or a push of a button.
Do we need regulations? Of course we do. For example, I don’t think the right to bear arms covers weapons of mass destruction, but it does cover adequate weapons to protect our property and our liberty—at least for those who have not lost that right due to mental capacity or as a consequence for abusing that right. Don’t forget, guns are not the cause of violence anymore than forks are the cause of obesity. People kill; innate objects do not. It is our culture that has gone awry.
The first amendment ensures the right to free speech, but it is not a “free for all”. There are limitations and repercussions for abuse. The same consideration should be given to the second amendment. There should be limitations and repercussions for abuse. Most importantly, however, we should not give up our second amendment rights any easier than we would give up our first amendment rights.
George Mason was a huge advocate in establishing the right to bear arms, arguing, “...to disarm the people—that was the best and most effectual way to enslave them.” After all, wasn’t the American Revolution really a civil war—British citizens (colonists) fighting against what we considered a tyrant British government? How can we be certain we will never be faced that situation again?