Second Amendment's - Right to Bear Arm

Second Amendment's - Right to Bear Arm

The notion of the right to bear arms is one of the most debated issues on the legal as well as the political front in America. The Bill of Rights supports this particular right in the form of Second Amendment to the American Constitution. The Second Amendment has some advantages and disadvantages. The debate regarding the credibility of the amendment still continues to haunt the common American citizens. The paper will discuss and analyze the second amendment of the constitution, its historical development and its impact on the society.

The Second Amendment of the Constitution provides the individual citizen of the United States, the right to bear arms. It is one of the ten amendments passed on 15 December 1791, commonly known as "Bill of Rights. The codification of the right to bear arms in the Bill of Rights was influenced by the fear that the federal government would disarm the people to impose rules through a professional army or a militia (Winkler, 683-733). This is a controversial amendment and has met with considerable criticism over the last few years. On one hand, the proponents of the amendment have called for enhanced punishment in cases of gun violence, but they have provided no clue as to who should be penalized on offence of bearing a gun.

There are two views in relation to the reasons behind the promulgation of Second Amendment to the American Constitution. The first reason was to respond to England's military might. The military revolution during the 17th Century provided European nations, chiefly the United Kingdom to develop her military might against other rival nations. Similarly, France, Germany and other nations took steps towards developing their own armies (Vernick, 2021-2026).

During the American War of Independence in 1812, the ...