The Evolution of the Second Amendment: The Right to Bear Arms Then and Now

Owning guns in America is a constitutional right. The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution says, "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." These twenty-seven words written into the Constitution have sparked a two-sided debate over the last 200 years. The interpretation of this amendment has raised heated debate between the groups supporting the Second Amendment …

…Thomas Jefferson wrote: "What country can preserve its liberties if its ruler are not warned from time to time that its people preserve the right of resistance. Let them take arms." <Tab/> Bibliography Bellesiles, Michael. "Arms and the Man." The Economist 3 July 1999. Kennett, Lee and Anderson, James L. "The Gun in America: The Origins of a National Dilemma." Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1975. Woods, Geraldine. The Right to Bear Arms. F, Watts, 1986.