This essay is about the Second Amendment and whether its meaning was for personal gun use or military gun use. It is based on the book "Whose Right to Bear Arms Did the Second Amendment Protect?"

When the Constitution was first created, it lacked a bill of rights. The Anti-federalists believed that a bill of rights was necessary to protect the rights of the American citizens, so they used this as their reason for opposing the ratification of the Constitution. Although the Federalists thought that it was pointless to include one, James Madison went ahead and wrote up a properly worded Bill of Rights. By doing this, he hoped to quiet …

…taxes, the militia from any state would be sent to destroy your farm or even kill you. (106) But, James Harrington, a seventeenth-century republican theorist, explains the fact that with the individual citizens armed, they have the capabilities to join together, create their own militia, and fight for their liberty. Thousands of men will be more powerful than the standing army because they are willing and able to go into battle to defend their personal rights. (31)