Second Amendment (Amendment II)

Last Updated on Friday, 24 July 2009 12:43 Written by Administrator Monday, 13 July 2009 15:54

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The Second Amendment (or Amendment II) gives the citizens of the United States to keep and bear arms and ensures that this right cannot be infringed by the Federal Government. It is an amendment made to the United States Constitution and is a part of the Bill of Rights.

Many law pundits consider the Second Amendment and rights it grants to the citizens to be one of the most controversial part of the Bill of Rights.

The Second Amendment states that:

"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."

What does the Second Amendment mean?

The Second Amendment has been interpreted in the following ways:

1) The Civilian militia interpretation: According to this, the Second Amendment is no longer valid. It was intended to protect the militia system of that era and since that system no longer exists in our time, the Second Amendment is not valid today.

2) The individual rights interpretation: This interpretation holds that every citizen has the right to bear arms and the government cannot infringe on that right. The right to bear arms is of the same order as the right to freedom and free speech.

3) The median interpretation: The interpretation states that individual citizens have the right to bear arms, but this right has restrictions because the Second Amendment was written by taking the militia situation of that era into consideration.