The History of the Right to Bear Arms - The U.s. Constitution, The Right To Bear Arms, And The Militia

The Revolutionary War ended in 1783. In 1787, thirty-nine men gathered in Philadelphia to sign the newly written Constitution. Three men refused to sign because the document did not include a Bill of Rights. One reluctant signer protested that, without a Bill of Rights, Congress "at their pleasure may arm or disarm all or any part of the freemen of the United States."

By 1791 James Madison had written the ten amendments to the Constitution that are known as the Bill of Rights. He was influenced by state bills of rights and numerous amendment suggestions from the state conventions that ratified the Constitution. Overall, four basic beliefs were assimilated into the Second Amendment: the right of the individual to possess arms, the fear of a professional army, the dependence on militias regulated by the individual states, and the control of the military by civilians.

The ratifying state conventions offered similar suggestions about the militia and the right to bear arms. While New Hampshire did not mention the militia, it did state:

… No standing Army shall be Kept up in time of peace unless with the consent of three-fourths of the Members of each branch of Congress, nor shall Soldiers in Time of Peace be quartered upon private Houses without the consent of the Owners.

Another New Hampshire amendment read, "Congress shall never disarm any Citizen unless such as are or have been in Actual Rebellion." Maryland proposed five separate amendments, which Virginia consolidated by stating:

… The people have a right to keep and bear arms; … a well regulated Militia composed of the body of the people trained to arms is the proper, natural and safe defence of a free State. That standing armies in time of peace are dangerous to liberty, and therefore ought to be avoided, as far as the circumstances and protection of the community will admit; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to and governed by the Civil power.

The New York convention offered more than fifty amendments, including the following: "That the People have a right to keep and bear Arms; that a well regulated Militia, including the body of the people capable of bearing Arms, is the proper, natural and safe defense of a free state."

As early as 1776 Congress had advised the colonies to form new governments "such as shall best conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents." Within a year after the Declaration of Independence was signed, nearly every state had drawn up a new constitution. The constitutions of several states guaranteed the rights of individuals to bear arms but forbade the maintenance of a standing army. Pennsylvania's constitution ensured "that the people have a right to bear arms for the defense of themselves and the State; and as standing armies in the time of peace are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be kept up; and that the military should be kept under the strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power."

Because of their fear of tyranny and repression by a standing army, the colonists preferred state militias to provide protection and order. Such militias could also act as counterbalances against any national standing army. Some people believe that the individual right to bear arms was guaranteed by state laws providing for a militia made up of people trained to use arms.

The Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791. The Second Amendment states:

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.