Most United States citizens can identify the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States as something to do with the right to keep and bear arms. If the discussion moves to the Bill of Rights to the Constitution the knowledge confidence of the typical citizen probably deteriorates. To fully understand the Second Amendment we must first understand the Bill of Rights.

The Constitution was written in 1787 and ratified when the ninth state, New Hampshire, ratified it on June 21, 1788. However, many Americans opposed the new government based on a popular pamphlet of the day which pointed out the lack of a bill of rights. Amending the new Constitution was not a priority, but the future President James Madison introduced a lengthy list of amendments. While the House passed 17, the Senate only passed 12 and on October 2, 1789 President Washington sent the dozen amendments approved by Congress to the states for ratification. Three-fourths of the states had ratified ten of these amendments by December 15, 1791. These amendments became the first ten amendments to the Constitution and are known as the “Bill of Rights”.

The first two on the list of a dozen were not ratified so the First Amendment has to do with religious freedom and freedom of speech and what was the third one is now the Second Amendment. These rights should be as seriously considered as the “right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration of Independence.

The Second Amendment:

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.

This right was not new as about a century earlier the Declaration of Rights of 1869 allowed the English citizens to possess arms for self-defense. The problem then was King George of England interfering with basic rights for the colonists. Just think about how history might have changed if the American colonists of Lexington and Concord did not keep and bear arms!

While hunting and gun sports come to mind, the basic right involved is that of self-defense. In many American cities today the response time for a 911 call needing police approaches ten minutes. Former Sheriff David Clark of Milwaukee was and is a strong proponent of concealed carry do to this response time delay. Some churches hesitate to have the Wisconsin Family Action Voter Guides because the Second Amendment is included in the candidate evaluation. They miss the point that the concern is not guns, but preservation of a Constitutional Right!

The National Rifle Association is the best known organization to advocate for the Second Amendment, but there are many others. Gun Owners of America and the Citizens Committee For the Right To Keep And Bear Arms are two other organizations to check for information or possible involvement. The Heritage Foundation has a 22-page “The Essential Second Amendment” pamphlet and some other related publications available on the subject. The MacIver Institute in Madison promotes individual freedom, personal responsibility and limited government which would be another good source.

Since it is election season, I am compelled to add conservative Republicans will follow the Rule of Law, stick with the Constitution, and protect or strengthen our Second Amendment Rights while the liberal Democrats will continue to put bureaucratic barriers in the way. I’ll close with just one example of the chaos and confusion concerning the Second Amendment. There is a shopping mall in Nashua, New Hampshire which has some gun friendly laws. However, part of the parking lot is across the state line in Massachusetts where gun laws are rather restrictive. So, obviously, if you carry be careful where you drive and park if you go shopping in a Nashua, New Hampshire mall!

Back to the election season, pick the candidates you are voting for very carefully as I repeat, most or all Democrats will continue to put bureaucratic barriers in the way of your Second Amendment rights, and probably a lot of other individual rights as well.