EDMOND —
James Madison of Virginia, America’s fourth president, drafted the Second Amendment for presentation to Congress. As a founder, he was aware of Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England, which describes the right to bear arms as “… for self-preservation and defence” and self-defense as “… the natural right of resistance and self-preservation, when the sanctions of society and laws are found insufficient to restrain the violence of oppression.” Madison also personally experienced the danger of the large British army quartered in America, which appropriated personal property, usurped the right of self-defense and seized colonial arms in order to control the colonies.
With his roots in a farming family, Madison knew and understood the value of a gun on the frontier for protection and for food. He further respected the contributions of the militia to the defense of America. While not a militiaman, he must have enjoyed shooting, because he boasted of his ability to hit a small target at a great distance. Madison also knew that many of the state constitutions in America included the individual right to bear arms. Pennsylvania’s constitution, adopted in 1776, stated in part, “That the people have a right to bear arms for the defense of themselves and the state; ….”
On the floor of Congress, June 8, 1789, Madison introduced his declaration of rights, which included, “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country: But no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person.” Madison’s wording had the clear intent that “to keep and bear arms” is a personal right of “the people.” His wording also protected the new nation from the costs and dangers of a large standing army by granting states a well-functioning militia capable of responding for state and national defense.
After his proposed amendment came out of congressional review in its final form for the states to ratify, it read, “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.”
The only provision eliminated by the review committee was that relative to conscientious objectors. The personal right to bear arms and the right of states to have militias remained intact, for inclusion in the Bill of Rights. “The Federalist Papers” reported, “Americans have the right and advantage of being armed unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.” (“The Federalist,” No. 46 at 243- 244)
Historically, the Bill of Rights, including the Second Amendment, arose out of requests to Congress from the states, for greater restrictions on the federal government in order to protect key unalienable rights of the people from government interference. A full review of the Second Amendment and related history clearly shows this particular right to “keep and bear arms” is an individual right. Such a concise historical record makes one wonder how any of the Justices of the Supreme Court could vote against this right in D.C. v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago.
DON M. POWERS, an Edmond resident, is an attorney and frequently teaches U.S. Constitution classes.
THE DETAILS
independence facts
Eight of the original states enacted their own bills of rights prior to the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. The following states included an arms-rights provision in their state constitutions: Virginia (June 12, 1776), Delaware (Sept. 11, 1776), Pennsylvania (Sept. 28, 1776), Maryland (Nov. 11, 1776), North Carolina (Dec. 18, 1776), Vermont (July 8, 1777), Massachusetts (Oct. 25, 1780) and New Hampshire (June 2, 1784).
