Background to the Second Amendment
1. Draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, May 1776. In May of 1776, American independence had not yet been declared but fighting had already occurred in Massachusetts. In Virginia, the royal legislative assembly (the House of Burgesses) had been superseded by the Virginia Provincial Convention. The Provincial Convention drew up an 18-section Declaration of Rights that was soon published in many newspapers. Later, in June, a 16-section draft was approved by the convention, but it is from the better-known, earlier draft that the following section is taken. [Note: the June version is primarily remembered because, at the suggestion of a young James Madison, the promise of religious toleration was replaced by the right of religious freedom.]
Section 15. That a well regulated militia, composed of a body of the people, trained in arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defence of a free state; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided, as dangerous to liberty; and that, in all cases, the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.
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2. Pennsylvania Declaration
of Rights
(August 1776). Pennsylvania had the most "radical" (Whig) constitution
and perhaps the broadest statement of individual rights to be found among
the colonies/states that created constitutions in 1776 and 1777.
Section 13. That the people have a right to bear arms, for the defence 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 strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.
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3. Declaration of the
Rights of the Inhabitants of Massachusetts (March 1780).
Massachusetts was the last state, among those that drew up constitutions
in the wake of independence, to do so, in part because the citizens rejected
the initial draft and insisted on a declaration of rights.
Section XVII. The people have a right to keep and bear arms for the common defence. And as in time of peace armies are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be maintained without the consent of the legislature; and the military power shall always be held in an exact subordination to the civil authority, and be governed by it.
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4. Bill of Rights of
the United States Constitution (1791):
Article II: 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 abridged.