Pete Hall

It’s 2025 and this argument is still being made. Let’s end it… again… In order to understand the Second Amendment it is important to acknowledge that the right to bear arms precedes the ratification of the second amendment by at least a century in English law. In 1689 the English bill of rights recognized “That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law.” Sir William Blackstone, an English jurist, judge, and prominent founding era legal scholar explained the right to bear arms in his 1765 Commentaries on the Laws of England… In the chapter titled “Of the Absolute Rights of Individuals.” Blackstone asserted, “The fifth and last auxiliary right of the subject, that I shall at present mention, is that of having arms for their defense, suitable to their condition and degree, and such as are allowed by law.... And all these rights and liberties it is our birthright to enjoy entire;” The reason why this is important is because it was the precursor to the second amendment. This right, as described by Blackstone informs us about how the founders viewed the right to bear arms, as an Absolute Right of Individuals. The constitution was signed in 1787 and In 1791, the bill of rights was ratified, “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.” There is a slight difference between the 2A vs what the right permitted under English law. The crowns tyranny and repeated attempts to disarm colonists to stifle popular resistance, served as motivation for a more robust protection of the right in the new government. In 1803, American lawyer, law professor, and prominent founding era legal scholar, St George Tucker, compared the right to bear arms under English law vs the right as codified in the second amendment. In his annotations on Blackstone’s commentaries, which we referenced earlier, Tucker wrote. “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; and this without any qualification as to their condition or degree, as is the case in the British government.” Tuckers comments confirm the English version and the 2A as protecting an individual right, as was the case under English law, but makes a distinction in that the 2A doesn’t allow for restrictions of the right based on ones condition or degree. The right to bear arms as understood by the founding generation was an individual right. “Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American… The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people.” – Tench Coxe, The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788 Blackstone describes the purpose of the right to bear arms is as an auxiliary right that “serves principally as a barrier to protect and maintain inviolate the three great and primary rights, of personal security, personal liberty, and private property. Whether our rights are being violated by another individual, a group, or even the government, we have a right to defend ourselves. The tools suitable to this wide scale of self preservation is what the 2A sought to protect.. It is the duty of every American to be properly equipped and trained for their defense and the defense of their communities.