That Every Man be Armed: The Evolution of a Constitutional RightThis is an authoritative study of the second amendment, using history and current-day analysis. It is one of the only scholarly works on the subject, but has proven widely accessible. Halbrook traces the origins of the Second Amendment back to ancient Greece and Rome, and then through the "freemen" movement in 18th-century England and France. He demonstrates that the framers of the Constitution were conscious of such history when they drafted the Second Amendment, and that the Second Amendment was clearly intended to allow possession of firearms not just for defense of personal life and property but also to prevent government infringement of human liberties. His meticulous, thorough scholarship demonstrates that the right to bear arms is as fundamental a right under the Constitution as freedom of speech and freedom of religion. |
Contents
Firearms Prohibition and Constitutional Rights | 3 |
Antebellum Interpretations | 4 |
The Common Law of England | 37 |
Copyright | |
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That Every Man be Armed: The Evolution of a Constitutional Right Stephen P. Halbrook Limited preview - 2013 |
Common terms and phrases
1st Sess absolute adopted American ammunition antebellum Aristotle armed populace Bacon's Rebellion bear arms Bill of Rights blacks Bodin carry arms Cicero cited citizens citizenship Civil Rights Act clause colored common law concealed weapons Congress Const convention debate Declaration of Rights deprivation disarm Dred Scott English federal Federalist firearms force Fourteenth Amendment framers freedmen freedom Gaius Marius guarantee handguns Henry included individual right infringed Justice keep and bear keep arms kill king legislation liberty Machiavelli ment military militia negro oppression organized person pistols Plato political possess arms privileges and immunities prohibition proposed protect punishment ratification recognized referred regulated militia republic Republican Revolution right to bear right to keep Roman Second Amendment seizure select militia self-defense Senator slavery slaves soldiers speech standing army statute supra note sword tion transl tyranny U.S. Constitution U.S. Supreme Court United Virginia well-regulated militia