The Supreme Court and the right to bear arms

There are few issues in contemporary American society that commands as much response as does the issue of the 2nd amendment . Since the inception of the Bill of Rights in 1791 , the 2nd amendment has read "a well organized 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 has been a great deal of discussion over the language of the amendment . What exactly is a militia ? What has the courts said in the past about this issue

? Pro gun rights advocates have stressed the idea that the right to bear arms belongs to the people , whereas gun control advocates have stated that the 2nd amendment does not apply to those who are not part of a well organized militia which would mean a the vast majority of those Americans who currently and lawfully own a gun . Over the last hundred and twenty years , the Supreme Court has dealt these exact questions . Their initial findings , coupled with the fact that the Supreme Court , as of late , have been very reluctant to take any future 2nd amendment cases , preferring instead to rule on the side of stari decisis or " to let precedent remain " it seems unlikely , at least in the near future , that the ability of a lawful American to purchase and own a gun , will not be taken away , although future legislation aimed at curtailing the right of Americans to own guns through legislation aimed at protecting the safety of the general public , or some would say , is rather designed towards taking away one 's right to bear arms , will likely be seen in the near future . What is certain is the fact that despite the Supreme Court 's reaction to the issue as being resolved , the American people will continue to wrestle internally with the language of the 2nd amendment and to either agree or disagree with the ruling of the Supreme Court over the years

There were few attempts to attack the 2nd amendment until towards the end of Reconstruction . The South had lost the Civil War and as a result of their surrender and in an effort to ensure that African Americans would enjoy an expansion of their rights as read under the Constitution Union military rule was imposed upon the former Confederate States from 1865 until 1877 . In 1876 , as the North was growing tired of the effort one of the most important cases came before the Supreme Court which dealt with the 2nd amendment . In United States vs . Cruikshank (1876 African Americans sued for the right to carry guns , or at least to retain possession of their firearms . In the state of Louisiana , a number of the town 's people had become weary at the sight of former slaves having the right to carry guns . One night , more than a hundred local whites , gathered in to take these guns away from the African Americans who had possession of these...