Second Amendment - Bearing Arms

"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 are no defintive resoultion in courts of what the Second Amendment exactly protects because sometimes depending on the firearm we cannot say that the Second Amendment guarentees the rights to bear and keep such an instrument like a shotgun that has a barrel of less than 18 inches in length. There were many cases againest other states that dealt with bearing arms and what rights it protects to handling and using guns.

The Second Amendment preserves and guarantees an individual right for a collective purpose. The militia clause was a declaration of purpose, and preserving the people's right to keep and bear arms was the method the framers chose to, in-part, ensure the continuation of a well-regulated militia. There is no contrary evidence from the writings of the Founding Fathers, early American legal commentators, or pre-twentieth century Supreme Court decisions, indicating that the Second Amendment was intended to apply solely to active militia members

In the year of  1803, St. George Tucker, a lawyer,  Revolutionary War militia officer, legal scholar, and later a U.S. District Court judge who had been appointed by James Madison in the year of 1813, wrote of the Second Amendment:

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.

In the appendix to the Commentaries, Tucker elaborates further:

This may be considered as the true palladium of liberty... The right of self-defense is the first law of nature; in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible. Whenever standing armies are kept up, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction. In England, the people have been disarmed, generally, under the specious pretext of preserving the game: a never failing lure to bring over the landed aristocracy to support any measure, under that mask, though calculated for very different purposes. True it is, their bill of rights seems at first view to counteract this policy: but the right of bearing arms is confined to protestants, and the words suitable to their condition and degree, have been interpreted to authorise the prohibition of keeping a gun or other engine for the destruction of game, to any farmer, or inferior tradesman, or other person not qualified to kill game. So that not one man in five hundred can keep a gun in his house without being subject to a penalty.

Not only are Tucker's remarks solid evidence that the militia clause was not intended to restrict the right to keep arms to active militia members, but he speaks of a broad right – Tucker specifically mentions self-defense.
Tucker has been cited in over 40 cases, you can find one of Tucker's major cases in virtually every Supreme Court era.  (Source: The Second Amendment in the Nineteenth Century)

There are 3 ways the Second Amendment is usually interpreted to deny it was intended to protect an individual right to keep and bear arms:

• It protects a state's right to keep and bear arms.
• The right is individual, but limited to active militia members because the militia clause narrows the right's scope.
• The term "people" refers to the people collectively, rather than the people as individuals

Source: http://www.law.cornell.edu/anncon/html/amdt2_user.html#amdt2_hd1

            http://www.guncite.com/gc2ndpur.html

What is the whole history of the 2nd Amendment that has to do with Guns and Laws?

The second amendment gives you the rights to keep and bear arms. In other words protect yourself if attacked within the home.
The following purposes for the rights to bear arms or the right to arm are:

deterring undemocratic government;

repelling invasion

suppressing insurrection

facilitating a natural right of self-defense;

participating in law enforcement;

enabling the people to organize a militia system,

These are considered most important and most considered.

 The rights to own a gun is not based on the second amendment, with or without the second amendment individuals would still have the rights to posess a gun, firearm and etc.

There was compromise and conflict in Congress while producing the Bill of right:
James Madison initial proposal for a bill of rights was brought to the floor of the House of Representatives on June 8, 1789, during the first session of Congress. The initial proposed passage relating to arms was:

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.

On July 21, Madison again raised the issue of his Bill and proposed a select committee be created to report on it. The House voted in favor of Madison's motion, and the Bill of Rights entered committee for review. The committee returned to the House a reworded version of the Second Amendment on July 28. On August 17, that version was read into the Journal:

A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, being the best security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; but no person religiously scrupulous shall be compelled to bear arms

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

Background Information on Guns and the Law

1) Why are guns and the law so important?

Guns and the Law are very important because they help the police force or the people that have the rights to own a gun protect themselves and others for self defense and saving people's lives.
2) What impact do they have on the society?

 They have a strong impact on the society today because people that are not even allowed to have guns have it anyhow, just to shoot around and killl people for no reason. Guns are one of the major death causes to why innocents are dying every day for no reason because of carelessness and people who just carry around guns for no reason.
3) What do you need in order to have legal rights to carry a gun around?

You need a legal permit issued by the govenment stating that you are allowed to carry a gun at all times for protection and whatever else reason you have it for. Also called the fire-arm license.

4) What is a guns purpose?

 To protect and defend.
5) What history do guns have?

Alaska is the first state to adopt carry laws mimicking Vermont's (normally referred to as "Vermont Carry"), in which no license is required to carry a handgun either openly or concealed. However, permits are still issued to residents for purposes such as reciprocity with other states^[15] and exemption from the Federal Gun Free School Zone Act.^[16] The term "Alaska Carry" has been used to describe laws which require no license to carry handguns openly or concealed but licenses are still available for those who want them. Some city ordinances do not permit concealed carry without a concealed carry license, but these have been invalidated by the recent state preemption statute.^[17] Note: The Federal Gun Free School Zone Act of 1995 severely limits where an unlicensed person may carry.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_the_United_States_(by_state)

6) Who was the first to adapt guns?
Alaska was the first to adapt guns.

7) How old do you have to be in order to carry guns?

21 for a Hand Gun.
18 for a Rifle or Shotgun.
8) What are the consquences of carrying a gun without a licscese?

Years in Jail or even death.

Introductory to Guns and the Law

"Are there too many or not enough guns in the U.S.?"
I am interested in this topic because I want to elaborate my opinion on whether or not if there are too many guns in the U.S and not and whether or not the law enforces it well.

"Gun laws in the United States vary from state to state and are independent of, though sometimes broader or more limited in scope than, existing federal firearms laws. Some U.S. states have also created so-called assault weapon bans that are independent of, though often similar to, the expired federal assault weapons ban. The state level bans vary significantly in their form, content, and level of restriction. Forty-four states have a provision in their state constitutions similar to the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights. The exceptions are California, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, and New York; however, the statutory civil rights laws of New York contain a provision virtually identical to the Second Amendment.[1][2] As well, the Supreme Court of the United States has held that the Second Amendment applies to all state governments and their political subdivisions.[3]
Firearm license-holders are subject to the firearm laws of the state they are in, not the state in which the permit was issued. Reciprocity between states exists for certain licenses, such as concealed carry permits. These are recognized on a state-by-state basis. For example, Arizona recognizes a Nevada permit, but Nevada does not recognize an Arizona permit. Florida issues a license to carry both concealed weapons and firearms, but others license only the concealed carry of firearms. Some states do not recognize out of state permits to carry a firearm at all, so it is important to understand the laws of each state when traveling with a handgun.[4]
When planning a trip it can be very confusing to match the concealed carry weapon permit to the state laws. John Thune of South Dakota introduced a national reciprocity bill, but it has never been able to advance out of Senate committees. Checking with each state's legal page is important. There are travel tools that may help shorten the search time.[5]
In many cases, state firearms laws can be considerably less restrictive than federal firearms laws. This does not confer any de jure immunity against prosecution for violations of the federal laws. However, state and local police departments are not legally obligated to enforce federal law."
- Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_the_United_States_(by_state)