To understand the Second Amendment, one must consider life in 1776 and the foundations of this country.
On the night of April 18, 1775, British troops were going to Lexington to arrest John Hancock and Sam Adams. They were then going off to Concord to seize the munitions held by the Patriots. The Minutemen, a group of farmers and laborers, met the British and the "shot heard around the world" was fired. The Framers of the Constitution knew the importance of keeping the people armed to fight against tyrannical governments.
The Constitution gives the government the right to have a Navy and Army in Article 1. The people obtain the rights from the Bill of Rights. The framers did not put this ever-so-important amendment in the Constitution to protect people's hunting or sport shooting rights. The Framers put the Second Amendment into the Constitution so the people could protect themselves from a tyrannical government. Imagine if the British had been successful in confiscating the armaments held by the Minutemen.
It is the right of every American, and this is a foundational principle of being American, to have armaments to defend ourselves against the government. At the writing of the Constitution, armaments were rifles, pistols, knives, hatchets, bayonets and cannons.
The right to hold and bear arms means the government cannot and should not take away the ability of the populace to revolt.
CHARLES DEVOE JR.
Mayfield