A Well Regulated Militia

When the second amendment was proposed by James Madison and ratified in 1791 the opening phrase, “A well regulated militia”, meant something different than it is often times interpreted to mean today. Many people point to the opening phrase of the second amendment and say guns should be regulated or that it only applies to the military. If that is true then why does the last part of the second amendment say, “the right of the PEOPLE to keep and bear arms shall NOT be infringed“?

Language and meaning of words tends to change over time. The word “gay”, for example, seems to have its origins in 12th century England. At the time it’s meaning was “happy” or “joyful”. However, as early as the 1920’s the word began to be used to describe homosexual men. By 1955 the word officially acquired the new meaning. Prior to the 1920’s if you said “he is a gay man” it meant that the person you were describing was happy. Today you are describing a man with same-sex preference.

In the late 1700’s the term “well regulated” meant something was in proper working order. It had nothing to do with government oversight. For example, from the 1812 Oxford Dictionary, “”The equation of time … is the adjustment of the difference of time as shown by a well-regulated clock and a true sun dial.” In this case a “well regulated clock” means a clock that works properly.

In the landmark 2008 supreme court decision in the District of Columbia v. Heller case, the supreme court ruled that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects an individual’s right to keep and bear arms in the United States, unconnected with service in a militia, for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home, and that the District of Columbia’s handgun ban and requirement that lawfully owned rifles and shotguns be kept “unloaded and disassembled or bound by a trigger lock” violated this guarantee.

in 2022 the Supreme court ruled in the In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen case that states with strict limits on carrying guns in public violate the Second Amendment. This case was fighting against the State of New York’s “may issue” stance on concealed carry permits.

These two cases preserve the right of we, the people, not the military, police or other non-citizen groups to keep and bear arms in our homes and in public.