Historical Analysis

""The phrase 'well-regulated' was in common use long before 1789, and remained so for a century thereafter. It referred to the property of something being in proper working order. Something that was well-regulated was calibrated correctly, functioning as expected. Establishing government oversight of the people's arms was not only not the intent in using the phrase in the 2nd amendment, it was precisely to render the government powerless to do so that the founders wrote it.""

Quote by "Well-Regulated" Definition on historical usage

""That article of the constitution of the United States, respecting the militia, expressly directs, that Congress shall 'provide for arming' the militia. They have not done it. The National Legislature have neglected what they ought have done the moment it was in their power, to have apportioned arms, accoutrements, &c. to the amount, at least, of one-sixth of the number of the enrolled militia; established arsenals for their preservation, with magazines of powder and ball, and camp equipage, &c. But, instead of doing this, Congress, by their militia law of 1792, order every citizen enrolled to provide himself with arms, &c. and in five years require all muskets to have bores sufficient for balls of the eighteenth part of a pound... The amendment of the constitution of the United States, cited, secures 'the right of the people to keep and bear arms;' nor will the constitution of the United States, or the rights of the States, or of the people, be infringed, and I am very confident not endangered, if the concurrent authority of the National Government is exercised to provide arms, establish magazines, &c. and to arm indeed the great body of the militia of the United States.""

Quote by Governor Joseph Bloomfield on congressional militia duty

""The need for community security had produced a traditional duty to be armed at English law, but it took the religious and political turmoil of seventeenth-century England to transform that duty into a political right. The attempts by Stuart Kings Charles II and James II to disarm large portions of the population, particularly Protestants and suspected political opponents, met with popular resistance and helped implant into English and later American constitutional sensibilities the belief that the right to possess arms was of fundamental political importance. These efforts led to the adoption of the seventh provision of the English Bill of Rights in 1689: 'That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law.'""

Quote by English Bill of Rights (1689) on historical foundation

""10 U.S. Code § 246 - Militia: composition and classes. (a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard. (b) The classes of the militia are— (1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and (2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.""

Quote by Modern US Code on militia definition

""To understand what the framers' intended the Second Amendment to accomplish, it is necessary to examine their world and their view of the right to bear arms as one of the traditional 'rights of Englishmen.' The English settlers who populated North America in the seventeenth century were heirs to a tradition over five centuries old governing both the right and the duty to be armed. At English law the idea of an armed citizenry responsible for the security of the community had long coexisted, perhaps somewhat uneasily, with regulation of the ownership of arms, particularly along class lines. The Assize of Arms of 1181 required the arming of all free men.""

Quote by English Legal Heritage on framers' intent

""The right of self defense rests upon a law of necessity. It is the natural and inalienable right of every human being, and it is to be held sacred and inviolable by any law of human or civil institution. It does not depend upon any law of society. It is derived from a higher source; is coeval with man's natural being; and hence it is with truth and reason said that self-preservation is the first law of nature.""

Quote by Natural Law on self defense

""The right to keep and bear arms has become controversial in the late twentieth century, yet for much of our history the right was extolled as a fundamental cornerstone of American liberty and one that could not be denied free people. This widespread agreement occurred in part because of the frontier conditions that existed from the colonial period through much of the nineteenth century. The role of privately owned arms in achieving American independence, particularly in the early years of the Revolution, strengthened this consensus.""

Quote by Historical Analysis on second amendment context

""Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms... The right of citizens to bear arms is just one guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard, against the tyranny which now appears remote in America but which historically has proven to be always possible.""

Quote by Hubert Humphrey on modern perspective

""THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES POSSESSES NO POWER TO REGULATE, OR INTERFERE WITH THE DOMESTIC CONCERNS, OR POLICE OF ANY STATE: IT BELONGS NOT TO THEM TO ESTABLISH ANY RULES RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF PROPERTY; NOR WILL THE CONSTITUTION PERMIT ANY PROHIBITION OF ARMS TO THE PEOPLE; OR OF PEACEABLE ASSEMBLIES BY THEM, FOR ANY PURPOSES WHATSOEVER, AND IN ANY NUMBER, WHENEVER THEY MAY SEE OCCASION.""

Quote by 1803 Blackstone's Commentaries on quote