Understanding the origin and evolutions of the Second Amendment

The Right to Bear Arms — It's the Second Amendment of our Constitution.

People tend to know it in its most basic terms, but what about the origin of the amendment?

That's not as simple of a concept to convey.

Indiana University Maurer School of Law professor Jody Madeira knows all about the Second Amendment.

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"Basically, citizens felt that they should be able to protect themselves against the government," Prof. Madeira says, "We had just come out of the American Revolution at the time, and we were in a situation, where there was a government of another nation that was a direct threat to us."

Madeira's expertise focuses on the history and legality of the Second Amendment, dating back to the Revolutionary War era.

As the Constitution was drafted, Madeira says, the founding fathers wanted to ensure there were no threats to citizen's well-being.

"So it wasn't just foreign governments," she says. "The founding fathers also thought the citizens should be able to protect themselves against a government of their own that was tyrannical. So basically, the Second Amendment gave citizens that right to defend themselves and their property."

At the time the Second Amendment was penned into the Constitution, our young, small nation had just fought for independence from a world power of the era.  

But the evolution of the Second Amendment, its current interpretations and understanding, has created a divide in the very country it had aimed to protect.

Madeira points to Supreme Court interpretations in the last 20 years, highlighting a turning point in 2008, specifically in the case of District of Columbia versus Heller.

"Understandings of the Second Amendment get more complicated these days," she says. "Because in the 2000s, specifically 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court actually changed that holding and clarified it and basically veered off in a direction that most courts had not traveled."

The ruling in D.C. versus Heller would focus on the term "individual" and put less emphasis on the assembly of a militia. It guaranteed a person had the right to possess a firearm without the need to serve in a militia.

"They said the second amendment was an individual right and not a right that belonged just to a group that could be called a militia," Madeira explained.

The Second Amendment's evolution has led it to become a polarizing issue among Americans, depending on their relationship with guns.

Another critical ruling from the nation's highest court came in 2022.

In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. versus Bruen, the arguments focused on a New York man and whether he needed to show a specific cause or threat, so he could carry his gun in public without a carry license.

The ruling, in essence, carrying a firearm in public for protection to be a constitutional right.

The Second Amendment has become a point of contention among U.S. citizens as mass shootings and gun violence in general becomes more prevalent.

 "What it means, essentially now, is we have two different definitions of the Second Amendment," Madeira said. "The majority of Americans, I believe are in this messy middle and they may not be terribly informed about what exactly the Second Amendment means. But they know that gun violence is a problem. They're willing to provide some solutions that both preserve the right to carry and keeps the public safe."