The Second Amendment is in the U.S Constitution. The U.S Constitution is the supreme law of the United States.
One thing opponents of stricter gun control laws always bring up is the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment is one of the biggest laws in the United States that grants people the right to own guns. It was written in 1791 by the Founding Fathers of the United States. According to Cornell University Law School, the Second Amendment states that "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." Given this, why do people still debate whether we should have guns or not?
In a Forbes article, the author discusses how the Second Amendment was designed to ensure that individuals retained the right and means to defend themselves against any illegitimate attempt to do them harm. The Second Amendment along with the other nine amendments of the Bill of Rights was designed to prevent individuals’ enslavement to government. Also, the Founders understood that the right to own and bear laws is as fundamental and as essential to maintaining liberty as are the rights of free speech, a free press, freedom of religion and the other protections against government encroachments on liberty delineated in the Bill of Rights
There are two major court cases that made new interpretations to the Second Amendment. The first case is District of Columbia vs Keller (2008). Before the trial started, District of Colombia banned people from gun possession and owning guns in their homes. After the trial, in a 5-4 vote, the court held that the amendment guarantees an individual right to possess a firearm in the home for self-defense, and struck down the handgun possession ban. The second court case is McDonald vs City of Chicago (2010). In this case, McDonald wanted to purchase a handgun for personal home defense. At that time, Chicago banned handguns and had a law that required all firearms to be registered, That means McDonald could not legally own a handgun. After the trial, in a 5-4 vote, the court held that the second amendment applies to state and local governments as well as to the federal government.
Because this is a controversial topic, organizations such as the National Rifle Association (NRA) formed. The NRA is a nonprofit organization that advocates for gun rights. The NRA defends the second amendment rights of all Americans. Its main goal is to promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis.