Citation

Malcolm JL. J. Firearms Public Policy 1993; 5(1): 139-151.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, Second Amendment Foundation)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

When it comes to the origins of the Second Amendment Americans seem to have reversed the old adage that it is a wise child that knows its father. Our Constitution's founding fathers are far better known to us than that "mother country" from which those gentlemen sought, and with some difficulty obtained, a divorce. This is doubly unfortunate: first, because the founders' notions of liberty, including the right to be armed, were profoundly shaped by the British model. And, secondly, because the language in which they couched the Second Amendment has become obscure. An examination of the English right to have arms, the attitude it embodied and the intent behind it, can provide insight into the meaning of our Second Amendment. Clarifying the English legacy can help us clarify our own.