I have not met many intelligent Lefty's in my life. The one I remember was so unique. She said: ‘If Lefty's don't like the Second Amendment they should just change it by the amendment process.’
This has recently lead me to think about the question of the Second Amendment.
In many discussions the issue of the Second Amendment hinges on interpretation of the language. I think this is a mistake.
The most important question that should be raised about the Second Amendment is its position in the ten amendments that we call the Bill of Rights.
The First Amendment is focused on the subject that Americans, who had just finished a war with Britain, were most sensitive about. Their rights to free speech and assembly which had been severely abrogated under the British rule. They recognized that these two issues were significant in defining freedom.
Because Britain, at the time, was a state sponsor of a single religion they were also very unhappy with the constant British pressure to restrain religion in the colonies. All three of these elements became the core definition of freedom for the tens of thousands of people who were not willing to accept a federal government and the associated Constitution without these protections. They were so important they were bundled into one Amendment that the new Americans defined as freedom.
To me, the position of the Second Amendment is very significant. Here we have a newly freed people examining their own history under British colonial power making sure that their new constitution could not subject them to the same horrible mistreatment that the British imposed. They could only believe that their freedom needed to be protect with an army of free citizens with weapons.
The Second Amendment was put in the second position in the Bill of Rights because the people voting on the new constitution considered the very definition of freedom to include the right to rebel against an oppressive government.
There was no ambiguity in the meaning at the time. The right to own and bear arms was unequivocally the right of a free people.
Elsewhere I have commented that the right to self defense is the primary right of human beings. I believe that the position of the 2nd amendment in the Bill of Rights confirms my universal understanding of this human attribute.