.When I was born my grandfathers gift to me was a lifetime NRA membership and on my
twelfth birthday I received my fathers .22 caliber rifle, which he had gotten from my grandfather
as a young boy. The topic of discussion at most family gatherings normally involves whatever
species of animal is in season or gun control. Growing up in this environment has given me an
interesting outlook on certain issues, mostly those having to do with gun control and the Second
Amendment. It is my belief that the original intent and purpose of the Second Amendment was
to preserve and guarantee, not grant the pre-existing right of individuals, to keep and bear arms.
The Second Amendment reads: 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.
Although there is an emphasizes on the need for a militia, membership in any militia let alone a
well regulated one, is not required. to prove this you only need to look at The first nine
amendments of the United States Constitution which were clearly meant to preserve individual
rights. The use of the word people in the Second Amendment indicates an individual right.
While the Tenth Amendment which reads: The powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the
people. With this wording the writers of the constitution have clearly, distinguished between the
rights states and the people. Are we to assume the Founding Fathers were so careless in
constructing a legal document like the Constitution that they would use the word "people" when
The Second Amendment was meant to accomplish two distinct goals, each perceived as
crucial to the maintenance of liberty: First, it was meant to guarantee the individual's right to
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