2A History

The 2nd Amendment was written by James Madison and was brought before the first congress for consideration in 1789 and was later ratified, however, not until 1791; Additionally, the 2nd Amendment we know and love today was not written with the same language initially introduced by James Madison in 1789. The intent behind the modern day 2nd Amendment is explained well by its initial verbiage which reads as follows:

“The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country: but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person”.

There was much argument about the verbiage initially proposed including an argument about the “religious objector” clause which, by the interpretation of Elbridge Gerry, could give the government or whatever “powers that be” the ability to declare on behalf of others that they are to be prevented from bearing arms due to perceived religious scrupulousness… and we can see why such an interpretation would raise a few red flags.

The next draft of the amendment was approved by the House of Representatives in August of 1789 which read similarly but with some changes in the order of clauses as well as a few slight verbiage changes:

“A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the People, being the best security of a free State. the right of the People to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed, but no one religiously scrupulous of bearing arms, shall be compelled to render military service in person.”

The final version we hear and read so often today was transmitted to the 13 existing states in September of 1789. The Amendment was later ratified on December 15th, 1791.

Joseph Story was an associate Supreme Court Justice born in 1779 and appointed to the Supreme Court by President James Madison in November of 1811. Story later wrote about the 2nd Amendment in an 1833 quote the sheds additional light on the intentions of the Amendment in clear form: “The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.”

As such, these interpretations would are not arguing that the 2nd Amendment was written to enshrine a right to use firearms for sport, hunting, or even self defense. When building the country, our forefathers had the wherewithal to know that there may come a day when the People would need to protect themselves against their own government, and to make sure that if/when that day ever came, there was record that it was for that purpose that the amendment was written.

When in reference to the consent of the governed, Thomas Jefferson famously wrote “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive to these ends (endangering the God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness), it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its power in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Looking back to before 2008 in our nation’s capital of Washington D.C., thanks to the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975, handguns were illegal to possess or have in the home unless they were registered with the police with exceptions unless they were previously registered prior to 1976. All other firearms were required to be registered with the police under penalty of law. Additionally, all firearms (minus some black powder firearms) were required to be kept unloaded, DISASSEMBLED or bound by a trigger lock. I hope that those people who lived in DC prior to 1975 were up to snuff on their training with all of those movements should they have ever needed to defend themselves in their own home… needless to say, Heller’s lawsuit against the District of Columbia was a success and the DC law prohibiting possession of a handgun on one’s person or within the confines of one’s home was found to be unconstitutional.

Dick Heller, for whom the case is named, is the man who had enough nerve to challenge the DC law which was the first step toward affirming an individual right to gun ownership. Heller has been an ardent advocate for 2A rights since the day the case was decided. DC vs Heller is thought to be one of the most important and groundbreaking 2A cases in American history, however, at the time, this case only applied federally. Judge Antonin Scalia who authored the decision also stated that “Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited. [It is] not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose” including examples of restrictions such as prohibiting possession of firearms by prohibited/dangerous people, possession of firearms within certain ‘sensitive’ places as well as the imposition of certain conditions on commercial firearms sales. The plot thickens… (see “Something about Old McDonald and a gun” below)

In 2010, another landmark case came across the Supreme Court’s desk. After previously hearing Heller vs DC and noting that the ruling applied federally, the Supreme Court decided to hear this case to decided the constitutionality of a similar handgun ban in the City of Chicago making it a state and local government based case this time. McDonald and the other named plaintiffs were successful in their suit against Chicago after a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling stated that Chicago’s handgun ban was unconstitutional and that it applied at the state and local government level in addition to the federal level as indicated in Heller vs DC. The Supreme Court once again noted, as was previously indicated by Justice Antonin Scalia that the Second Amendment is not an unlimited right to possess, carry, any firearm etc etc etc blah blah blah.

Possibly one of the most iconic and notable military service rifles in US history, the M1 Garand (in the humble opinions of both Matt and Aaron with the Phantom Llama’s Den) is both a piece of mechanical art and an efficient combat tool. General George S. Patton called the M1 Garand “the greatest battle implement ever devised”, an implement that helped win World War II for the Allied Powers against the Central Powers, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey.

The M1 Garand was designed by John C. Garand and implemented in the US Army in 1936. It served through WWII and Korea, and then was phased out after the .308 (7.62×51mm) M14 became standard. Garand designed the rifle while working for the US Government and gave his patent for the M1 Garand to the same after its inception at Springfield Armory. Garand never received any financial benefit for the success of the over 6 million M1 Garand’s produced other than collecting his normal monthly government pension check after retiring. There was a bill brought to the floor by Congress to award Garand $100,000 in appreciation for this invention, however, the bill did not pass. Garand was eventually bestowed the Gold Medal for Meritorious Service in 1941; Garand later died in February of 1974 at the age of 86.

The M1 Garand is the favorite firearm on the YouTube channel for both Matt and Aaron, not only for its history, but for its sturdiness, reliability, power, craftsmanship, and quirks. Aaron, being more familiar with the more modern, Magpul style spring fed magazines, is fascinated by the enbloc clips, and the oh-so-satisfying ping after the last round goes downrange.

Will there be more M1 Garand content on the YouTube channel? Dumb question… yes they exist.