What is the intended scope of the second amendment to the Constitution of the United States? Is it an example of an “individual rights theory” or a “collective rights theory?”

The debate to bear arms in the United States has intensified in the past few months since the tragic massacres of last year, the first one was a mass shooting inside a Century movie theater in Aurora Colorado during the premier of the film The Dark Knight Rises, the suspect identified as James Holmes eventually rose from his chair and shot the audience, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others, the other one was the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre, the shooter Adam Lanza enter the school and shot and killed 20 children and 6 staff members.

The second amendment of the United Stated 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." In my opinion there are two key phrases that should be analyzed first “a well regulated militia” and second “the right of the people to keep and bear arms”. While some interpreters believe that the amendment creates an individual constitutional right for citizens to bear arms others argue that the framers intended only to restrict congress from legislating away a state's right to self-defense. Looking at this approach, the argument that the amendment intent to restrict congress from legislating away a states right to self-defense makes no sense because the congress is made up of citizens of the United States that were voted to represent the people and to legislate for the people, also in the history of the U.S.A we have never seen a congress not protecting the State or its citizens, instead the right to bear arms is a right for self defense also the founder fathers wanted to prevent a tyranny form of government and a tool to prevent an event like this one was the right to bear arms.

In my personal opinion and after giving it much thought the intended scope of the second amendment is an example of an individual rights theory because the United States constitution restricts legislative bodies from prohibiting firearm possession making it unconstitutional. The U.S supreme court strengthen the second amendment in the cases of District of Columbia v. Heller in 2008 and McDonald V. the city of Chicago in 2010 in both cases the court eliminated and made unconstitutional any law prohibiting the right to bear arms.

Bibliography

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9759404/Connecticut-school-shooting-America-to-mourn-Sandy-Hook-massacre.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/da-colo-theater-shooting-victims-harassed-article-1.1257841

http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/second_amendment