Primary Sources

English Bill of Rights (1689)

December 16, 1689

Includes provision that "subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law."

Federalist No. 29

Alexander Hamilton

January 9, 1788

Hamilton's discussion of militia regulation and the relationship between federal and state authority over militia.

"Little more can reasonably be aimed at, with respect to the people at large, than to have them properly armed and equipped..."

Federalist No. 46

James Madison

January 29, 1788

Madison's calculation of armed citizens versus standing army, arguing that an armed populace prevents tyranny.

"...a militia amounting to near half a million of citizens with arms in their hands, officered by men chosen from among themselves..."

Anti-Federalist No. 46

"The Federal Farmer"

January 1788

Concerns about federal power over militia and the need to protect the right to bear arms from federal infringement.

Virginia's Proposed Amendments

June 27, 1788

Virginia's ratification convention proposed: "That the people have a right to keep and bear arms; that a well regulated Militia composed of the body of the people trained to arms is the proper, natural and safe defence of a free State."

New York's Proposed Amendments

July 26, 1788

New York proposed that militia "at all times... have a right to keep and bear arms." Influenced Madison's draft of the Second Amendment.

Pennsylvania Minority Report

December 18, 1787

Dissenting delegates proposed: "That the people have a right to bear arms for the defence of themselves and their own State or the United States."

Militia Act of 1792

May 8, 1792

Required every free able-bodied white male citizen aged 18-45 to enroll in militia and "provide himself with a good musket or firelock" and ammunition.

• Enrollment requirements
• Arms and equipment specifications
• Organization structure

Militia Act of 1862

July 17, 1862

Civil War-era revision allowing African Americans to serve in militia and military. Expanded federal authority over state militias.

Dick Act of 1903

January 21, 1903

Created the modern National Guard system, dividing militia into organized (National Guard) and unorganized (all other able-bodied men).

State Arms Provisions Directory

Comprehensive collection of state constitutional provisions protecting the right to bear arms from 1776 to present.

• Pennsylvania (1776) - First explicit protection
• Vermont (1777) - Individual defense emphasis
• Kentucky (1792) - "Ancient right"
• All 44 states with provisions

Massachusetts Constitution (1780)

Principal Author: John Adams

"The people have a right to keep and bear arms for the common defence."

Freedmen's Bureau Act (1866)

July 16, 1866

Protected "full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings concerning personal liberty, personal security... including the constitutional right to bear arms."

Civil Rights Act of 1866

April 9, 1866

First federal law to define citizenship and affirm all citizens' rights to full and equal benefit of all laws for security of person and property.

Fourteenth Amendment

Ratified July 9, 1868

Privileges or Immunities, Due Process, and Equal Protection clauses that later incorporated Bill of Rights against states.

Blackstone's Commentaries (1765)

William Blackstone

Described right to arms as fifth auxiliary right protecting primary rights of personal security, liberty, and property.

Tucker's Blackstone (1803)

St. George Tucker

First American law commentary, called Second Amendment "the true palladium of liberty" and emphasized individual right.

Rawle's View (1825)

William Rawle

Early treatise stating Second Amendment prevents Congress from disarming citizens and protects individual right.

Story's Commentaries (1833)

Justice Joseph Story

Supreme Court Justice's influential commentary on the Constitution and the right of citizens to keep and bear arms.