Origins and Development of the Second Amendment: A Sourcebook

by David T. Hardy

Hardy, David T.

95 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1986

Reviews

[Jordan Vallas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good information on the origin of the second amendment and how it’s transformed over time.

[dls · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have yet to find a more concise and thorough examination of the origins and development of Amendment II to the Constitution of the United States of America than Origins and Development of the Second Amendment by David T. Hardy. Beginning with "Saxon Laws of Arms Bearing: 500-1066 A.D.", and continuing through various proclamations, decrees, statutes, court cases and selective application of laws regarding firearms, crossbows, individuals, and militias in England; draft and debates in the House of Commons, and amendment in the House of Lords of what ultimately became the English Declaration and then Bill of Rights; subsequent recognition of the legality of gun ownership by the English courts; and interpretation of the 1688 Declaration of Rights by the Recorder of London, the chief legal official for that city. Hardy then reviews the militia laws of the colonies of New Plymouth, Virginia, and New Jersey; the writings and influences of Sir Walter Raleigh, Roger Molesworth, James Harrington, Andrew Fletcher, James Burgh, and William Blackstone in America leading up to the American Revolution; and the Declarations of Rights of Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Massachusetts. He then presents the conflicting Federalist and Antifederalist views over ratification of the Constitution; the eventual ratification with calls from several states that it be promptly amended with a Bill of Rights, including a right to keep and bear arms; James Madison's draft and proposal to Congress of a Bill of Rights, its subsequent debates in the House and amendment by the Senate, and how it became the Second Amendment to the Constitution. In the next chapter, "Contemporary Discussions of the Second Amendment", we are presented with excerpts from the writings of Tench Coxe, St. George Tucker, William Rawle, Joseph Story and Thomas Cooley. The final chapter, "The Right to Keep and Bear Arms in the Courts" examines various state and federal court cases, including Dred Scott, Cruikshank, Presser, United States v. Miller, District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), and McDonald v. Chicago (2010). Citations are included inline throughout.

[Faith]

Fairly useful, though Hardy's agenda is pretty if not sometimes annoyingly clear.