Stephen Halbrook’s The Founders’ Second Amendment is the first book-length account of the origins of the Second Amendment, based on the Founders’ own statements as found in newspapers, correspondence, debates, and resolutions. Mr. Halbrook investigates the period from 1768 to 1826, from the last years of British rule and the American Revolution through to the adoption of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and the passing of the Founders’ generation. His book offers the most comprehensive analysis of the arguments behind the drafting and adoption of the Second Amendment, and the intentions of the men who created it. With the question of the right to bear arms scheduled to come before the Supreme Court in the spring of 2008, The Founders’ Second Amendment could scarcely be more timely.

5 Responses to “The Founders’ Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms”

1. Spartacus says:

   June 27, 2010 at 12:00 am

   I tried hard to like this. I am very interested in the subject matter, and with all the positive reviews thought this would be a great read. It was just not done in an interesting way. I find it hard to believe that all the people who reviewed it actually read the thing from cover to cover (I have to admit I couldn’t make it through to the end). While the back cover is full of praising reviews, I couldn’t help but notice that all the reviewers were professors. It is very dry and academic; this is not the kind of book that makes history come alive. I’m not afraid of complex analysis and love to read about the topic–I find 2nd amendment supreme court cases fascinating, but as much as I wanted to like this book, I just couldn’t stay awake reading it.

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2. Charles C. Petty says:

   May 17, 2010 at 12:00 am

   The Founders’ Second Amendment goes into detail about how the Founding Fathers viewed the need for citizens to have the right to keep personal firearms IN ORDER to keep government(s) from taking away our other rights. This principle applies as much in the 21st century as it did in the 18th century, maybe even more.

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3. John Holt says:

   May 9, 2010 at 12:00 am

   This is a good read it will stir you to what the Government means to take from you

   MOLON LABE.

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4. G. Barth says:

   January 24, 2010 at 12:00 am

   A great book that sticks to the reasoning behind the 2nd Amendment, and why the Founding Fathers thought that the right to keep and bear arms was a God-given right and not subject to ANY government intervention. Full of cross-references, it is hard to argue with any of these patriots and their insistence in protecting our rights at all costs. A MUST-READ!!

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5. AZ Yankee says:

   July 16, 2009 at 12:00 am

   The Founders’ Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

   Lawbiding Americans seem today to take for granted the rights that our founders declared for us to protect ourselves and our homes. Perhaps we need to open our eyes to see how we have become dependent on our police and judicial system to defend us when they today can’t usually be there until after the fact. But the crooks can and are there, so guns tend to be outlawed or limited for private citizens and fear tactics used to deter individual citizens from bearing arms for self-protection and self-defense.

   This book is very useful in focusing on the source of the Second Amendment and why we are losing this right by apathy, fear tactics and unrealistic, outmoded beliefs in someone saving us from crime, insurrection, hurricanes, riots and other events which can bring out the worst in some of us today in the US. Will you be safe and trust others to be there for you without some way of protecting yourself and your family in the meantime? Hopefully, you won’t have to find out!

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