The Bill of Rights

Amendment I — Religion, Speech, Assembly, and Politics

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The First Amendment is deceptively simple and concise. In one sentence, it recognizes and protects from governmental infringement the freedom of religion and the rights of free speech, the press, assembly, and the right to petition the government, i.e., have disputes heard in an impartial court of law.

The First Amendment is discussed at greater length in objective 4 of this lesson.

Amendment II — Militia and the Right to Bear Arms

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.

The “right of the people to keep and bear Arms” has been one of the most hotly contested and controversial rights included in the Bill of Rights and, perhaps for that very reason, has not yet been applied to the states. The Second Amendment poses serious questions about balancing liberty and order. While it clearly states that the right to own and bear a gun “shall not be infringed,” how far does that right extend? And at what point do the interests of society and the need to maintain order become so profound that individual rights must be limited? As is true of all of the liberties enumerated in the Bill of Rights, the right to bear arms has reasonable limitations on it. For example, if we were to take the definition of “arms” literally, we might conclude that the Second Amendment guaranteed each individual’s right to own a nuclear weapon.

Clearly the right does not extend to the ownership of weapons of mass destruction. But where should the line be drawn? In recent years, efforts have been made to limit the kinds of guns that individuals can buy. “Assault” weapons, in particular, have been targeted by gun control activists. Several other restrictions have been placed on the ownership of a gun. For example, no one under the age of twenty-one can legally buy a handgun, and convicted felons, the mentally ill, and people who have court-sanctioned restraining orders against them cannot own guns. Waiting periods and background checks are in place to assure that individuals who are prohibited from purchasing guns are not able to do so.

Are these limitations too severe? Has the government infringed on individual rights too much in the name of maintaining order? In the wake of several recent school and workplace shootings, many Americans believe that gun control laws should be tightened even further. Second Amendment supporters, however, argue that the real answer is to enforce the laws that we already have. Doing so, they argue, would have kept guns out of the hands of the perpetrators of some of these crimes.

Amendment III — Quartering of Soldiers

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

During the Revolutionary War, British troops commandeered citizens' homes, turning them into military headquarters and sometimes fortresses in battles. The Framers sought to protect individuals from these kinds of abuses with the Third Amendment. This amendment has also not been applied to the states.

 

     

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