Quote:
Originally Posted by OSUPhantom
I think it's important to understand the likely reason for the second amendment. While it's important for self defense I think one of the major reasons it was included is that an armed population of citizens can never truly be ruled by tyranny. The founding fathers likely wanted it as a way to keep the government in check by the threat of an armed populace if they tried anything.
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That's part of it, but the roots of the Second Amendment are more varied and complicated than that, and different people and factions had different motives and considerations for supporting it (or being concerned about it).
Other concerns that might have carried some weight with some people were self-defense, law enforcement and even suppressing slave revolts and other insurrections.
And then there's the reason stated in the amendment, which since it is mentioned could reasonably be presumed to be the primary reason: to facilitate the organization of militias. Since militias are under government control, that is not the same as citizens opposing tyrannical governments.