Q&A: Guns, politics and the American constitution

The second amendment to the American constitution is subject to conflicting interpretations, says Professor Ryan Hurl. Credit: Bigstock photo

Mass shootings at a Dark Knight Rises screening in Colorado and at a mosque in Wisconsin this past summer reignited the national conversation about gun control in the U.S. Writer Jenny Hallasked Professor Ryan Hurl of political science at the University of Toronto Scarborough to help interpret the second amendment to the American constitution.

We hear a lot about the second amendment, but many Canadians might not know what it actually says. Can you tell us?

The text states: "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."

What does that mean?

The meaning is not entirely clear and it's subject to contrasting and even conflicting interpretations.

The dominant view today is that the second part of the amendment is most importantthe right of the people to keep and bear arms. On the other hand, you have the first part, about a well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state.

The question is, what is the relationship between the two parts of the amendment? Does the first clause structure the meaning of the individual right? That's what a lot of the disagreement is about.

Does it matter what the intent was at the time it was written?

Historically, the argument is about the dangers of standing armies, of what we might call a military establishment. For many Americans at the time of the revolution, a permanent army was regarded as a threat to freedom.

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Q&A: Guns, politics and the American constitution