A Controversial Right: Study on the Ambiguity of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States

Abstract

While the Second Amendment remains an essential constitutional basis for the gun rights in America, its ambiguity has led to different interpretations of gun rights, thus making gun rights controversial in American society. Focusing on this unique ambiguity, this paper analyses its manifestations in the text of the Second Amendment. By investigating the conflicts between the historical context of the Founding Era and the realistic concerns in the contemporary American society, this paper explains the causes of this ambiguity. Finally, from political and cultural perspectives, this paper further examines the consequences of the ambiguity. This paper argues that the tensions of this ambiguity have cultivated American gun culture while perpetuating an irreconcilable confrontation between gun rights and gun control in the shadow of gun violence, and thus acting as a hidden peril that divides and polarizes the American society.

Gun Control Laws in the Usa: A Comparative Global Review

“…The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, holds a central place in shaping the nation's approach to firearms (Li and Zeng, 2021). It 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."…”