Amendment II (1791)
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 it mean?

It means exactly what it says, that the people’s individual right to be armed will be respected and that the resulting armed populace will be secure against tyranny, invasion, and crime.  Our founding fathers were careful to construct this sentence in such a manner that there could be no other reasonable interpretation besides the obvious.  Anybody with even the most limited understanding of the English language will agree.

Why was it written?

There are those who would say, "The Second Amendment's not needed anymore.  There's no threat of tyranny in our government."  While it's fortunate that we've grown comfortable with our government, we need to remain aware that the only reason we have been able to grow comfortable with it is because the Second Amendment has prevented the government from posing a threat to us for all these years.   History is littered with stories of unarmed citizens being taken over by dictators (Germany is one such example).  Could that happen here?  Not if we maintain the right to keep and bear arms.  No other country has the freedoms that we have here in the United States.  This is truly the most awesome place in the world to live, and I would like to keep it that way.   When politicians take an anti-Second Amendment stance, we seriously need to wonder about their motives.

Each and every amendment in the Bill of Rights is important, but the the Second Amendment is the most important because it guarantees that the others will not be taken away.   Think about it.  Once the right to own firearms is eliminated, eliminating all other rights (such as the Freedom of Speech) will be a piece of cake.  If that happens, what are you going to do?  Protest?  You certainly can't resist.  All you can do is watch it happen.  The Second Amendment is our insurance policy against this.  It's been working quite effectively for over 200 years, and as they say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

If you gun control advocates still dream of a day when the private ownership of guns is banned and the police are the only ones who are armed, feel free to relocate to the People's Republic of China, where your dream is a reality.

MILITIA???  Just what is the militia?
NOTE:  "Well-regulated militia" does not mean the National Guard.  At the time this was written, "well-regulated" meant "well-trained".  If you believe "militia" means the National Guard, you must also believe that freedom of speech is reserved for the U.S. Government printing office.

 If you read 10 USC Sec. 311 (That's Title 10 of the U.S. Code, Section 311, subtitle A part chapter 13) you'll find this:
(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.

In other words, if you have a penis, you ARE the militia!