"Recent years have seen a sea change in scholarly interpretation of the Second Amendment. Beginning in the 1960s, a revisionist view emerged that individuals had a "right" to bear arms only in militia service - in other words, a limited, collective right. But in the late 1980s a handful of scholars began producing an altogether persuasive analysis that changed thinking on the issue, so that today, even in canonical textbooks, bearing arms is acknowledged as an individual right." "Stephen P. Halbrook's The Founders' Second Amendment is the first book-length account of the origins of this key element of the Bill of Rights, based on the Founders' own statements as revealed in newspapers, correspondence, debates, and resolutions. Dr. Halbrook investigates the period from 1768 to 1826, from the last years of British rule and the American Revolution through to the adoption of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and the passing of the Founders' generation. His book offers the most comprehensive analysis of the arguments behind the drafting and adoption of the Second Amendment, and the intentions of the men who created it.

" "With the question of the right to bear arms a cornerstone issue before the United States Supreme Court, The Founders' Second Amendment could scarcely be more timely and important."--BOOK JACKET.