The Second Amendment A Biography

Waldman recounts the raucous public debate that has surrounded the amendment from its inception to the present.

• For the first two centuries of American history, Waldman observes, the Second Amendment received scant notice.

• The Second Amendment is not what either conservatives or liberals generally believe it to be, Waldman argues, and the impact of the landmark Supreme Court rulings on gun rights and gun regulation in the future is far from obvious.

• The Amendment was written to calm public fear that the new national government would crush the state militias made up of all (white) adult men -- who were required to own a gun to serve.