what's the deal with the Second Amendment. The debate over the right to bear arms is about as old as America itself and grammar could be the key to understanding the Second amendment of the constitution is a doozy of a sentence. So here it goes, 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. 27 words, three commas two clauses that have been open for a lot of interpretation and that's going to be important in a minute. But first we need context and for that. You gotta go all the way back to the american revolution. Militias made up of men protecting their towns and colonies helped to defeat the bigger and better organized british military. A couple of years later, when the founding fathers crafted the constitution, they made sure to add the right to bear arms with a focus on militias. It was a way to make sure that the people could help protect the growing nation from external threats and also from potential government tyranny at home. But here's the thing, the way that the amendment is written has paved the way for some important questions like what did the framers mean by militia or do individual citizens have the right to have a gun? The Supreme Court weighed in on that in 2008 in the majority opinion. Justice, antonin Scalia wrote that the Second Amendment does indeed protect the individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia. The reason takes us back to grammar, remember I said, that will be important. And here's why the court decided that what's called the operative clause is really the heart of the amendment, The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. The other part, the preparatory is the purpose, a well regulated militia being necessary to the security of the Free State. Now, the court says that might be the reason the Founding Fathers created the Amendment, but it doesn't have to be its only purpose. It's why a citizen can bear arms in this case to defend their homes. Now, it does leave the door open for Congress and the states to pass laws like ones limiting the age of possession or laws that make it almost impossible for civilians to own certain types of firearms. Guns can also be banned from places like churches and from schools. But the extent of those limits is still open for debate. It's one that is likely to be settled. You guessed it in the courts, And that is the deal of the 2nd amendment. Yeah.

What's the deal with the Second Amendment?

Updated: 11:31 AM EDT Nov 2, 2021

Watch the video above for a deeper look at the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment and why grammar could be key to understanding the debate behind it.

Watch the video above for a deeper look at the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment and why grammar could be key to understanding the debate behind it.