Re: Guns in America
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the right to bear arms (or defend oneself) is not granted by the constitution or the government. It is the natural right of man to do so. The Bill of Rights only serves to remind us of that.
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Why is the right to bear arms a "natural right"? Because Paul Philips says it is?
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Natural rights are rights that are seen as inherent in the nature of people and not contingent on human actions or beliefs. Obviously, this is subject to debate.
The founders of our country assumed that certain rights were a part of human nature, including the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. After writing and adopting the Constitution, they came to the conclusion that certain other rights, which should be obvious to rational people, might better be enumerated. These rights were specifically stated in the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. The right to bear arms may or may not be a natural right, inherent to being a human, but the founders of our country assumed that it was, and enumerated it in the Bill of Rights.
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