The context of the Founding of our country, and of our Constitution, is purposely ignored by anti-gun liberals, as part of their intellectually dishonest attempt to persuade the public that there is no such fundamental right, and no basis for it in life or reality today. The context of our Founding was a well-grounded fear of central government and a standing army. To argue that we should read the 2nd Amendment in a way so vacuous as to ignore the very real context of the Founding gives it no meaning at all. It is akin to reading the Constitution without reading the Declaration of Independence, which explains the context of the Constitution:
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html
There were numerous reasons for the recognition in the Second Amendment of our God-given right to keep and bear arms, as Congressman Cliff Sterns wrote in a Law Review Article on this subject discussing the origins of the right:
"Remember, the right to bear arms in England and America was derived from the need to defend against external aggression, internal strife, religious and government persecution, and personal assault. An organized militia certainly would be useful in dealing with external aggression and internal strife less so for persecution, and it is almost useless against personal assault. Thus, participation in an organized militia is only one source of the right to be armed. Equally valid are the needs to defend against civil strife, despotism, and persecution." (Note the use of the term "government persecution".)
When the Founders were discussing the right to bear arms, they were speaking and writing of the state-of-the-art shoulder and hand held arms of their day. Today, that means at a minimum semi-automatic rifles with large capacity magazines, (and should, by right, include fully automatic rifles also; many Americas, holding the needed special license, do own fully automatic firearms). This right is necessary in order for Americans to maintain their true citizenship, and such firearms are used thousands of times every year to defend life and property: http://www.humanevents.com/2012/12/23/when-assault-weapons-saved-koreatown/
For an excellent analysis of the history of our Second Amendment rights, see: http://saf.org/LawReviews/Stearns1.htm
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