''In Search of the Second Amendment'' is a

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

on the

Second Amendment The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...

of the United States Constitution. It was produced and directed by American author and attorney

David T. Hardy David T. Hardy (born February 25, 1951) is an American private attorney and has practiced law since 1975. A graduate of the University of Arizona Law School, he previously served as an attorney with the U.S. Department of the Interior in Washington ...

. He argues the individual rights model of the Second Amendment. Hardy also discusses the Fourteenth Amendment.

Outline of the documentary

; How Did You Become Interested in the Second Amendment? * Legal Scholarship and the Second Amendment ; England and the Militia * Duty to be Armed ; 1688: A Medieval Duty Becomes an "AntientThis is the spelling as used by William Blackstone. and Indubitable Right" * King Charles I,

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...

, and

Richard Cromwell Richard Cromwell (4 October 162612 July 1712) was an English statesman who was the second and last Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and son of the first Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. On his father's deat ...

* King Charles II,

King James II James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...

, and Gun Control * The Glorious Revolution,

King William III William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the ...

Queen Mary II Mary II (30 April 166228 December 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, William III & II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. Mary was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, and his first wife ...

, and the

Bill of Rights 1689 The Bill of Rights 1689 is an Act of the Parliament of England, which sets out certain basic civil rights and clarifies who would be next to inherit the Crown, and is seen as a crucial landmark in English constitutional law. It received Royal ...

; 1603–1768: Rights of Englishmen, Rights of Americans * The

Colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

and the Duty to be Armed * The Right to Arms and

William Blackstone Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, judge and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the ''Commentaries on the Laws of England''. Born into a middle-class family ...

; 1768–1775: The Right Is Challenged as Revolution Approaches *

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

takes notice and the Redcoats Come to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Conflict Conflict may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton * ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne * ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...

Breaks Out ; 1776–1780: The First State Constitutions Give Different Models for a Right to Arms *

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Declaration of Rights *

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Declaration of Rights *

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

Declaration of Rights ; 1787–1789: A Proposal for a New Constitution Leads to Calls for a National Right to Arms * The Constitutional Convention and the

Bill of Rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pr ...

* State Ratification and Declaration of Rights Proposals * Virginia and the Demand for a Bill of Rights * The Compromise and

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

* Drafting of the Right to Arms * The

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

and Standing Armies ; 1789: In the First Congress, James Madison Fulfils the Great Compromise * Madison and the Bill of Rights * How the Second Amendment was Drafted * The Militia, the States, and the Federal Government * The Senate and the Second Amendment *

Tench Coxe Tench Coxe (May 22, 1755July 17, 1824) was an American political economist and a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress in 1788–1789. He wrote under the pseudonym "A Pennsylvanian," and was known to his political enemies as ...

* St. George Tucker * William Rawle * Thomas Cooley * Contemporaries and the Second Amendment ; So What's the Debate? Tracing the Origin of the Belief that the 2nd Amendment Relates to a State's Right to have a National Guard * Meaning of "The People" * Origin of the Collective Right *

Kansas Supreme Court The Kansas Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the state of Kansas. Composed of seven justices, led by Chief Justice Marla Luckert, the court supervises the legal profession, administers the judicial branch, and serves as the st ...

* The

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

* '' United States v. Miller'' (1939) * '' United States v. Emerson'' (2001) ; 1868: The 14th Amendment Creates a New Guarantee of the Right to Arms: The Afro–American Experience *

Slave Codes The slave codes were laws relating to slavery and enslaved people, specifically regarding the Atlantic slave trade and chattel slavery in the Americas. Most slave codes were concerned with the rights and duties of free people in regards to ensla ...

* ''

Dred Scott v. Sandford ''Dred Scott v. Sandford'', 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that held the U.S. Constitution did not extend American citizenship to people of black African descent, enslaved or free; th ...

'' (1856) * Black Codes * Views and Response of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

* Civil Rights Act of 1866 and Freedmen's Bureau Act of 1866 * The Federal Bill of Rights and the States * The Fourteenth Amendment * '' In Re Slaughter–House Cases'' (1873) * '' United States v. Cruikshank'' (1875) * D. W. Griffith's ''

The Birth of a Nation ''The Birth of a Nation'', originally called ''The Clansman'', is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and play ''The Clan ...

'' ; Civil Rights Movement * Professor Olson's and Don Kate's Experiences as workers during the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

* Deacons for Defense * Robert Williams and the NRA * Lumbee Indian Tribe ;

American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right Washington, D.C.–based think tank that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare. A ...

(AEI) Symposium on the Right to Arms * Meaning of "The People" Revisited * Dred Scott Revisited * A New View of Standing Armies and Militias * The Fourteenth Amendment Revisited *

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and Democratic Party Platforms on the Right to Arms * Freedmen's Bureau Act of 1866 Revisited * 18th and 19th Century Interpretation of the Second Amendment ; Governments, Genocides, and Utility of the Right * Armed Resistance and Genocide * Protection from Different Sources of Oppression * Frequency of Defensive Gun Uses and Crimes Committed * Guns and Number of Lives Saved vs. Lives Taken *

Police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

and the Legal Duty to Protect the Public * ''

Warren v. District of Columbia ''Warren v. District of Columbia'' (444 A.2d. 1, D.C. Ct. of Ap. 1981) is a District of Columbia Court of Appeals case that held that the police do not owe a specific duty to provide police services to specific citizens based on the Duty to rescue ...

'' (1981) * View of Fellow Citizens * Effectiveness of Defensive Gun Use * Right of

Self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force ...

and the Right to Arms * Protecting the Second Amendment and Other Rights ; Final Scene * Closing Words * Credits * Dedications

Persons appearing in the documentary

;Professors of law ;Professors of criminology ;Others

Notes

External links

Official website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061210090420/http://www.secondamendmentdocumentary.com/ , date=2006-12-10 * Videos about documentary at YouTube *
Trailer
(2:10) *
Various previews

*
MP3 format
(26:41, 12.2 MiB) * Liberty Watch Radio interview about documentary (MP3 format) *
Part 1
(47:01, 8.07 MiB) *
Part 2
(47:37, 8.17 MiB)
Gun Talk interview about documentary
(MP3 format, 44:40, 10.3 MiB) 2006 films 2006 documentary films American documentary films Documentary films about American politics 2000s English-language films 2000s American films