Book Review: "A Well-Regulated Militia" by Saul Cornell

A Well-Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America by Saul T. Cornell

I didn’t know what I didn’t know about the Second Amendment.

In A Well Regulated Militia, Saul Cornell traces the fascinating and unexpectedly topsy-turvy history of interpreting this important sentence, “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.”

I never could have predicted many of the twists in this story of American history. I was constantly surprised at which people argued for what interpretation in each time period (Revolutionary era, constitutional conventions, federalism vs. anti-federalism, Jacksonian era, Antebellum, and post-Fourteenth Amendment era). In fact, as well written as the book is, I don’t think I still could explain the roller-coaster to someone else. I’ll be re-reading certain sections, especially the helpful summaries at the end of each chapter.

My biggest takeaway from this book is that it’s no wonder that our country hasn’t solved our differences over gun rights and regulations yet–we have never really had much consensus to build upon, even over what our Constitution means. I recommend this book, not for solutions, but for historical context from which to start searching for them.

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