Editing Right to keep and bear arms (section)

==Background==

The English [[Bill of Rights 1689]], passed in the aftermath of the [[Glorious Revolution]] which overthrew the Catholic King [[James II of England|James II]], allows [[Protestantism|Protestant]] citizens of [[England and Wales]] to "have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Conditions and as allowed by Law." This restricted the ability of the [[English Crown]] to have a [[standing army]] or to interfere with Protestants' right to bear arms "when Papists were both Armed and Imployed contrary to Law" and established that Parliament, not the Crown, could regulate the right to bear arms.<ref name="c21WillMarSess2">{{cite web |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/WillandMarSess2/1/2/introduction |title=Bill of Rights [1688] |id=1 Will. & Mar. Sess. 2 c. 2 |publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] |access-date=July 2, 2014}}</ref>
Sir [[William Blackstone]] wrote in the 18th century that the right to have arms was auxiliary to the "natural right of resistance and self-preservation" subject to suitability and allowance by law.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/blackstone_bk1ch1.asp |title=Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England |publisher=Avalon.law.yale.edu |access-date=2012-05-22}}</ref> The term ''arms'', as used in the 1600s, refers to the process of equipping for war;<ref>{{cite web|last1=Harper|first1=Douglas|title=arm (n.)|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=arm&allowed_in_frame=0|website=Online Etymology Dictionary|access-date=12 March 2015}}</ref> it is commonly used as a synonym for "weapon".<ref>{{cite web|title=Arm|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/arm|website=Thefreedictionary.com|access-date=12 March 2015}}</ref> Today [[Firearms regulation in the United Kingdom|Great Britain's gun laws]] are some of the most restrictive in the world.

Inclusion of this right in a written constitution is uncommon. In 1875, 17 percent of national constitutions included a right to bear arms. Since the early twentieth century, "the proportion has been less than 9 percent and falling".<ref name=Ginsburg>{{cite news |last1=Ginsburg |first1=Tom |last2=Elkins |first2=Zachary |last3=Melton |first3=James |title=U.S. Gun Rights Are Truly American Exceptionalism |work=Bloomberg |date=7 March 2013 |access-date=25 March 2016 |url=http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2013-03-07/u-s-gun-rights-truly-are-american-exceptionalism}}</ref> In an article titled "U.S. Gun Rights Truly Are [[American exceptionalism|American Exceptionalism]]", a historical survey and comparative analysis of constitutions dating back to 1789,<ref name=Ginsburg/> [[Tom Ginsburg]] and colleagues "identified only 15 constitutions (in nine countries) that had ever included an explicit right to bear arms. Almost all of these constitutions have been in Latin America, and most were from the 19th century".<ref name=Elkins>{{cite news |last=Elkins |first=Zachary |title=Rewrite the Second Amendment |work=The New York Times |date=4 April 2013 |access-date=29 March 2016 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/opinion/rewrite-the-second-amendment.html?_r=0}}</ref>