Evolution of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and its Effects on Criminal Law

This paper tries to examine the foundations of right to bear arms in USA legal system. This right is the most ancient right which has been a subject for philosophical arguments of Aristotle and Plato. Some believe that the right to bear arms is a fundamental and constitutional right of the citizens, but the opponents argue that it is inimical to an oligarchic regime. According to the first view, the criminal law supports the holders to bear arm and punishes everyone who violates this right. However, according the second, bearing arms by violation of the law has been criminalized and offenders should be convicted. Among these approaches, the common law system was affected by the proponent of right to bear arms, therefore, this right has been recognized for the people. Under this circumstance, the founders of United States Constitution allocated the second amendment to this right. Yet, the Constitution of Iran did not have any article about right to bear arm so that the legislator could be able how to regulate this part. The first chapter of this paper examines the primary philosophical arguments on right to bear arms and the second chapter is about the rules of common law regarding this right. Finally, the third chapter examines the effect of philosophical approaches and common law rules on the evolution of right to bear arms in the United State legal system and the different criminal policy of Iran