The Second Amendment, which gives us the right to bear arms, also originally included a clause which gave people the right NOT to bear arms. This is how it read originally:

“The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country: but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person.”

Over time, we gradually worked this right to not bear arms back in, but thousands of people did jail time for refusing to go to war. During Vietnam, thousands of people ran away to Canada to avoid fighting and it took an act of Congress and general amnesty for them to come back. During the Civil War, men were jailed for years and even tortured. The same goes for World War One.

As a committed pacifist (nowadays), this fascinates me. Imagine the heartache and trouble that could have been avoided had this clause been allowed in just as Madison had written it.

Hindsight is 20/20, eh?