What is the intended scope of the second amendment to the constitution of the United States? 

The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights. The Supreme Court of the United States first ruled in 2008 that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess and carry firearms.

But, is it really necessary for the US citizens nowadays to carry on arms to protect their lives?

The tragedies at Waco in 1993 and in Oklahoma City in 1995, both of which involved a modern militia movement, brought the insurrectionist interpretation of the Second Amendment to the public’s attention and prompted vigorous critiques. And since then the subject has always been in vogue and in a constant disclaim with and against the N.R.A.

The United States has the highest rate of civilian gun ownership in the world, twice that of the country with the second highest rate, which is Yemen. The United States also has the highest homicide rate of any affluent democracy, nearly four times higher than France or the United Kingdom, six times higher than Germany. In the United States in 2008, guns were involved in two-thirds of all murders. Of interest to many people concerned about these matters, then, is when the debate over the Second Amendment will yield to a debate about violence.

In the context when this law was originated it is easy to understand why they wanted to be protected, the society was ending up a war and was passing through complex social changes, but today, to think that the biggest world power as a State is unable to provide with enough security to its citizens, so that they need to be own protected, is just nonsense to me.

In my opinion the State should rather invest in social adaptation programs of a higher civil education in order to make a sustainable and remarkable change in society, so that they won't be a protected society but a safe society.

http://www.newyorker.com/online//newsdesk/2012/04/the-second-amendment.html