Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Law Professor Calls for Repeal of Second Amendment, Rewriting of Constitution

Friday, November 22, 2013

On November 15th, attendees of the University of Connecticut School of Law's "Up in Arms: The Second Amendment in the Modern Republic" symposium were subjected to a presentation by Texas A&M University School of Law Professor Mary Margaret Penrose (video, starting at 1:18:30) that managed to be both stridently radical and backward looking.   While antigun sentiment is all too common amongst the educational elite, Prof. Penrose upped by the ante by calling for the repeal of the Second Amendment, along with … well … reimagining the rest of the current U.S. Constitution.

Penrose stated, "it's time to repeal and replace that Second Amendment."  As if that weren't enough, she later added, "I'm in favor of redrafting the entire Constitution." In making her case, the professor asked, "What do we still use from the 18th Century? ...  So why do we keep such an allegiance to a Constitution that was driven by 18th Century concerns?" She also compared the modern relevance of the Second Amendment to that of the Third, which concerns the quartering of soldiers in peace time.

Apparently, the professor does not recognize human nature or the constitutional principles of good governance, individual liberty, and checks on abuses of authority as timeless principles.  Perhaps she should put down the law books once in a while and pick up a history text.

Later, the professor outlined her proposal to use Article V of the Constitution to alter the Second Amendment in a way that would allow individual states near complete control over firearms regulations. Presumably, under this arrangement states like Massachusetts, California, or New York would be able to completely disarm their law-abiding residents.

Yet in calling for the Second Amendment's repeal, the professor also dredged up tired and debunked arguments that the Amendment should be interpreted as a "collective right," and flippantly dismissed all scholarship to the contrary. This "collective right" interpretation of the Second Amendment has never been correct and has lost nearly all legitimacy in recent years, even in anti-gun circles. The scholarship refuting Penrose's position is too voluminous to survey here, but for those interested in the matter, NRA-ILA's compiled quotes from the founders on the topic, and the "The Right to Keep and Bear Arms" report of the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, are a good place to start.

Penrose tried to buttress her argument by claiming that the right to keep and bear arms was not an impetus for the American Revolution. While violations of this right were not explicitly listed as a grievance in the Declaration of Independence, it's clear the adoption of the individual Second Amendment right was informed by the events of the revolution. In the March 1989 American Rifleman article, "The Arms of the People Should Be Taken Away", constitutional scholar Stephen P. Halbrook uses a litany of primary sources to explain how British attempts to disarm Americans impacted the adoption of a Second Amendment that protects the rights of the individual.

In an attempt to paint modern respect for the Right-to-Carry as out-of-step with American historical experience, Penrose misrepresented Texas history, noting in a rambling statement, "I live in a state where my governor not only wants and expects prevalent gun ownership, we're actually having legislation passed that allows individuals that have concealed licensed permits, something that was never ever allowed in the 18th and 19th century; but now my governor, my legislature, want to allow students at the college and graduate level to have their concealed weapon with them in the classroom."

Penrose's suggestion that Texans were denied the Right-to-Carry throughout the 19th century is incorrect, which Halbrook makes clear in his 1989 article for the Baylor Law Review titled, "The Right to Bear Arms in Texas: The Intent of the Framers of the Bill of Rights." Halbrook explains that prior to the Reconstruction Era, the Right-to-Carry was well-respected in Texas, noting, "Antebellum Texas was remarkably unlike most other Southern states, but resembled the Northeastern states, in its lack of infringement of the right to keep and bear arms. No one in Texas, regardless of race, was denied the right to possess or carry arms in any manner. At a time when slaves in most states were legally disarmed, there was no such law in Texas, and whites, Mexicans, and blacks could wear concealed arms… Apparently the legislature recognized that it had no power to regulate even concealed weapons since the constitutional convention of 1845 defeated proposals to authorize such a power."

Pivoting from her "legal" and "historical" arguments, Penrose also parroted recent claims about firearms and cars, making the sensational statement that "chances are much higher that I will die in gun violence than on the roadways of Texas."

In addition to the problems of comparing intentional acts with accidents, "gun violence," as it's commonly understood, involves the intentional and malicious use of a firearm by one person to attack another. However, when anti-gun activists use the term in counting firearm-related deaths, their definition misleads the public by lumping together firearm-related murders with suicides. This is an important distinction, because suicides account for roughly 60 percent of all firearm-related deaths. To illustrate the absurdity of the anti-gun position, imagine if suicides by hanging, overdose, or suffocation were categorized as rope, pill, or carbon monoxide violence.

Using a more sensible definition of "gun violence" deaths – i.e., those limited to murders committed with a firearm -- reveals a far different picture of the supposed danger. According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, there were a total of 745 murders carried out with firearms in Texas in 2012. In contrast, according to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, there were 3,399 motor vehicle traffic deaths in 2012. That is more than four times as many motor vehicle deaths as murders committed with a firearm in the state last year.

Though Penrose's presentation was misguided and inaccurate, we at least recognize her candor in explicitly promoting the repeal of the Second Amendment. It is refreshing when gun control advocates admit their ultimate goal of civilian disarmament, rather than absurdly claiming to embrace the Second Amendment, even as they miss no opportunity to malign or undermine it. If other gun "safety" advocates were as forthright with the American public in pursuit of their goals, not only would the movement be even more marginal than it is now, the absurdity of its true aim could perhaps the shift the debate into a more productive discussion of the causes and prevention of criminal behavior.

TRENDING NOW
Colorado: Mandatory Storage Bill Passes General Assembly and Semi-Auto Ban Temporarily Removed from Calendar

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Colorado: Mandatory Storage Bill Passes General Assembly and Semi-Auto Ban Temporarily Removed from Calendar

In a temporary reprieve for Colorado gun owners, the semi-auto ban HB24-1292 has been removed from the calendar. But we cannot let our guard down as gun control advocates can bring it up for a vote at ...

The U.S. Supreme Court Looks at Government “Blacklists”

News  

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

The U.S. Supreme Court Looks at Government “Blacklists”

Much of the attention this past week in the United States Supreme Court was the oral arguments in National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo, No. 22-842, a First Amendment case on whether government officials ...

25 years and one PLCAA Later, Chicago is Still Harassing Gunmakers

News  

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

25 years and one PLCAA Later, Chicago is Still Harassing Gunmakers

On March 19, the city of Chicago filed suit against handgun manufacturer Glock. Seeking to shift responsibility for the city’s woeful governance, Chicago’s lawsuit blames the popular firearm manufacturer for the third-party criminal misuse of ...

Washington: Governor Signs Anti-Gun Legislation

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Washington: Governor Signs Anti-Gun Legislation

Today, Governor Inslee signed five anti-gun bills into law that were recently passed by the Washington State Legislature. The bills include:

Colorado: Semi-Auto Ban Passes Committee and Sensitive Places Bill Hearing Rescheduled for Today!

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Colorado: Semi-Auto Ban Passes Committee and Sensitive Places Bill Hearing Rescheduled for Today!

Yesterday the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on House Bill 24-1292, the semi-auto ban, that lasted over 12 hours where hundreds of patriotic Coloradans overloaded the committee with opposition testimony. The hearing concluded with an ...

NRA Files Amicus Brief Asking Supreme Court to Hear Antonyuk v. James

News  

Second Amendment  

Monday, March 25, 2024

NRA Files Amicus Brief Asking Supreme Court to Hear Antonyuk v. James

In response to the NRA’s victory in Bruen, which secured every American’s right to carry arms, NY passed the “Concealed Carry Improvement Act,” severely restricting carry throughout the state. The 2nd Circuit upheld many of ...

Pennsylvania: Senate Committee Passes Full Inclusion Sunday Hunting

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Pennsylvania: Senate Committee Passes Full Inclusion Sunday Hunting

On Wednesday, the Senate Game & Fisheries Committee voted 7-4 to pass Senate Bill 67 to the Senate floor for a vote. 

California: DOJ Proposes Emergency Rule that Reauthorizes NRA Instructors

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

California: DOJ Proposes Emergency Rule that Reauthorizes NRA Instructors

On Monday, March 25th, the California Department of Justice published an emergency rulemaking package proposing to amend the Carry Concealed Weapons DOJ Certified Instructors regulations. Under the proposed rulemaking, NRA Certified Instructors would once again ...

Grassroots Spotlight: Michigan Grassroots

Take Action  

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Grassroots Spotlight: Michigan Grassroots

It's been a busy start to the year in the Wolverine State, as the Michigan NRA-ILA Grassroots Team has been out alerting and educating members and supporters on the critical changes in gun laws and working to stop ...

Kentucky: Credit Card Data Privacy Bill Passed Into Law

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Kentucky: Credit Card Data Privacy Bill Passed Into Law

Today, Governor Andy Beshear let HB 357, the Merchant Category Code ban legislation pass into law without his signature. Your NRA would like to thank Representatives Derek Lewis (R, H-90), Michael Meredith (R, H-19), and Senator ...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.