Second Amendment & the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
The Second Amendment protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms for defense of life and liberty.
In U.S. v. Cruikshank (1876), Presser v. Illinois (1886), Miller v. Texas (1894) and U.S. v. Miller (1939), the Supreme Court recognized that the amendment protects an individual right. It has never taken a different view. However, in Salina v. Blaksley (1905), the Kansas Supreme Court invented the idea that the amendment instead protected a “right” of a person to keep and bear arms only while serving in a state militia, and in U.S. v. Tot (1942), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit advanced the idea that the amendment protects the “right” of a state to have a militia.
In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court heard its first case specifically centered on whether the amendment protects an individual right to arms. Gun control supporters advanced essentially the "Salina" argument, but the Court, consistent with its previous rulings in Second Amendment-related cases, ruled that the amendment protects an individual right to keep arms and to bear arms "in case of confrontation," without regard to a person’s relationship to a militia.
In McDonald v. Chicago (2010), the court extended the Second Amendment's protection nationwide.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
On April 29, U.S. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, who ...
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
UPDATE Fairfax, VA - The National Rifle Association (NRA) is pleased to announce this year’s Annual Meetings and ...
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Fairfax, Va. – Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit marked a milestone in Second ...
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
A resource for students and teachers on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
A resource for students and teachers on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Fairfax, VA – The National Rifle Association (NRA) is pleased to announce that the association’s 138th Annual Meeting ...
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Fairfax, Va. – The National Rifle Association filed a second amended complaint in Dick Anthony Heller et al ...
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Every shooter and hunter knows that moving targets are the hardest to hit. Whether it’s a flushing pheasant ...
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Every shooter and hunter knows that moving targets are the hardest to hit. Whether it's a flushing pheasant ...
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Every shooter and hunter knows that moving targets are the hardest to hit. Whether it’s a flushing pheasant ...