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.
Friday, February 8, 2008
On behalf of four million NRA members and 80 million American gun owners, we would like to thank ...
Friday, February 8, 2008
On November 20, the Supreme Court agreed to hear one of the most important Second Amendment cases in ...
Friday, February 8, 2008
On November 20, the Supreme Court agreed to hear one of the most important Second Amendment cases in ...
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Fairfax, Va. - The National Rifle Association (NRA) and the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund today submitted an ...
Saturday, January 12, 2008
In the coming months, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of Washington, D.C.’s ban on handgun ...
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
The California State Court of Appeals announced today their decision to overturn one of the most restrictive gun ...
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the D.C. gun ban case, setting the stage for a ...
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Why does a new report from the International Association of Chiefs of Police read like every gun-ban strategy ...
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Why does a new report from the International Association of Chiefs of Police read like every gun-ban strategy ...
Monday, September 17, 2007
The National Rifle Association’s (NRA) executive vice president Wayne LaPierre and chief lobbyist Chris Cox are pleased to ...