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.
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Fairfax, VA -- Today, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation to restore the right of self-protection ...
Thursday, July 1, 2004
Distinguished author and Constitutional lawyer Stephen Halbrook responds to the Violence Policy Center's attack upon Attorney General John ...
Thursday, March 25, 2004
FAIRFAX, VA -- After an outpouring of support from the National Rifle Association (NRA), the state Legislature, shooting ...
Thursday, April 17, 2003
NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris Cox recently sat down with the new Senate Majority Leader to talk about freedom, ...
Friday, April 4, 2003
The National Rifle Association today announced its support for the lawsuit filed by five Washington D.C. residents in ...
Monday, March 10, 2003
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in a February 18 ruling questioned that circuit`s recent ...
Tuesday, February 11, 2003
No summary available
Tuesday, May 14, 2002
Distinguished author and Constitutional lawyer Stephen Halbrook responds to the Violence Policy Center`s letter to Solicitor General Olson ...
Thursday, August 2, 2001
Distinguished author and Constitutional lawyer Stephen Halbrook responds to the Violence Policy Center`s attack upon Attorney General John ...