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.
Monday, June 11, 2001
Our constitution confers extensive powers to the federal government. Citizens demanded that our Constitution be amended to include ...
Wednesday, December 20, 2000
Noted historian Joyce Lee Malcolm dissects the book "Arming America" and author Michael Bellesiles` peculiar claim that early ...
Monday, December 11, 2000
The Washington Post reports that House Democrats have begun to realize that gun control is not a winning ...
Tuesday, October 10, 2000
Gun owners no doubt will recall Al Gore`s whopper before the U.S. Conference of Mayors on June 14, ...
Thursday, September 28, 2000
John Derbyshire points out that the gun control debate revolves around the issues of trust and freedom.Read Original ...
Friday, September 8, 2000
Reacting to Al Gore`s constant attacks on our Constitutional rights, gun owners are joining NRA in record numbers.Read ...
Tuesday, August 22, 2000
Letter from Clinton Administration Solicitor General Seth Waxman regarding the Second Amendment.
Monday, August 21, 2000
The Christian Science Monitor carries two articles about firearms issues in America. The first is an editorial about ...
Tuesday, July 25, 2000
The Las Vegas Review Journal gives dramatic examples of the benefits of keeping a gun for self-defense.Read Original ...
Wednesday, May 10, 2000
Dr. Michael S. Brown, an optometrist in Vancouver, Washington, lays out a hypothetical blueprint for politicizing guns and ...
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