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2nd Amendment: The Right to 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." These words, the Second Amendment in its entirety, have been the source of much debate in both law and public policy circles, creating one of the most complex issues in American policy.

Historically, the Second Amendment grew out of English legal tradition, in which the ownership of arms was considered a duty of all free men to keep the peace and apprehend criminals, and out of Colonial law, which often required men to participate in regular military training in order to be prepared to defend their communities.

The two most common, and opposing, interpretations of the Second Amendment are that (1) it protects the rights of an individual to keep and bear arms, as denoted by the second clause, and (2) that it protects only the collective right to keep and bear arms while participating in a state militia, as indicated by the first clause.

The first interpretation was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2008, when it ruled in District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment is an individual right so basic to the fundamental concept of freedom, to withhold it would hollow out the very concept of liberty. Leaning on that case, the Court also decided in McDonald v. Chicago (2010) that the Second Amendment applied against the states via the Fourteenth Amendment.

Beyond questions of interpretation, there is, of course, the issue of whether or not restrictions on arms positively affect public safety. Studies published either extol the benefits of greater firearm ownership for crime prevention or excoriate it as the cause of higher crime rates.

This topic covers the history of and the interpretative battles over the Second Amendment right to "keep and bear arms." It also examines the appropriateness and effectiveness of government restrictions such as concealed-carry laws, gun-show loophole regulations, gun-free zones, and registration requirements.

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"The Supreme Court's ruling on Thursday that a District of Columbia ban on handgun ownership is unconstitutional appears to be solidly in step with public opinion. A clear majority of the U.S. public -- 73% -- believes the Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the rights of Americans to own guns. And almost 7 out of 10 Americans are opposed to a law that...

This article looks at non-homicide crime data from Canada in an effort to debunk the myth that guns are more dangerous than other weapons. The author concludes that, "[a]nalyses of Statistics Canada data for 2003, the most recent year these data are available, show that violent crimes involving firearms typically result in fewer injuries, and less serious injuries...

"Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation 'Fast and Furious' to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales.

In Fast and Furious, ATF secretly encouraged gun dealers to sell to suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels to go after the 'big fish.' But ATF whistleblowers told CBS...

This article looks at the history of gun control in England and its impact on crime rate. The author determines that gun control has left English citizen barely able to protect themselves and done nothing but increase the rate of violent crimes.

After looking at and dispelling various myths perpetuated by the mainstream media with regard to firearms, this article concludes that, "[t]he basic premise of the gun control movement, that easy access to guns causes higher crime, is contradicted by the facts, by history and by reason. Let's hope more people are catching...

"If you own a gun in Illinois, take precautions. The state attorney general, Lisa Madigan, wants to release the names of guns owners in response to an Associated Press request. Publication of that list would tell the criminal class where the guns are, which could be useful to two different sorts of lawbreakers: gun thieves who want to know where the guns are and burglars who want to know where...

The author discusses the disposition of a court case challenging the District of Columbia's gun ban. It cites a study by Harvard which demonstrates that countries in Europe with strict gun control have some of the highest murder rates.

This article gives a brief rundown of the history of concealed carry, including references to various studies and statistics demonstrating its benefits to society as a whole.

The author responds to the Mcdonald v City of Chicago ruling and opines as to what standards of review will henceforth be appropriate when considering firearm regulations.

This is a press release issued announcing the results of a study on the effects of Florida's concealed carry law. The release includes the findings of the study that criminals apply and are approved for concealed carry permits and then often go on to commit crimes.

This article is in response to the recent gun-show "raid" performed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office. The author opines that in light of the failure of many gun-show vendors to follow laws, further enforcement of current laws, including  the "gun-show loophole," is required.

This article tells the tale of Hale DeMar and his path from victim of a burglary, armed citizen, criminal, and finally plaintiff in court cases challenging gun bans. Throughout, the author informs the reader as to the state of gun law in the nation, even touching on the collective vs private-right debate.

States with higher gun ownership rates and weak gun laws have the highest rates of gun death according to a new analysis by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) of just-released 2006 national data (the most recent available) from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

This post presents information on the recent ruling of the Supreme Court in McDonald v Chicago. It also includes released statements from various libertarian and conservative organizations.

"The Second Amendment is clear. The right to keep and carry a firearm shall not be infringed. However current state law clearly does infringe that right by requiring that anyone who wishes to carry, yet not publicly display, the weapon can only do so if he or she has first applied to the government for a permit...

"Numerous studies have shown that gun shows are not a significant source of guns used in crime. Ignoring this evidence, some gun control activists claim that 70 percent of the guns used in crimes come from shows. And Handgun Control, Inc. asserts that '25-50 percent of the vendors at most gun shows are unlicensed dealers.'"

"It may not come as surprising news to many of you that the United Nations doesn’t approve of our Second Amendment. Not one bit. And they very much hope to do something about it with help from some powerful American friends. Under the guise of a proposed global 'Small Arms Treaty' premised to fight 'terrorism', 'insurgency' and 'international crime syndicates' you can be quite certain that an...

Chart or Graph

This chart shows that the percentage of Americans in favor of stricter gun sale laws has declined over the past 20 years. Today, an increasing number feel that those laws should be kept as they are or made less strict.

The rate of gun ownership is given for the countries with the top 20 murder rates. As can be seen, there is no clear pattern between gun ownership and murder rates.

According to this Gallup poll chart, the percentage of Americans claiming to possess guns in their homes has been on the decline since the 1960s.

"A clear majority of the U.S. public -- 73% -- believes the Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the rights of Americans to own guns. And almost 7 out of 10 Americans are opposed to a law that would make the possession of a handgun illegal, except by the police. ...

Gun owners (the roughly one-third of the U.S. adult...

This chart shows many of the common firearms restrictions that are used and in what percent of cities they are used.

"A mid-1980s National Institute of Justice (NIJ) study of convicted felons in 12 state prisons found that criminals purchased firearms at gun shows so rarely that those purchases were not worth reporting as a separate category.

The evidence indicates that criminal demand for firearms did not shift to gun shows after the 1994...

"The analysis reveals that the five states with the highest per capita gun death rates were Louisiana, Alabama, Alaska, Mississippi, and Nevada. Each of these states had a per capita gun death rate far exceeding the national per capita gun death rate of 10.32 per 100,000 for 2006. Each state has lax gun laws and higher gun ownership rates. By contrast, states with...

"When the gun prohibitionists quote a statistic about how many people are killed by firearms misuse, the discussion sometimes bogs down into whose crime stats to believe and how to count crimes vs. the defensive firearm uses. Death by Gun Control works on a level that nobody can dispute: documented world history.

In the...

"A survey of 1,874 felons in 10 states found that most worry more about meeting an armed victim than about running into the police."

A study shows that contrary to some arguments, the majority of people who are killed by guns are not people that are inclined to be around the house like family members or significant others.

Analysis Report White Paper

This study includes a background on concealed carry, including "may issue vs shall issue" states. It also includes fact to bolster the claim that more liberal concealed carry laws lead to more crime.

"During 2000--2002, the Task Force on Community Preventive Services (the Task Force), an independent nonfederal task force, conducted a systematic review of scientific evidence regarding the effectiveness of firearms laws in preventing violence, including violent crimes, suicide, and unintentional injury. The following laws were evaluated: bans on specified...

"This essay first explores the body of colonial and early national militia law as the source of the practice, obligation, and language of keeping arms. The second section compares the legal regulation of gun ownership under the emergency military powers and the civil police powers of the colonial and early national state. It concludes by considering the use of the...

"Title XI of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (the Crime Control Act) took effect on September 13, 1994. Subtitle A banned the manufacture, transfer, and possession of designated semiautomatic assault weapons. It also banned 'large-capacity' magazines, which were defined as ammunition feeding devices designed to hold more...

"Firearms are used to commit as many as 650,000 crimes each year. But firearms are also used to prevent crimes as many as one million each year. In fact, criminals are three times more likely to be killed by armed victims who resist them than by the policy. Would tougher gun control laws make our lives safer? Fair appraisal of the issue requires us to put aside...

"Most states issue permits to carry a concealed handgun for lawful protection to an applicant who is over twenty-one years of age, and who passes a fingerprint-based background check and a safety class. These permits allow the person to carry a concealed defensive handgun almost everywhere in the state. Should professors, school teachers, or adult...

"It is commonly estimated that more than 20,000 federal, state, and local firearms laws are on the books in this country, and more are being written all the time. There is little evidence that these laws have restrained crime. Nor is there much reason to believe that still more laws would produce additional public benefit. The reasons why are examined in this study...

"'Shall issue' right-to-carry concealed weapons laws require authorities to issue concealed-weapons permits, allowing the permit holder to carry a concealed handgun, to anyone who applies, unless the applicant has a criminal record or a history of mental illness. The shall-issue laws are state laws, applicable to all counties within the state. In contrast, states...

"Thousands of gun shows take place in the U.S. each year. Gun control advocates argue that because sales at gun shows are much less regulated than other sales, such shows make it easier for potential criminals to obtain a gun. Similarly, one might be concerned that gun shows would exacerbate suicide rates by providing individuals considering suicide with a more lethal means of ending their...

"This information brief reviews major research studies on the effects of enacting 'shall-issue' laws which govern the licensing of people to carry concealed firearms."

"In this study, I examine crime trends in Commonwealth countries that have recently introduced firearm regulations: i.e., Great Britain, Australia, and Canada. The widely ignored key to evaluating firearm regulations is to examine trends in total violent crime, not just firearms crime. Since firearms are only a small fraction of criminal violence, the public would...

"This paper uses state-level data from 1984–96 to examine how right-to-carry laws and waiting periods affect the felonious deaths of police. Some people oppose concealed weapons carry laws because they believe these laws jeopardize law enforcement officials, who risk their lives to protect the citizenry. This paper strongly rejects this contention. States that...

"International evidence and comparisons have long been offered as proof of the mantra that more guns mean more deaths and that fewer guns, therefore, mean fewer deaths. ... Unfortunately, such discussions are all too often been afflicted by misconceptions and factual error and focus on comparisons that are unrepresentative. It...

Video/Podcast/Media

"The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of District of Columbia v. Heller, in which a 1976 law was challenged that had the effect of banning handguns in the District of Columbia. The Court will decide the central meaning of the Second Amendment's "right of the people to keep and bear arms," and whether it is an individual right or a right in relation to...

"Facts of the Case:

Several suits were filed against Chicago and Oak Park in Illinois challenging their gun bans after the Supreme Court issued its opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller. In that case, the Supreme Court held that a District of Columbia handgun ban violated the Second Amendment. There, the Court...

John Lott, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and Jim Kessler, Director of Americans for Gun Safety, debated the necessity and effectiveness of laws restricting the ownership, sale and carry of firearms.

"Last year, a federal appeals court overturned the District of Columbia's ban on handguns. Now the U.S. Supreme Court will decide the case after nearly seventy years of silence on the Second Amendment. Observers expect the Court to finally settle the legal question of whether the constitutional 'right of the people to keep and bear arms' is an individual right held...

"Alan Gura, counsel in DC v Heller and now McDonald v Chicago discusses what the effect this latest case could have on the Second Amendment. Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation also weighs in."

"On June 28th, 2010, the Supreme Court dealt a massive blow to Chicago's 28-year-old ban on handguns. Chicago's Mayor, Richard Daley, insists the ban is integral to fighting crime. But just how effective are gun bans? And would letting citizens arm themselves be a more effective way in dealing with crime?"

"In this powerful documentary produced by Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, you will learn how governments have historically deprived people of firearms ... and then wiped them from the face of the Earth." - Amazon.com

"Down on the boardwalk, we interview a few young Americans to find out what they know about the Constitution of the United States. Can you answer the questions? Does it matter?"

"We ask moms on the street what they know about the Constitution. Can you answer the questions? Does it matter?"

"The controlled study documented in these videos show that concealed carry permit holders are fooling themselves if they think they will be able to react effectively to armed aggressors. Most CCW holders won't even be able to un-holster their gun. They will more likely be killed themselves or kill innocent bystanders than stop the aggressor. For more details, see '...

"On June 26, 2008, the Supreme Court rediscovered the Second Amendment. More than five years after six Washington, D.C. residents challenged the city's 32-year-old ban on all functional firearms in the home, the Court held in District of Columbia v. Heller that the law is unconstitutional. Cato Institute Senior Fellow Robert A. Levy comments on the ruling and what...

"Judge Laurence Silberman explains the origins of his ruling against the ban on handguns in Washington, D.C. He explains, 'It wasn't a right to bear arms granted by the Constitution, it was a right that was protected by the Constitution.'"

Primary Document

Transcript of the Bill of Rights to the Constitution.

This case revolved around several murders performed by an allegedly insane man. The case dealt with Due Process of law, but it also had implications for self-defense, for the opinion declared that "there is no constitutional right to be protected by the state against being murdered by criminals or madmen."

"The Slaughter-House Cases was wrong when it was decided. It ignored the fundamental change in constitutional order represented by the Union victory in the Civil War and subsequent amendment to the Constitution. It ignored all relevant legislative history, rendered the Privileges or Immunities Clause redundant of the Supremacy Clause, and failed to give effect to...

"The horrible facts of this case are contained in the complaint that respondent Jessica Gonzales filed in Federal District Court. ... Respondent alleges that petitioner, the town of Castle Rock, Colorado, violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution when its police officers, acting pursuant to official policy or custom, failed to respond...

"We, the people of Mississippi in convention assembled, grateful to Almighty God, and invoking his blessing on our work, do ordain and establish this constitution."

This opinion declared that "[a] State's failure to protect an individual against private violence generally does not constitute a violation of the Due Process Clause, because the Clause imposes no duty on the State to provide members of the general public with adequate protective services. The Clause is phrased as a limitation on the State's power to act, not as a guarantee of certain minimal...

This is the opinion issued by the Supreme Court that invalidated Washington, DC's gun ban and established the Second Amendment as an individual right, as opposed to a collective right.

This is a comprehensive listing of all federal firearm laws and regulations.

In this Federalist Paper, Hamilton argues for the need to restrain the legislature's authority with regard to defense, and that armed citizens are the last line of defense for liberty.

Alexander Hamilton (under the pseudonym Publius) extols the necessity of having the Commander-in-Chief be in charge of the militia, and also argues the benefits of an armed citizenry.

Writing under the pseudonym "Publius" James Madison discusses the relationship between the federal and state governments, concluding that "the powers proposed to be lodged in the federal government are as little formidable to those reserved to the individual States, as they are indispensably necessary to accomplish the purposes...

"Our law is that in the absence of a special relationship, such as exists when a victim is in custody or the police have promised to protect a particular person, law enforcement agencies and personnel have no duty to protect individuals from the criminal acts of others; instead their duty is to preserve the peace and arrest law breakers for the protection of the general public."

While this case primarily revolved around the Second Amendment issue of gun ownership, the case was decided in regards to issues found in the Fourteenth Amendment. The main opinion was written by Justice Alito and declared that "the Due Process Clause of the...

"This appeal presents, in a very sympathetic framework, the issue of the liability of a municipality for failure to provide special protection to a member of the public who was repeatedly threatened with personal harm and eventually suffered dire personal injuries for lack of such protection."

"We, the Representatives of the people inhabiting the western part of the Mississippi Territory, contained within the following limits, to wit: Beginning on the River Mississippi at the point where the southern boundary line of the State of Tennessee strikes the same; thence east along the said boundary line to the Tennessee River; thence up the same to the mouth of Bear Creek; thence, by a...

"If I had only to discuss academic principles. I should clearly not attempt an autobiography. But my purpose being to give an account of various practical applications of these principles, I have given the chapters I propose to write the title of The Story of My Experiments with Truth. These will of course include experiments with non-violence, celibacy and other principles of conduct...

"The respective trial judges held that the police were under no specific legal duty to provide protection to the individual appellants ... and dismissed the complaints for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. ... However, in a split decision a three judge division of this court determined that appellants Warren, Taliaferro and Nichol were owed a special duty of care by...

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