RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS
·
The
Second Amendment to the
Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms. However, the intent
of this amendment is a matter of intense debate. The central controversy is
whether people have a right to bear arms as individuals rather than only as a
part of militia. Federal courts have held that the Constitution does not
guarantee the right of individual to keep and bear arms.
·
The two opposing interpretations of the Second
Amendment involve whether the amendment guarantees the right of individuals
to keep and bear arms or whether it guarantees the states freedom from federal
government infringement on this right. Individual rights proponents claim that the
framers intended to preserve the individual right, above the right of the
state. Proponents of States' rights claim that the Second
Amendment was adopted with the primary purpose of preserving the state
militia.
·
In 1967, the courts ruled that there is no express right of an
individual to keep and bear arms. Despite the federal interpretation of the
Second Amendment, giving authority over gun control to the states, American
Congress has been able to enact federal gun control legislation by using its broad
authority to regulate interstate commerce. The federal government has passed
legislation regulating the sale of handguns, including the Brady Bill (1993), which
requires a waiting period of five business days or a background check in order
to buy or obtain a license to carry a handgun. In general, however, the states'
power to regulate firearms appears to be nearly absolute.
·
The United States, is the only nation whose citizens are permitted
the right to keep and bear arms. This right has cost the United States dearly
in lives of persons killed by the disaffected, the unstable and the emotionally
ill, and it seems likely that it will gradually be more and more restricted.
Learn more about right to keep and bear arms
by visiting the following Web sites:
Collection of Useful References,
Resources and Interesting Second Amendment Sites
Legal Theory of the Right to
Keep and Bear Arms
Law
Journal Articles on the Second Amendment
The History of the
Second Amendment
Gun Rights in State
Constitutions
The Second
Amendment Foundation
The Second Amendment: A Militia Review
The Second Amendment,
Political Liberty, and the Right to Self-Preservation
Historic
Supreme Court Decisions
