NCJ Number
151593
Date Published
1992
Length
4 pages
Annotation
An analysis of the Second Amendment is presented.
Abstract
The author of this essay, Of Counsel to the Firearms Policy Project of the Violence Policy Center, argues that, primarily as a result of the National Rifle Association's (NRA) efforts, the Second Amendment is the most misunderstood provision contained in the Bill of Rights. The NRA has successfully transformed the public's perception of firearms ownership from a privilege to an inalienable constitutional right. She argues that the NRA ignores the legal history surrounding the amendment, choosing instead to propagate the myth that it guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms. She provides a brief history of U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have addressed the amendment's meaning. Cases discussed briefly are Presser v. Illinois, United States v. Miller, Lewis v. United States, Farmer v. Higgens, and United States v. Warin. She concludes that the Federal courts have consistently given the Second Amendment a collective, militia interpretation. No gun control measure has ever been struck down as unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. Despite this historical evidence, surveys of Americans have found that half of those surveyed believe that the Constitution guarantees their right to own a handgun.