NCJ Number
153219
Editor(s)
R J Cottrol
Date Published
1994
Length
478 pages
Annotation
The papers in this volume reflect the range of the debate over the origin of the Second Amendment ("right to bear arms") and over public policy that might stem from that amendment.
Abstract
Following an introduction to issues associated with gun control and the U.S. Constitution, three court cases that have interpreted the Second Amendment are presented and discussed: Aymette versus the State, Presser v. Illinois, and United States v. Miller et al. The following Federal gun control legislation is presented and discussed: Firearms Owners' Protection Act and Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. Three papers on general topics related to the Second Amendment reflect the debate on the parameters and interpretation of the Second Amendment. A section on the English background of the Second Amendment includes a historical analysis of the concept of standing armies and armed citizens and the common law tradition of the right of the people to keep and bear arms. Five papers discuss issues pertinent to "citizenship, republicanism, and the right to bear arms." Topics addressed include the ideological origins of the Second Amendment, the origins and meaning of the right to bear arms, civic republicanism and the citizen militia, the intent of the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment, and an Afro-Americanist reconsideration of the Second Amendment. Chapter notes