Second Amendment: Words & Rights Addressing Gun Violence: A Law and Public Health Approach Dialogues for Public Discussion

Second Amendment, United States Constitution 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.

Why the mention of “A well-regulated Militia” in the Second Amendment? What kind of “Arms” can we bear? What does “shall not be infringed” mean?

U.S. v. Miller (1939) U.S. Supreme Court Jack Miller and Frank Layton were charged with violating the National Fire Arms Act They had transported a double barrel 12-gauge shotgun across state lines They argued that the law violated their Second Amendment rights

U.S. v. Miller (1939) U.S. Supreme Court In the absence of any evidence tending to show that possession or use of a ‘shotgun having a barrel of less than eighteen inches in length’ at this time has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia, we cannot say that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to keep and bear such an instrument.

District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) U.S. Supreme Court The District of Columbia forbade most civilians from owning handguns Other firearms had to be stored unloaded or mechanically disabled The D.C. gun control laws were challenged under the Second Amendment

District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) U.S. Supreme Court Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited … through the nineteenth century cases, commentators and courts routinely explained that the right was not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.

District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) U.S. Supreme Court Under any of the standards of scrutiny that we have applied to enumerated constitutional rights, banning from the home “the most preferred firearm in the nation to ‘keep’ and use for protection of one’s home and family” … would fail constitutional muster.

Finding a Balance: Second Amendment Rights and Public Safety

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