Current Issues

In spite of extensive recent discussion and much legislative action with respect to regulation of the purchase, possession, and transportation of firearms, as well as proposals to substantially curtail ownership of firearms, there is no definitive resolution by the courts of just what right the Second Amendment protects.

United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542 (1876) was the first case in which the Supreme Court had the opportunity to interpret the Second Amendment. The Court recognized that the right of the people to keep and bear arms was a right which existed prior to the Constitution when it stated that such a right "is not a right granted by the Constitution...neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence." The Court held, however, that because the right to keep and bear arms existed independent of the Constitution, and the Second Amendment guaranteed only that the right shall not be infringed by Congress, the federal......

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Title: 2nd Amendment Rights
Approximate Word Count: 1563
Approximate Pages: 7 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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