David French on Gun Control

Don't rewrite the meaning of the Second Amendment

"The next Supreme Court justice will hold the balance of power in the next Second Amendment case, a case that could either reaffirm the textual, historical, and philosophical meaning of the Second Amendment, or rewrite history and undermine a fundamental right of a free people. Any judicial ruling that rejects an individual right to keep and bear arms would permit any future liberal majorities in Congress to pass draconian gun-control bills, including potential confiscation of weapons."--April 13

Second Amendment is an individual, not a collective, right

In 2008, the Supreme Court decided the landmark case of District of Columbia v. Heller, ruling--by a bare 5-4 majority--that this relatively recent view is incorrect. The Second Amendment, the majority concluded, protects the rights of the individual.

Naturally, neither the Constitution nor the Bill of Rights spells out every individual liberty. But, in the face of pressure from those who were skeptical of the new government, a few core rights were given special protections to which the people might appeal if the government attempted to take them away, including the Second Amendment.