Existing comment:
The Right to Bear Arms?
Can anyone own a gun? The phrasing of the Second Amendment has led to different interpretations. A long-standing argument is that the "right to bear arms" is a collective right that prohibits the Federal Government from disarming state militia. The predominant argument says it is an individual right guaranteed to every citizen. This petitioner opposed all laws limiting individual gun ownership.
Letter to Congress opposed to gun control laws, December 3, 1975, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives
"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."
-- Second Amendment, U.S. Constitution, 1791 |