“The Constitution shall never be construed… to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.” — Samuel Adams, Debates and Proceedings in the Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, at 86-87 (Pierce & Hale, eds., Boston, 1850)
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“I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for a few public officials.”
— George Mason, in Debates in Virginia Convention on Ratification of the Constitution, Elliot, Vol. 3, June 16, 1788
In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court narrowly affirmed the rights of self-defense under the Second Amendment. The fact that 4 Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court would gut the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms, is frightening indeed. Thankfully, 5 of the Justices recognized the Second Amendment and its history for what it does: recognizing the right to self-defense.
Justice Scalia wrote for the majority:
“The inherent right of self-defense has been central to the Second Amendment right. The handgun ban amounts to a prohibition of an entire class of ‘arms’ that is overwhelmingly chosen by American society for that lawful purpose. The prohibition extends, moreover, to the home, where the need for defense of self, family, and property is most acute.
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“We are aware of the problem of handgun violence in this country, and we take seriously the concerns raised by the many amici who believe that prohibition of handgun ownership is a solution. The Constitution leaves the District of Columbia a variety of tools for combating that problem, including some measures regulating handguns [...]. But the enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy choices off the table. These include the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home. Undoubtedly some think that the Second Amendment is outmoded in a society where our standing army is the pride of our Nation, where well-trained police forces provide personal security, and where gun violence is a serious problem. That is perhaps debatable, but what is not debatable is that it is not the role of this Court to pronounce the Second Amendment extinct.” District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 56, 64 (2008 )
Filed under: The Right to Self-Defense , D.C. v. Heller, District of Columbia, gun ban, right to self defense, Second Amendment
