Does The Second Amendment Mean What It Says?
by DAVID J. STEINBERG Executive Director National Council for a Responsible Firearms Policy “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, the U.S. Constitution The “right of the people to keep and bear arms” is part of the Bill of Rights. It stands alongside the First Amendment’s rights of freedom of speech, press, religion, and assembly. Opponents of strict or any regulation of private possession of firearms regard the Second Amendment as no less important than the First, indeed as a defense against a tyrannical government that would deprive the people of the basic rights for which a revolution was fought and an independent nation founded. Regardless of the degree of gun control any of us may prefer, it is essential that the meaning and intent of the Second Amendment be clearly understood, and its mandate carried out.
