Second Amendment Issues

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution states, “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.”  As the Bill of Rights was specifically created to protect individual rights, it is my view that the right to bear arms is itself an individual right.

I think it is clear that the Founding Fathers intended the Second Amendment to allow citizens to keep and bear arms for personal security and defense, which is why I have supported Second Amendment rights throughout my career as an elected official.  As Professors Lawrence Tribe and Akil Amar have written, when we diminish the importance of one constitutional provision it is a threat to other constitutional rights. 

Regarding the recent Heller case involving gun rights in Washington, D.C., I signed an amicus curiae brief arguing that the Second Amendment provides an individual right to bear arms.  The brief is available here.