THE SECOND AMENDMENT CONTROVERSY -- EXPLAINED
Provides unambiguous identification of the actual meaning of the "right of the people to keep and bear arms" through historical documentation, early court case law, Supreme Court case law, and a grammatical analysis of the Second Amendment itself; The cause of and basis for the conflicting interpretations are identified and clarified. Also provides related information. (Updated July 4, 1996.)
CONTENTS
DEFINITION OF THE SECOND AMENDMENT
The Second Amendment Controversy--Explained: This document explains the Second Amendment controversy, is thorough and concise, and is void of statistics and opinions, although some comments and organizational structure are included. References are provided for all quoted information so that the reader may locate the source documentation and verify that the quotes are accurate, relevant and in context (An "easy reading" version without the references may be read.). The contents of the document is as follows (Selection indexes document to the beginning of the topic.)
The letter to each U.S. Senator which provided each Senator with a printed copy of "The Second Amendment Controversy--Explained".
DEFINITION OF THE MILITIA
The Militia and the National Guard: This document identifies the definition of the militia as it exists today in the U.S. Code. Although useful information, the militia concept at the time of the writing of the Constitution is what is relevant to the understanding of the Second Amendment.
REFERENCES
Planned Parenthood v. Casey (Complete Text--138K--from www.law.cornell.edu) Supreme Court decision in 1992 identifies the right to keep and bear arms as an individual right protected from invasion by the states and the federal government. The first half of Part II of the decision (8K) contains the four statements of interest on this subject.
Love v. Pepersack (from http://www.law.emory.edu/4circuit/): This Fourth Circuit Court decision is a recent--and typical--example of the lower federal courts' unconstitutional interpretation of the Second Amendment. The portion pertaining to the Second Amendment is near the end and the four key assertions have been bold-highlighted. (I have also globally replaced the HTML paragraph tags with line-break tags.)
UPDATE LOG
7/4/96: Added Content headings, Planned Parenthood v. Casey Supreme Court decision, Love v. Pepersack lower court decision.
6/28/96: Added missing line and missing italics to "The Second Amendment Controversy--Explained." Added easy reading version of "The Second Amendment Controversy--Explained."
6/17/96: Page placed on net.
(BACK TO TITLE)