The Right to Own a Gun
The following is excerpted from The Court TV Cradle-to-Grave Legal Survival Guide, an easy-to-read, in-depth explanation of the law as it affects all aspects of daily life. You can order the book, published by Little, Brown and Company, from our online store. It also is available in local bookstores, or you can call Little, Brown directly at (800) 333-3476.
CAN THE GOVERNMENT PLACE CONTROLS ON GUN OWNERSHIP?
Yes. The Second Amendment states that "[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." While there is much debate between advocates for gun control and those for gun ownership about whether or not the words of the amendment give individuals the right to own weapons, most federal courts and legal scholars typically agree that the Founding Fathers who wrote the Constitution intended to give only state militias (not individuals) the right to bear arms in defense of their communities. No federal court has ever ruled that an individual has a constitutional has a constitutional right to own a gun. In fact, the Supreme Court has rejected that interpretation of the Second Amendment.Therefore, federal and state governments are free to regulate the possession of guns by individuals. In fact, they could outlaw civilian gun ownership entirely if they wanted to -- so long as the state's constitution did not guarantee individuals the right to own a gun. No states have an outright ban on gun ownership, and it is probably unlikely that a broad ban would ever pass. More typical regulations include
- laws that bar the possession of concealed or unregistered weapons
- laws that impose purchase restrictions such as mandatory waiting periods
- laws that ban interstate transport of guns or the sale of particular types of firearms such as automatic weapons and machine guns
