Taking Back the Second Amendment

In the aftermath of the most deadly mass shooting in American history, the issue of gun regulation is once again in the news. Gun-rights advocates continue to invoke the Second Amendment as an obstacle to common-sense gun regulations. Supporters of gun-violence prevention dispute the advocates’ interpretation of the Second Amendment. Some have even suggested repealing or rewriting this much-invoked but poorly understood part of America’s constitutional heritage. It is important to reaffirm a simple fact: The Second Amendment does not belong to gun owners alone but to all Americans. Nor does

print Apr/May 2016

Half-Cocked

ONE OF THE MOST SURPRISING DEVELOPMENTS in the 2016 presidential election—so far, at least—is the revival of gun control as an issue among Democrats. By the end of his first term, Barack Obama had earned failing grades from a major gun-control group, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Indeed, as far as guns were concerned, the main accomplishment of Obama’s first term was a loosening of existing gun laws, permitting Americans to carry firearms in national parks and on Amtrak trains. All this changed after the horrific massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The most immediate