American Politics Today - Essentials (3rd Ed)

THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS| 109

the sacramental use of the tea, indicating a shift back toward the stricter standard
for justifying limits on religious practices.^61
The struggle between Congress and the Court in defi ning civil liberties illus-
trates the importance of the political process. When Congress decides to tackle an
important civil liberty such as religious freedom, it can infl uence outcomes in an
area that is usually dominated by the courts.

The Right to Bear Arms

Between 1791 and 2007 the Court issued only four rulings directly pertaining to
the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms. The federal courts had always
interpreted the Second Amendment’s awkward phrasing—“A well regulated Mili-
tia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep
and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”—as a right to bear arms within the context
of serving in a militia, rather than an individual right to own a gun.
Interest groups such as the National Rifl e Association have long asserted that
the Second Amendment guarantees an individual the right to bear arms. Critics
of this view emphasize the fi rst clause of the amendment and point to the frequent
mentions of state militias in congressional debates at the time the Bill of Rights
was adopted. They argue that the Second Amendment was adopted to reassure
Antifederalist advocates of states’ rights that state militias, not a national stand-
ing army, would provide national security. In this view the national armed forces
and the National Guard have made the Second Amendment obsolete.
Before the Court’s recent entry into this debate, Congress and state and local
lawmakers had largely defi ned gun ownership and carrying rights, creating sig-
nifi cant variation among the states. (Wyoming and Montana have virtually no
restrictions on gun ownership, for example, whereas California and Connecticut
have many.) However, following an assassination attempt on President Reagan in
1981, a push for stronger gun control laws intensifi ed. In 1993 Congress passed the
Brady bill, which mandates a background check and a fi ve-day waiting period for
any handgun purchase.

AFTER A MENTALLY ILL STUDENT

shot and killed 32 people at

Virginia Tech in 2007, many people

called for stricter gun laws.

EXPLORE WHY THE

SECOND AMENDMENT’S

MEANING ON GUN RIGHTS

IS OFTEN DEBATED