The Second Amendment
An analysis of McDonald v. Chicago
Part I: From gun rights to religious liberty
Legal theories in recent First and Second Amendment cases shed light on ‘judicial activism’ vs. restraint.
Part II: ‘Clausal warfare’
Debate about arcane legal concepts reveals justices' philosophy on fundamental rights.
Part III: Originalism and African-American history
For justices who follow ‘originalist’ thinking, history reveals the law.
News
Guns, the law and history
In 2008, the Supreme Court declared that gun ownership is an individual right protected by the Second Amendment.
Since the decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, there have been 15 mass shootings in the United States, including the attempted assassination Gabrielle Giffords, the Aurora theater massacre, and the Newtown school shooting. During the the past 30 years, there have been 62 mass shootings in the United States, amounting to an average of about two mass shootings per year. In the years since the Heller decision, the rate of such incidents has more than doubled — to almost four per year, according to the Mother Jones “Guide to Mass Shootings in America.” See the SageLaw section on the Second Amendment and an analysis of the recent Supreme Court case, McDonald v. Chicago.