We The People

The state of the Second Amendment

October 12, 2017

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In the aftermath of the Las Vegas tragedy, renewed attention has come to controversy over the constitutional status of guns in the United States and the role of the Second Amendment.

Saul Cornell is the Paul and Diane Guenther Chair in American History at Fordham University. Cornell is the author of two prize-winning works in American legal history. He is one of the nation’s leading authorities on early American constitutional thought. 
 

Nelson Lund is University Professor at George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School. He has written widely in the field of constitutional law, including articles on constitutional interpretation, federalism, separation of powers, and the Second Amendment. 
 

Jeffrey Rosen is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Constitution Center, the only institution in America chartered by Congress “to disseminate information about the United States Constitution on a nonpartisan basis.” He is also a professor at The George Washington University Law School, and a contributing editor for The Atlantic. 


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Additional Resources

Our Interactive Constitution is the leading digital resource about the debates and text behind the greatest vision of human freedom in history, the U.S. Constitution. Here, scholars from across the legal and philosophical spectrum interact with each other to explore the meaning of each provision of our founding document. 

Common Interpretation
The Second Amendment By Nelson Lund and Adam Winkler

Matters of Debate
Not a Second Class Right: The Second Amendment Today By Nelson Lund
The Reasonable Right to Bear Arms By Adam Winkler


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