Constitutional Questions
When can the government limit the individual right to possess guns and other firearms—and when can’t it?
- Does the Second Amendment protect a right to keep and bear arms only when reasonably connected with militia service? (This is known as the “collective rights” view of the Second Amendment.)
- Or, does the Second Amendment also protect a freestanding right to keep and bear arms—one not necessarily connected to militia service? (This is known as the “individual rights” view of the Second Amendment.)
- Which side do you think offers the better reading of the Second Amendment—the collective rights view (gun rights connected to militia service) or the individual rights view (guns rights as an individual right not necessarily connect to militia service)?
- How have cases in the past defined how guns can be limited and when they cannot?
- Hypothetical: Can a city pass a ban on carried and concealed firearms, only allowing for the carrying of handguns outside the home if a citizen can show a special need for self-protection?
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