Gun Control

The Twin Threats of Socialism and Gun Control

by Scott McPherson February 9, 2009

The confirmation of Eric Holder as the new U.S. attorney general is being celebrated as one more “historic” moment in American politics. Holder is the first African American appointed as the nation’s highest-ranking law-enforcement officer. He may also be the most anti-gun attorney general in U.S. history. Reason magazine called ...

The Second Amendment: More Important than Ever

by Scott McPherson February 1, 2009

The day after the November 4 election, Gun Owners of America (GOA), based in Springfield, Virginia, sent an email alert to supporters. With the subject heading “Gun Rights in Peril,” the message began, “Based on his voting record in the Illinois state senate and the U.S. Senate, President-elect Obama will be the most anti-Second Amendment president in the history ...

Gun-Proof Kids

by Scott McPherson January 7, 2009

Several years ago I read Gun-Proof Your Children by Massad Ayoob, an excellent short primer on introducing children to firearms and how best to maintain a safe household that has both children and guns in it. Ayoob’s premise is simple: the best way to protect your child from ...

Video Message 3: Gun Control

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 15, 2008

The Court Almost Gets It Right on Guns

by Sheldon Richman October 1, 2008

Advocates of freedom barely dodged a bullet when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the right to keep and bear arms, the subject of the Second Amendment, is an individual not a collective right. Opponents of gun ownership have long maintained that the Amendment’s reference to the militia indicates that the right does not apply to private individuals. Thankfully, ...

The Court Gets It Right on Guns

by Sheldon Richman July 2, 2008

Advocates of freedom dodged a bullet last week when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the right to keep and bear arms, the subject of the Second Amendment, is an individual, not a collective, right. Opponents of gun ownership have long maintained that the Amendment’s reference to the militia ...

The Roots of the Second Amendment

by Rick Lynch May 1, 2008

With the Supreme Court’s recent decision to take a look at the constitutionality of Washington, D.C.’s gun ban, we see once again, in every medium imaginable, hundreds if not thousands of commentaries, articles, speeches, and essays on the meaning of the Second Amendment. Words by the millions are being cranked out on the precise definition of “militia” in 16th-century ...

A Sure-Fire Argument on the Second Amendment

by Rick Lynch February 18, 2008

With the Supreme Court’s decision to examine the constitutionality of D.C.’s gun ban, the nation once again turns to an intense examination of the wording of the Second Amendment. One way to understand an amendment whose words have confused generations is to study its somewhat confusing text. But another way ...

The Foolishness and Immorality of Gun Control

by Scott McPherson November 14, 2007

I sent a pro-gun commentary from a British newspaper to a liberal friend of mine, and he replied that if we just banned the manufacture of firearms on a worldwide level there wouldn’t be any crime or genocides like the one going on in Darfur. He then suggested that I ...

Gun Control Claims More Victims

by Benedict D. LaRosa November 1, 2007

Last year, Virginia Tech University successfully lobbied the state legislature to prohibit concealed-permit holders from carrying a sidearm on campus. At the time, university spokesman Larry Hincker commented, I’m sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly’s actions because this will help parents, students, faculty, and visitors feel safe ...

The Lesson of Virginia Tech

by Sheldon Richman April 25, 2007

The lesson from the horrors at Virginia Tech is that no one can really, fully delegate to another his right to and responsibility for self-defense. You may feel the municipal or campus police are looking out for you, but no police force can guarantee to be where you need it when ...

Once Again, Gun Control Doesn’t Work

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 18, 2007

To belabor the obvious, murderers do not obey restrictions on gun possession, contrary to the long-repeated suggestion of the gun-control crowd — that if we simply enact such restrictions into law, murderers will comply with them. As we once again see in the context of the Virginia Tech massacre, ...