Content Section

What About the Second Amendment?

"Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose: For example, concealed weapons prohibitions have been upheld under the Amendment or state analogues. The Court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms. Miller’s holding that the sorts of weapons protected are those “in common use at the time” finds support in the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of dangerous and unusual weapons. Pp. 54–56."

Justice Antonin Scalia

District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)

You Might Also Like

About the Author

Author headshot

David Frum

David Frum is a contributing editor at Newsweek and The Daily Beast and a CNN contributor. He is the author of eight books, including most recently the e-book WHY ROMNEY LOST and his first novel Patriots, published in April 2012.

Don't Miss Our Best Stuff!

FrumForum Now

Fewer Homeless, a Bush Legacy

Fewer Homeless, a Bush Legacy

Keeping Track Here

Gun Violence in America

The Assassin's Gun: Internet Liberty Gone Way Too Far

The Assassin's Gun: Internet Liberty Gone Way Too Far