armed guard in every elementary school: New York City schools have school safety officers (over five thousand in early 2013, more than one per school). They are instructed to escort students to safety, not to shoot intruders. Over two hundred uniformed officers patrol dangerous schools. NYPD School Safety Division, Mission and Overview, July 2013, www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/school_safety/school_safety_overview.shtml. The idea, however, that every rural elementary school must have an armed guard, in case a crazed mass murderer might show up, seems far-fetched. Having police in urban high schools has had deleterious consequences for some. When police are in a school, they can make arrests. City schools face disruption from unruly students. But police presence can also turn teens fighting in the halls from something that leads to a trip to the principal’s office to the first step of a criminal record, with all the ancillary consequences. Erik Ekholm, “With More Police in Schools, More Children in Court,” New York Times, April 12, 2013, www.nytimes.com/2013/04/12/education/with-police-in-schools-more-children-in-court.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.
newspaper headlines: New York Daily News, December 22, 2012; New York Post, December 22, 2012.
CONCLUSION: “THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE”
a point acknowledged: See, for example, Lund, “The Past and Future of the Individual’s Right to Bear Arms,” 3.
“There is almost no political question”: Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, abridged., trans. Stephen T. Grant (Indianapolis: Hackett, 2000), 123.
A full scan of American history: See Kramer, The People Themselves, a provocative look at the ways ordinary citizens helped shape constitutional understandings in the republic’s early years. See also Sean Wilentz, The Rise of American Democracy (New York: W. W. Norton, 2005).
“Public sentiment is everything”: Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1832–58, ed. Don E. Ferenbacher (Des Moines: Library of America, 1989), 524–5. Lincoln spoke at his first debate with Stephen O. Douglas at Ottowa, Illinois, on August 21, 1858.
“living originalism”: Jack Balkin, Living Originalism (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011), 120–21.
It did not hurt: This point is argued in David Richards, Fundamentalism in American Religion and Law: Obama’s Challenge to Patriarchy’s Threat to Democracy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010). Richards points out the traditional gender roles in Scalia’s majority opinion, elevating as it does the duty to protect “hearth and home.” Breyer’s dissent pulls in modern concerns about domestic violence, 228–29.
Justice Stephen Breyer has offered: Breyer, Active Liberty, 17–19.
INDEX
Page numbers beginning with 189 refer to end notes.
abolitionist movement, 70
Ackerman, Bruce, 105
Active Liberty (Breyer), 128
Adams, Abigail, 13
Adams, John, 9
“bear arms” in writing of, 63
Massachusetts constitution drafted by, 12
“return” ignored by, 66
“standing army” called for by, 67
Adams, John Quincy, 18
Adams, Samuel, 3, 12, 195
amendments to Constitution proposed by, 36–37, 200
on need for army, 15–16
affirmative action, 159, 238
Affordable Care Act (2010), 133, 134–35, 209
affrighting, 33
African Americans:
in Civil War, 71, 72
as elected officials in Reconstruction, 75
gun control and, 32, 72
gun rights and, 72, 74
self-defense of, xv
Alabama, 72, 74, 79
Alcatraz, 82
Alito, Samuel, 116, 144, 148
Amar, Akhil Reed, 23, 75, 99
American Bar Association, 109, 120
American Enterprise Institute, 114, 163
American Revolution, xiv, xvi, 71, 190, 191
early stumbles in, 13–16
militias in, 4, 13–16, 38
opening shots of, 3–5, 10–11
American Rifleman, 88, 89, 90–91, 97
Americans for Responsible Solutions, 175
Ames, Fisher, 52–53
Annals of Congress, 57
Anti-Federalists, 30–31, 33, 190, 196–97
age of, 195
amendments opposed by, 49
Second Amendment and, xiv, 35, 58, 207–8
Appomattox Court House, Va., 71–72
AR-15, 156, 167
Arizona, 91
Arkansas, 118
Arkansas doctrine, 68
armies:
discussed at Constitutional Convention, 22–24
as expensive, 8
militias vs., 6, 7–8, 12, 31–32, 54, 56–57
seen as tyrannous, 8
standing, 7–8, 67, 78
Arming America (Bellesiles), 102
arms, right to bear:
in England, 59–60
see also Second Amendment
Articles of Confederation, 15, 18, 20, 21, 29–30, 31, 207
Art of War, The (Machiavelli), 7
Ashcroft, John, 118
assassinations, xvi, 79, 83-84, 88
assault weapons ban, 84, 94, 151–52, 156–58, 159
Atlanta, Ga., 72
Aurora, Colo., 142, 154
Axelrod, David, 154
background checks, 155–56
Bacon, Francis, 7
Bailyn, Bernard, 7, 196
Balkin, Jack, 176
ballistic microstamping, 165
Bancroft Prize, 102
Battle Road, 5
“bear arms,” meaning of, 63, 67–68, 122–23
Beecher, Henry Ward, 70
Bellesiles, Michael, 102
Biden, Joseph, 154–55, 159
Bill of Rights, English, 52, 58–59, 68, 100
Bill of Rights, U.S.:
as applied to states, 77
as applying only to Congress, 76–77, 80
debate over, xiii, 26, 37, 42, 43, 57
demand for, 26, 37, 42, 43
Madison’s proposal of, 48–57
Madison’s support for, 47–48, 202
original draft of, 51–53
“people” in, 62
ratification of, xiii, 57
ratified by states, 57
ratified in House, 50–56
rejection of, 26–27, 32
Supreme Court scrutiny of, 105, 106
see also specific amendments
Biskupic, Joan, 116
Blackmun, Harry, 131
Blackstone, William, 33, 111, 125, 210
Bloomberg, Michael, 242
Bogus, Carl, 97–98, 100, 200
Bonnie and Clyde, 81
Bork, Robert, 110, 114, 116–17
Boston, Mass.:
British occupation of, 3–5, 8
community policing in, 164
gun control in, 32, 233
Bowen, Catherine Drinker, 24
Bradley Foundation, 113
Brady, James, 84, 93
Brady Bill, 84, 93, 94, 164
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, 144
Brandeis, Louis, 104–5, 128
breech-loading guns, 87
Breed’s Hill, 10
Brennan, William J., Jr., 106, 109–10, 114, 116
Breyer, Stephen, 120–21, 128, 144, 149, 230, 243
on Constitution as charter for democracy, 176–77
Brookings Institution, 147
Brooklyn, Battle of, 14
Brown, John, 70–71, 212
Brown v. Board of Education, 106, 125
Brutus, 30, 33, 41
Bull Run, first Battle of, 71
Bunker Hill, Battle of, 10
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, 118, 164
Burger, Warren, xv, 84
Burke, Edmund, 108
Burnside, Ambrose, 87
Bush, George H. W., 95
Bush, George W., 118, 120, 131, 147
lawsuit i
mmunity law signed by, 151
Bush, Jeb, 152
Bush v. Gore, 119
Business Roundtable, 92
Cagney, James, 82
California, 80
tax revolt in, 91
Canada, 9, 161
Capone, Al, 81
Carolene Products case, 105
Carter, Jimmy, 91
Catholics, 92
Cato Institute, 119
Centers for Disease Control, 155, 163
Chamber of Commerce, U.S., 92, 107–9
Charleston, S.C., 72
Charlestown, Mass., 4
checks and balances, 26, 108
Cheney, Dick, 120
Chernow, Ron, 14
Chicago, Ill., gun control in, 143–44, 148–49
Cincinnatus, 45, 194
Circuit Court of Appeals, D.C., 150
Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, 90
Citizens United v. FEC, 133, 134, 135–36, 173
civic republicanism, 6–7, 63
Civil Rights Act (1866), 73, 74
Civil War, U.S., xv, 71–72, 97, 111
causes of, 69
increase of crime and, 77
poor marksmanship in, 87
Clement, Paul, 120
Clinton, Bill, 84, 95, 147
on gun control, 93–94
trigger locks praised by, 151
Clinton, George, 40–41
Coercive Acts (1774), 10
Cold War, 88
Colfax, Schuyler, 76
Colorado, 91, 156
Colorado Springs, Colo., 90
Columbine school shooting, 151
Commentaries on the Laws of England (Blackstone), 111
Commerce Clause, 105, 133
Committee of Detail, 21
Committee on Style, 26
community policing, 164
Compromise of 1850, 69
concealed carry laws, 147–48, 151–52, 162, 233
concealed weapons, 67, 68, 73, 75
Concord, Mass., 4, 10, 13
Coney Island, 168
Confederation Congress, 46, 47
Congress, U.S., 23
Black Codes and, 72, 73
mail-order guns and, 88–89
“standing army” established by, 67
Uniform Militia Act passed by, 65–66
see also House of Representatives, U.S.; Senate, U.S.
Connecticut, 9, 36
gun control in, 80
conservatives:
Heller decision and, 130–32
originalism embraced by, 108–11
Constitution, U.S.:
as charter for democracy, 176–77
debate over, 34–43
as evolving, 115, 129–30, 137, 174, 176
opposition to, xiv
originalism and, see originalism
publication of, 29
ratification of, 22, 29–30, 34–42, 167, 199
secret drafting of, xiv, 20, 111
see also Bill of Rights
Constitutional Convention, xiv, 19–27, 29, 34, 36, 60, 75
Constitution in the Year 2000, The, 118
Continental Army, xiv, 14–15, 16, 21
disbanding of, 16–17
Continental Congress, Second, 13
contraceptives, 106
Cook, Philip, 165
Cooper Union, 70
Cornell, Saul, 32, 98
corporations, 133, 135–36
cost-benefit analysis, 108
Coxe, Tench, 33, 53, 204
Cruz, Ted, 156–58
culture wars, 95–96
Cuomo, Andrew, 156
Cuomo, Mario, 114
Daily News, 169
Dark Knight Rises, 154
Day Freedom Died, The (Lane), 77
Declaration of Independence, 11
Declaration of Rights, English, 59–60
Declaration of Rights, Virginia, 11, 197
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA; 1996), 134
Delaware, 197
Dellinger, Walter, 120, 228
Democratic Party, U.S.:
Clinton’s crime bill and, 84
in post-Reconstruction South, 76
Tammany Hall and, 79
Dick Act (1903), 78
Dickey, Jay, 163
Dickinson, John, 25
Dillon, John Forrest, 211
District of Columbia v. Heller, see Heller case
Dodge City, Kans., xv, 77–78
domestic violence, 120
Douglas, William O., 106
draft, 167
Draughter, Glen, 153
Dred Scott decision, 69–70, 73, 104, 174
drug laws, 84
duels, 67
Due Process Clause, 115, 116
Dunne, Finley Peter, 111, 130
Easterbrook, Frank, 132
Edmund Pettus Bridge, 134
Edsall, Thomas Byrne, 92
Eighteenth Amendment, 81
Eighth Amendment, 115
elections, U.S.:
of 1866, 75
of 1872, 76
of 1876, 76
of 1936, 105
of 1994, 84, 94
of 2000, 118
of 2012, 154
Ellsworth, Oliver, 25
“Embarrassing Second Amendment, The” (Levinson), 99
Emerson, Timothy, 118
England, 161
Epps, Garrett, 234–35
equal protection, 116, 135
equal rights, 73
equal sovereignty, 134
exclusionary rule, 118
executive branch, 20, 65
executive privilege, 65
Ezell v. City of Chicago, 234
Falwell, Jerry, 91
Faulkner, William, 134
FBI, 81–82, 118
federalism, 108
Federalist, The, 30–31, 41–42, 67
Federalists, 30–31, 35, 39
age of, 195
amendments scorned by, 49, 51
Federalist Society, 113
Feinstein, Dianne, 157–58
Fifteenth Amendment, 73
Fifth Amendment, xiii
Finkelman, Paul, 206
First Amendment, xiii, 60, 61, 62, 123, 153, 157
First New Deal, 105
Fischer, David Hackett, 5, 195
Florida, 76, 152
Foley, Thomas, 94
Foner, Eric, 73–74, 232–33
Ford, Gerald, 114
Fort Sumter, 71
Foster, Jodie, 93
Fourteenth Amendment, xv, 73–75, 76–77, 99, 104, 144, 174, 212–13
Fourth Amendment, xiii, 62, 118, 157, 164
Fox, William, 79
France, 32
American “quasi-war” with, 67
Franklin, Benjamin, 29
“bear arms” in writing of, 63
Constitution defended by, 30, 34
Freedmen’s Bureau, 73, 212
freedom of the press, xiii, 43
free speech, xiii, 31, 34, 53
Free Speech Movement, 108–9
French, Daniel, 4
French and Indian War, 9, 10, 13
Frost, Robert, 99
Gage, Thomas, 3
Galvin, John R., 5
Gaynor, William Jay, 79, 142
General Motors, 91
General Social Survey, 161
George III, King of England, 48–49
George Mason University Law School, Patrick Henry professorship at, 98, 101
Georgia, 36, 234
Gerry, Elbridge, 46, 122–23
death of, 67
Second Amendment opposed by, 54
standing army feared by, 23–24, 25
Gideon v. Wainwright, 106
Ginsburg, Douglas, 150
Ginsburg, Ruth Bader, 107, 120, 121, 135
Glorious Revolution, 59, 123
G Men (film), 82
Gore, Al, 96, 118
government, role of, xv
i
Grant, Ulysses, 71–72, 76
Great Britain, in War of 1812, 67
Great Compromise, 21
Great Depression, xv, 81, 105
Greenhouse, Linda, 116
Grigsby, Hugh Blair, 200
Griswold v. Connecticut, 106
gun control, 83–84
African Americans and, 32, 72
in age of Jackson, 67–68
Arming America and, 102
Brady Bill, 84, 93, 94
in cities, 78
after Civil War, xv
debate over, xiv
in early U.S., 32–34
and election of 1994, 94
gangsters and, xv
Heller case and, 97, 119–33
interstate trafficking in unlicensed guns banned, 82
mail-order guns and, 88–89
in New York City, 78–80
in Obama administration, 154–56
registration of shotguns and machine guns, 81, 88
in retreat, 151–52
school shootings and, 137
in west, 77–78
Gun Control Act (1968), 83, 89–90
gun culture, xiii, 89, 166–67
gun lobby, 89, 130, 142
see also National Rifle Association
gun owners, drop in number of, 161
gunpowder, 10
guns:
in age of Jackson, 67
after Civil War, 77
as expensive in American colonies, 9
increasing accuracy and deadliness of, 87, 172
increasing number of, 161, 172
loaded, outside of homes, 147–48, 151–52, 162, 233
in pre-Civil War U.S., 69
in South, 67, 70
taxes on, 81
U.S. deaths from, 142
in western frontier, 32, 67
Guns & Ammo, 89
gun shows, 156
gun violence, 173
decline of, 162
historical analysis of, 163
measures to curb, 163–64
studies on, 163
Gun Week, 90
habeas corpus, 43
Halbrook, Stephen, 98, 100–101, 210
Hamilton, Alexander, 40, 195
“bear arms” in writing of, 63
and Constitutional Convention, 19
Constitution defended by, 30, 41, 42
killing of, xv
on meaning of “well regulated,” 61
whiskey tax established by, 66
Hancock, John, 3, 36
handguns, 119, 144, 146
Hardy, David, 98, 220
Harpers Ferry raid, 70–71
Harrington, James, 7
Hatch, Orrin, 117
health insurance, 133
Heller, Dick, 119, 129, 150
Heller case, xiv, xv, 97, 119–33, 135, 142, 156–59, 173, 211
arguments in, 119-21
Breyer’s dissent on, 128, 149, 243
conservative reaction to, 130–32, 235
and Court’s rightward shift, 133
historians on errors in decision of, 144
legacy of, 143–51, 159, 160, 163, 164, 165, 166, 169
liberal reaction to, 130
The Second Amendment Page 29