An objective examination of the Second Amendment, focusing on the intentions of its authors, its evolution from America's beginnings to the present, and the views expressed by the courts. Annotation. Covering legal, political, and historical aspects of the Second Amendment and their implications for the controversy surrounding gun control, this book describes the origins of the right to bear arms, recent controversies, and legal challenges. Following this discussion, key people, cases, and events are described in alphabetical entries, important documents are excerpted, and a chronology is presented. Spitzer teaches political science at the State University of New York, College at Cortland.

Origins : the British heritage -- The colonial experience -- The Constitution -- The Bill of Rights -- The decline of the old militia system -- Supreme Court rulings -- Other court rulings -- The textbook view -- Twentieth-century issues : alternate views -- The "right of revolution" -- Spreading arguments in the media -- Seeking shelter under the Fourteenth Amendment -- The Second Amendment and politics -- Rights talk -- The twenty-first century : the Brady Law, the assault weapons ban, and beyond -- The new militia movement -- Recent court actions -- Escalating Second Amendment rhetoric -- Key people, cases, and events -- Documents : the Calling Forth Act of 1792 -- The Uniform Militia Act of 1792 -- United States v. Cruikshank (1876) -- Presser v. Illinois (1886) -- United States v. Miller (1939) -- Quilici v. Village of Morton Grove (1982) -- State right-to-bear-arms provisions -- Major party platform statements on gun control.