Second Amendment Commons^™

A Secret Weapon?: Applying Privacy Doctrine To The Second Amendment, Jody L. Madeira

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Is The Second Amendment Becoming Irrelevant?, A Winkler

Indiana Law Journal

Why might the Second Amendment cease to serve this vital constitutional function? The explanation begins with the difference between how the Second Amendment is invoked in political debates and how the amendment is invoked in court. There are, it seems, two Second Amendments. There is a Judicial Second Amendment comprised of court decisions interpreting the provision, and there is an Aspirational Second Amendment that is used in political dialogue. These two versions of the Second Amendment are different; the aspirational one is far more hostile to gun laws than the judicial one.

Moreover, the Aspirational Second Amendment is overtaking the …

Disarming The Dangerous: Preventing Extraordinary And Ordinary Violence, M. Fan

Indiana Law Journal

Mass shootings at Navy Yard, Newtown, Aurora, and elsewhere have jolted Congress and the states into considering gun violence prevention. More than 1500 gun-related bills have been introduced since 2013, after the slaughter in Newtown of twenty elementary-school children and six adults. Legislation and debates are shaped by the specter of a heavily armed, mentally ill individual hunting in public places such as schools, businesses, and workplaces. In the states, the most successful type of legislation involves firearms restrictions for the mentally ill. In Congress, the legislation that garnered the most debate was a ban on assault weapons and large-capacity …

Domestic Violence, Gun Possession, And The Importance Of Context, Wesley M. Oliver

Indiana Law Journal

Context is everything.

A federal law prohibits those convicted of committing an act of domestic violence from possessing weapons. 1 This term, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that this statute would apply even to those convicted of crimes that did not necessarily involve violent acts.2 This conclusion strains the ordinary meaning of language, but is quite consistent with a long tradition in criminal cases that favors a pro-government interpretation of a statute when the public welfare is at stake. And domestic violence, Justice Sotomayor stressed in her opinion, has reached epidemic levels, prompting Congress to get guns out of the …

Our Non-Originalist Right To Bear Arms, Robert Leider

Indiana Law Journal

District of Columbia v. Heller was a landmark, if controversial, opinion. Discussion has centered on the merits of its self-described originalist approach. Supporters praise its efforts to return to a more originalist and textualist approach to constitutional questions, whereas critics challenge the accuracy of Heller’s historical claims and criticize its departure from precedent.

This Article challenges much of the conventional wisdom about Heller, its use of originalism, and its relationship to nineteenth- and twentieth-century case law. This Article argues that, despite much of its rhetoric, Heller actually exemplified popular constitutionalism—not originalism—in the way it approached the most important practical question …

Originalism In Practice, Lawrence Rosenthal

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Tales Of Violence: Populists, Outgroups, And The Multicultural Landscape Of The Second Amendment, David C. Williams

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Traditionally, populists have claimed the Second Amendment as their particular cultural property; by contrast, outgroups and elites have found the Amendment somewhat culturally alien. Recently, some outgroup members have argued that their groups ought to embrace the Amendment because the right to keep and bear arms can be a valuable way of resisting populist oppression. This Article explores this changing multicultural landscape of the Second Amendment It recognizes that in particular instances and in the short term, outgroups might need to arm themselves against hate violence. It argues, however, that only a consensus culture on the use of violence will …

The Unitary Second Amendment, David C. Williams

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Militia Movement And Second Amendment Revolution: Conjuring With The People, David C. Williams

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Civic Republicanism And The Citizen Militia: The Terrifying Second Amendment, David C. Williams

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Constitution Of The United States At The End Of One Hundred Fifty Years, Hugh Evander Willis

Historic Documents

Including the original Constitution, the formal amendments, and that part of the Constitution made by the Supreme Court and custom, as found in the Supreme Court Reports, arranged so far as possible according to the analysis found in the original Constitution.

With an Introduction by Hugh Evander Willis

Indiana University Publications Social Science Series No.1 1939