12-21-2004, 19:20
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#1
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Moderator
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Whether the Second Amendment Secures an Individual Right
MEMORANDUM OPINION FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL:
WHETHER THE SECOND AMENDMENT SECURES AN INDIVIDUAL RIGHT
August 24, 2004
The Second Amendment secures a right of individuals generally, not a right of States or a right restricted to persons serving in militias.
'Nuff said? ....
OK, read the whole thing, including all 437 footnotes: http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm
Or skip to the conclusion:
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For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the Second Amendment secures an individual right to keep and to bear arms. Current case law leaves open and unsettled the question of whose right is secured by the Amendment. Although we do not address the scope of the right, our examination of the original meaning of the Amendment provides extensive reasons to conclude that the Second Amendment secures an individual right, and no persuasive basis for either the collective-right or quasi-collective-right views. The text of the Amendment's operative clause, setting out a "right of the people to keep and bear Arms," is clear and is reinforced by the Constitution's structure. The Amendment's prefatory clause, properly understood, is fully consistent with this interpretation. The broader history of the Anglo-American right of individuals to have and use arms, from England's Revolution of 1688-1689 to the ratification of the Second Amendment a hundred years later, leads to the same conclusion. Finally, the first hundred years of interpretations of the Amendment, and especially the commentaries and case law in the pre-Civil War period closest to the Amendment's ratification, confirm what the text and history of the Second Amendment require.
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Airbornelawyer is offline
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12-21-2004, 19:35
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#2
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Consigliere
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Why did they draft this?
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Roguish Lawyer is offline
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12-21-2004, 19:41
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#3
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Quiet Professional
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Originally Posted by Roguish Lawyer
Why did they draft this?
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Where is Professor Volokh?
TR
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"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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The Reaper is offline
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12-21-2004, 19:44
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#4
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by The Reaper
Where is Professor Volokh?
TR
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http://www1.law.ucla.edu/~volokh/
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Roguish Lawyer is offline
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12-21-2004, 19:46
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#5
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Roguish Lawyer
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I meant that I thought we had heard he might visit us here. 
TR
__________________
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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The Reaper is offline
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12-21-2004, 19:52
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#6
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I actually found the link to the DOJ study through his site.
The Office of Legal Counsel, among other things, provides legal analysis to the Attorney General on constitutional issues. The purpose, more or less, is to identify the official position of the US government when a constitutional issue comes before the Federal courts.
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Airbornelawyer is offline
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12-21-2004, 19:57
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#7
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by The Reaper
I meant that I thought we had heard he might visit us here.
TR |
LOL
I sent him the link months ago. He thanked me for it, but it does not appear that he has registered. I do not know whether he has visited or not.
I can try again, but I do not want to push him too hard.
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Roguish Lawyer is offline
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12-21-2004, 20:34
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#8
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Quiet Professional
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Roguish Lawyer
LOL
I sent him the link months ago. He thanked me for it, but it does not appear that he has registered. I do not know whether he has visited or not.
I can try again, but I do not want to push him too hard.
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Negative.
If we build it, he will come.
TR
__________________
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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The Reaper is offline
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12-24-2004, 10:12
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#9
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Quiet Professional
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My Favorite Subject
I got into the second ammendment issue during President Clinton's administration. Studying that issue got me interrested in the whole Constitution, and it's been a great education. I would only suggest that everyone interrested in this subject read the book "That Every Man Be Armed" by Stephen P Hallbrook. There is nothing like getting inside the minds of the Founders, who didnt figure this out by watching MTV, but read Plato and Aristotle, and the otehr great classic philosophers. Once you know what "a well regulated malitia" REALLY is, you'll never be able to watch some Hollywood fool spout off again without sending a letter to the editor!
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JTF
Audacity, Tenacity, Leadership and Marksmanship, that gets it done!
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