Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 13
process. When the dust settled, 10 amendments were added to the
Constitution; these 10 amendments are the Bill of Rights. It is the
Second Amendment that concerns firearms specifically, though
throughout this book, we will reference many others, including the
Fourth and Fifth Amendments that both affect your right to bear
arms and fundamental rights for us all.
II. DO I HAVE A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT AS AN INDIVIDUAL TO
KEEP AND BEAR ARMS?
Yes. The United States Supreme Court has decided that an
individual has a constitutional right to keep and bear arms. This
right is recognized by the Second Amendment, which simply states:
A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a
free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall
not be infringed.
From a plain reading, there are two important parts to this
amendment. First, the prefatory clause, which is an introduction
explaining why the right is necessary; and second, the operative
clause, which states what the right is. The prefatory clause of
the Second Amendment explains that a well-regulated militia is
necessary to the security of a free state. The operative clause states
that the individual right to bear arms belongs to the people. For
years, before the issue was decided, anti-gun activists have tried to
argue that the Second Amendment only applied to “militias” and not
individuals. Luckily, this argument is not the law. Despite Supreme
Court rulings stating otherwise, this myth seems to persist. What do
these parts of the Second Amendment mean? Are they the same, or
are they different?
2 | CHAPTER ONE
