Trusted Writing on History, Travel, and American Culture Since 1949
Gun culture
Some of the most important essays on gun rights, gun culture, and the meaning of the Second Amendment have appeared in American Heritage over the last 50 years.
Here are some amusing -- and some very sad -- images we collected from the archives of American Heritage.
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To know what the Framers intended, we need to understand the late-18th century historical context.
Editor's Note: We asked Joseph Ellis, one of the leading scholars on the Founding era, to provide us with historical content for the Second Amendment and what the founders intended when they wrote it.
One of the best-known advocates for gun rights outlines where he thinks compromise is possible.
Editor's Note: The modern era of relaxed regulations on gun ownership began in 2008 when the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment guaranteed an individual right to bear arms.
The Supreme Court left the door open for reasonable regulations of guns if Congress has the will to act.
Editors Note: We asked Prof. Adam Winkler, a nationally recognized expert on Constitutional law and the history of gun control, to give us his thoughts on how we can steer a middle ground between the right to bear arms and strict gun control.
The Supreme Court left the door open for reasonable regulations of guns if Congress has the will to act.
Editors Note: We asked Prof. Adam Winkler, a nationally recognized expert on Constitutional law and the history of gun control, to give us his thoughts on how we can steer a middle ground between the right to bear arms and strict gun control.
After ten years of research into the history of gun rights, it’s clear that most Americans' understanding of the “right to bear arms” is not consistent with historical facts.
Editor's Note: We asked Patrick J. Charles, the author of numerous articles and books on gun control, legal history and the Constitution, to give us an overview of the history of gun rights.
Here are the original opinion and dissents in the famous Supreme Court case that defined the modern version of the "right to bear arms"
CONTENTS
Syllabus
Opinion (Scalia)
Dissent (Stevens)
Here are the original opinion and dissents in the famous Supreme Court case that defined the modern version of the "right to bear arms"
CONTENTS
Syllabus
Opinion (Scalia)
Dissent (Stevens)
Here are the original opinion and dissents in the famous Supreme Court case that defined the modern version of the "right to bear arms"
CONTENTS
Syllabus
Opinion (Scalia)
Dissent (Stevens)
As this issue goes to press, Governor George Wallace of Alabama lies gravely wounded by bullets fired from the handgun of a would-be assassin while he was campaigning for the Presidential nomination in Maryland.
It's the only industrial nation in which the possession of rifles, shotguns, and handguns is lawfully prevalent among large numbers of its population.
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