Constitutional Foundation: Second Amendment Rights

Position Statement: The Constitutional Foundation of Our Appeal

The right to keep and bear arms is not a regional privilege. It is a national birthright, guaranteed by the Constitution and repeatedly upheld by the highest court in the land.

While reasonable people may debate methods of improving public safety, there can be no debate about the source and strength of the rights outlined in the Second Amendment.

The points made in our letter are not abstract, emotional, or partisan — they are grounded in binding Supreme Court precedent and consistent constitutional interpretation. What follows is a summary of that legal foundation.

Legal Integrity Statement

This position is grounded in the Supreme Court’s holdings in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), Caetano v. Massachusetts (2016), and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022). These cases collectively affirm that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear modern, bearable arms and that this right applies equally at the federal, state, and local levels.

The views expressed here are consistent with the constitutional interpretation outlined by Congress’s own legal authority — the Constitution Annotated (constitution.congress.gov). Efforts to restrict lawful firearm ownership without clear historical precedent are therefore in conflict with both judicial precedent and constitutional principle.