CLEARING THE SMOKE FROM THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS AND THE SECOND AMENDMENT was an amicus curiae brief written by Anthony J Dennis in 1996. Mr. Dennis was a member of Academics For The Second Amendment, a non-profit organization with a nationwide membership dedicated to the recognition and preservation of the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. Mr. Dennis has co-authored one law book published by Thompson Publishing Group in 1994 and has written and published eighteen law review and other legal articles on a variety of topics.
The following was taken from the conclusion of the article:
Gun control advocates, disarmament advocates and those who find this part of the Bill of Rights personally repugnant have a tendency either to ignore or belittle and trivialize the Second Amendment. The popular press seems to ignore the existence of this constitutional right entirely in favor of criminological statistics like the number of youths killed by gunshots and the like. “
Academicians sympathetic to the above-mentioned liberal constituencies have typically gravitated toward a states’ rights reading of the Second Amendment in order to limit its impact on the gun control debate. If the Second Amendment’s arms guarantee can be limited to service in a militia, then it is effectively a dead letter. But, as we have seen, this constitutional right extends beyond such a narrow reading.
Sooner or later those like Washington insider and Clinton confidant Lloyd Cutler will have to face up to the fact that they must successfully amend the Constitution if they are to get rid of the Second Amendment. There are no lawful shortcuts in this respect. Amending the United States Constitution in order to strip Americans of the right to bear arms in defense of themselves, their communities and their nation promises to be an inconvenient and time consuming process. My only answer to such an observation is that it was designed to be that way. Various parts of the Constitution rise and fall in popularity over time. But the Constitution was designed to be immune from the fickle winds of “political correctness” or this year’s hot election issue. Americans must come to a lasting judgment that in this day and age personal firearms for civilians are no longer necessary or advisable.
If consensus is ever achieved on that highly debatable point, then and only then can the Constitution successfully be amended in order to abolish or radically amend the Second Amendment. Until that time, it is dangerous to our constitutional order and method of government for the Left to ignore or otherwise trample upon this important constitutional right.
You can read the entire brief HERE
In order to uncover the meaning and scope of the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution, this Article analyzed and discussed the intent of the Framers, relevant aspects of early American history and the intellectual influences that shaped the thinking of the Founding Fathers. This Article also engaged in a linguistic analysis of the actual language used in the Second Amendment and investigated judicial opinions relevant to a consideration of the meaning of that constitutional provision. All of these sources strongly suggest that the Framers of the Constitution and Bill of Rights (including the Second Amendment) intended that the Second Amendment guarantee U.S. citizens an individual right to possess and carry arms for their defense and the defense of the new nation. This constitutional right extends beyond militia or similar military service and is not contingent or dependent upon such service.
