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The Second Amendment on Trial: Critical Essays on District of Columbia v. Heller Kindle Edition

4.4 out of 5 stars 4

On the final day of its 2008 term, a sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-to-4 decision striking down the District of Columbia’s stringent gun control laws as a violation of the Second Amendment. Reversing almost seventy years of settled precedent, the high court reinterpreted the meaning of the “right of the people to keep and bear arms” to affirm an individual right to own a gun in the home for purposes of self-defense. The landmark ruling not only opened a new chapter in the contentious history of gun rights and gun control but also revealed both the strengths and problems of originalist constitutional theory and jurisprudence.

This volume brings together some of the best scholarship on the Heller case, with essays by legal scholars and historians representing a range of ideological viewpoints and applying different interpretive frameworks. Following the editors’ introduction, which describes the issues involved and the arguments on each side, the essays are organized into four sections. The first includes two of the most important historical briefs filed in the case, while the second offers different views of the role of originalist theory. Section three presents opposing interpretations of the ruling and its relationship to modern constitutional doctrine. The final section explores historical research post-Heller, including new findings on patterns of gun ownership in colonial and Revolutionary America.

In addition to the editors, contributors include Nelson Lund, Joyce Lee Malcolm, Jack Rakove, Reva B. Siegel, Cass R. Sunstein, Kevin M. Sweeney, and J. Harvie Wilkinson III.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A welcome addition to the ongoing debate about the role of guns in American history and in contemporary American culture. --Jan Dizard, coeditor of Guns in America

The Second Amendment on Trial should appeal not only to legal scholars and law students, but also to historians, political scientists, and sociologists with an interest in the constitutional aspects of firearms. The essays represent a variety of perspectives, some of which are sympathetic to the Court s decision, and some of which are quite critical. The quality of the scholarship is uniformly very high. --Lawrence Rosenthal, Chapman University Law School

About the Author

Saul Cornell is Paul and Diane Guenther Chair in American History at Fordham University.

Nathan Kozuskanich is associate professor of history at Nipissing University.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B017C12BA6
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Massachusetts Press; Critical edition (October 23, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 23, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 6164 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 460 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1558499954
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 4

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
4 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2020
As one of the academic reviewers stated, this collection of essays contains some material critical of the Heller decision and some in support. For example, there are amici briefs for both sides included at the outset. These essays are “in the weeds” in terms of legal analysis and not for those content to just skim the surface of the gun control debate. Very helpful appendices for those researching Heller.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2018
This book is a virtual gun control op-ed, not very good.
2 people found this helpful
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