The Second Amendment and Gun Control: Freedom, Fear, and the American Constitution

Description

The Second Amendment, by far the most controversial amendment to the US Constitution, will soon celebrate its 225th anniversary. Yet, despite the amount of ink spilled over this controversy, the debate continues on into the 21st century. Initially written with a view towards protecting the nascent nation from more powerful enemies and preventing the tyranny experienced during the final years of British rule, the Second Amendment has since become central to discussions about the balance between security and freedom. It features in election contests and informs cultural discussions about race and gender. This book seeks to broaden the discussion. It situates discussion about gun controls within contemporary debates about citizenship, culture, philosophy and foreign policy as well as in the more familiar terrain of politics and history. It features experts on the Constitution as well as chapters discussing the symbolic importance of Annie Oakley, the role of firearms in race, and filmic representations of armed Hispanic girl gangs. It asks about the morality of gun controls and of not imposing them. The collection presents a balanced view between those who favour more gun controls and those who would prefer fewer of them. It is infused with the belief that through honest and open debate the often bitter cultural divide on the Second Amendment can be overcome and real progress made. It contains a diverse range of perspectives including, uniquely, a European perspective on this most American of issues. Cover Title Copyright Contents List of contributors Acknowledgements Introduction 1 Constitutional mythology and the future of Second Amendment jurisprudence after Heller 2 The Second Amendment right to self-defence: the core freedom in the new century 3 Annie, get your gun: women, performance and the western heroine 4 “A gun is a gun in anyone’s hand”: shooting the gang girl in Mi Vida Loca 5 “The thought of a black male with a weapon scares America”: African Americans, the Second Amendment, and the racial politics of armed self-defense in the civil rights era and beyond 6 From virtuous armed citizen to “cramped little risk-fearing man”: the meaning of firearms in an insecure era 7 Gun rights and the rule of law 8 To endure for all time or to change with the times? The Supreme Court and the Second Amendment 9 Mr Gingrich’s bequest: globalising the Second Amendment? 10 The universal right of self-defense and the auxiliary right to defensive arms Index