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2nd Amendment and Right to Bear Arms/Laurence Tribe and The Second Amendment

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Expert: - 5/18/2007


Question
Hi,

I've read in a number of places that liberal law professor, Laurence Tribe has concluded that the Second Amendment does protect the individual's right to bear arms, not just the "militia's".

But I have not been able to find any Tribe writings on the subject.

I'd be most grateful for a source.

Many thanks,

Steve
nighttrain@nyc.rr.com

Answer
Well, Steve, it's true he did come to that conclusion in American Constitutional Law (2nd edition 1988, with the most recent edition available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/1566627141/102-3044274-4721738/sportsreccommuni), #1, and, #2, you must not have looked too energetically.

You may not wish to spring for the almost $50 price tag, however, so see also:

• http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1117011910589

• http://www.tysknews.com/Depts/2nd_Amend/scholar_angers_liberals.htm

You might also look in on Sanford Levinson's remarkable "The Embarrassing Second Amendment" (http://www.firearmsandliberty.com/embar.html#16). Both Levinson and Tribe's Harvard law professor colleague Alan Dershowitz, are other "liberal academics" who have come to revise their thinking about the validity of the "individual vs. collective right" rendering.

It's likely to all be moot in another couple of years as the District of Columbia is almost certain to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the "Parker" case since the Court of Appeals has declined an en blanc review.  

2nd Amendment and Right to Bear Arms

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Dean Speir

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I can answer questions about Handguns, Rifles, Ammunition, the Firearms Industry, the "gunzine game," practical accessories for self-defense (CCW) handguns; rumor control on firearms myths, errata on the "gunshop grapevine."

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