The Right to Self-Defense Against the State

The Second Amendment is accepted as protecting a right, but it is commonly accepted that the right is not unrestricted. I will explore the most commonly suggested restrictions proposed by gun control advocates and show why these restrictions to the Second Amendment are unjustifiably high, especially when compared with restrictions we accept for other Constitutional rights. I argue that these restrictions violate a central function of the Second Amendment—to enable the people to protect themselves against a tyrannical government. The three restrictions I will be discussing are: (1) licensing requirements for gun ownership, (2) gun tracing with a national database of gun owners, and (3) concealed carry restrictions.