The 45 versions of the 2nd Amendment

[ericire12]

http://secondsmatter.blogspot.com/2010/06/45-versions-of-second-amendment.html

It is funny that a lot of research on gun-rights focuses on the NRA and national-level gun-rights organizing, even though the vast majority of gun laws concern the state or local jurisdictions. As Eugen Volokh notes, there are 45 versions of the Second Amendment currently on the books, of which 44 are in state constitutions. Only California, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, and New York have no state-level equivalent of the Second Amendment. I’d thought I’d have some fun and post some of the more interesting ones here. You can view the evolution of state-level Second Amendment equivalents by state here.

Illinois reads that “Subject only to police power, the right of the individual citizen to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” (1970). So police have exclusive and complete jurisdiction over infringing the right to keep and bear arms?

Indiana’s states, “That the people have a right to bear arms for the defence of themselves, and the State; and that the military shall be kept in strict subordination to civil power” (1816). The current version, which was updated in 1851, notably omits the “and that the military shall be kept in strict subordination to civil power.” Ohio, however, still has this clause.

Several Second Amendment-equivalents also provide an explicit mechanism by which to regulate or prohibit concealed carry, such as Louisiana (“The right of each citizen to keep and bear arms shall not be abridged, but this provision shall not prevent the passage of laws to prohibit the carrying of weapons concealed on the person” from 1974), Mississippi (“The right of every citizen to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person, or property, or in aid of the civil power when thereto legally summoned, shall not be called in question, but the Legislature may regulate or forbid carrying concealed weapons” from 1890), and Missouri (“That the right of every citizen to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person and property, or when lawfully summoned in aid of the civil power, shall not be questioned; but this shall not justify the wearing of concealed weapons” from 1945). Some of these amendments even start to sound a bit schizophrenic; in this category, Idaho’s 1977 amendment wins: “The people have the right to keep and bear arms, which right shall not be abridged [that sounds straightforward enough!]; but this provision shall not prevent the passage of laws to govern the carrying of weapons concealed on the person [so this doesn’t count as ‘abridging’?] nor prevent passage of legislation providing minimum sentences for crimes committed while in possession of a firearm, nor prevent the passage of legislation providing penalties for the possession of firearms by a convicted felon, nor prevent the passage of any legislation punishing the use of a firearm [in which case, what is the point of enumerating the right to keep and bear arms if any use can be punishable?]. No law shall impose licensure, registration or special taxation on the ownership or possession of firearms or ammunition [Okay…back to Personality #1]. Nor shall any law permit the confiscation of firearms, except those actually used in the commission of a felony [so you cannot have your guns confiscated unless they are used in a felony, but you can be punished for being in possession of a firearm if you do commit a non-felonious, non-firearm crime? Huh?] .”

And the winner in terms of straightforward conciseness is Maine’s 1987 provision that “Every citizen has a right to keep and bear arms and this right shall never be questioned.”

[BAC]

Section 21 of Pennsylvania's constitution states:

The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned.

I rather like that.