Second thoughts on the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: exploring original intent and textual construction

Farley Grubb

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: A prominent interpretation of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution uses original meaning, strict construction, and textualism. The Amendment’s words mean exactly what they say, which was the original intent of the founding fathers as they fit them into the strict construction of the Constitution as drafted in 1787. The current conclusion taken from this approach is that the Second Amendment prohibits gun control laws at all legislative levels. Understanding this approach involves grammatical and historical issues that require interdisciplinary analysis. I show that when historically, grammatically, and analytically deconstructed the conclusion is the opposite of that currently propounded.

Keywords: gun control; militias; in-kind taxes; congressional restraints; judicial interpretations of constitutional law (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H11 H20 H4 K00 K19 K49 N41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-04-16
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:129050

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