The Right to Bear Arms and Illinois UUW Laws

Since the Illinois Supreme Court found certain provisions of the Illinois Unlawful Use of a Weapon statute unconstitutional I started reading “The Roberts Court, the Struggle for the Constitution” by Marcia Coyle.

The Second Amendment, which is part of the first ten amendments to the Constitution, is known as the Bill of Rights. The Second Amendment states: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” This clause has been broken down into two sections: the preamble, which discusses a well regulated Militia, and the right to bear Arms. Gun rights opponents focus on the first clause that the right to bears arms it tied to being in a Militia, while gun rights advocates see the right to bear arms as an individual right. Although I do not view myself as a guns rights advocate or opponent, I believe that the right to bear arms is an individual right and not tied to the Militia phrase.

The Bill of Rights, are rights guaranteed to individuals, the right to free speech, and religion, the right to be tried by a jury, the right to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures. The Second Amendment being part of the Bill of Rights therefore must also give individuals the right to keep and bear arms, notwithstanding the preamble.