Government has a right to regulate the Second Amendment, Hillary Clinton said in an interview on the June 5 airing of This Week With George Stephanopoulos,

Clinton contended that Americans have historically recognized the government’s “right” to regulate the bearing of arms, suggesting that it was not until District of Columbia v Heller (2008) that anyone thought otherwise. 

Stephanopoulos asked, “Do you believe an individual’s right to bear arms is a constitutional right?  That it’s not linked to the service in the militia?” 

Clinton responded:

I think that for most of our history there was a nuanced reading of the Second Amendment, until the decision by the late Justice [Antonin] Scalia.  And there was no argument until then that localities, and states, and the federal government had a right–as we do with every amendment–to impose reasonable regulations. 

While arguing for the government’s “right” to regulate the Second Amendment, Clinton twice refused to say the people have “a constitutional right” to keep and bear arms. 

The first time Stephanopoulos asked if “an individual’s right to bear arms is constitutional” Clinton sidestepped the question, claiming instead the government’s “right” to regulate. 

So Stephanopoulos repeated the question, and Clinton responded: “If it is a constitutional right, then it–like every other constitutional right–is subject to reasonable regulations.” 

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio.  Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins.  Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.