A Well-Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America
"Impressive and illuminating."--Cass R. Sunstein,The New Republic"This intelligent, carefully rendered history of gun policy in the United States...is challenging but essential reading for scholars, specialized undergraduates, and readers interested in law, criminal justice, and public affairs."--Library Journal"If proof were still needed that the study of the Second Amendment remains a fruitful source of inquiry, Saul Cornell's new book provides it. Crisply written and vigorously argued,A Well-Regulated Militiaadvances an often hackneyed debate by looking beyond the original concerns of the Revolutionary era. Cornell concisely demonstrates why so many of the contemporary fictions swirling around the meaning of this vexed clause depart from its real history."--Jack Rakove, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winningOriginal Meanings"Saul Cornell provides a wonderful, original treatment of a much discussed subject.  Based on a meticulous review of American history, Cornell shows that both sides of the debate over the Second Amendment are mistaken. This is a must-read."--Erwin Chemerinsky, Duke University School of Law"Jettisoning the rancorous partisanship and historical distortions of both advocates and opponents of gun control, Cornell recovers the lost civic dimension of the constitutional right to bear arms. The point of departure for any future, historically-informed discussion of this most controversial amendment,A Well-Regulated Militiaclears the way for fresh and constructive thinking about the rights and responsibilities of gun ownership in America today."--Peter S. Onuf, author ofJefferson's Empire: The Language of American Nationhood"With this book Saul Cornell establishes himself as a leading interpreter of the Second Amendment, and teaches us valuable lessons not only about gun control and the militia, but about the nature of American republican government itself."--Stephen Presser, Northwestern University School of Law"A provocative alternative in the debate over the historical meaning of the Second Amendment. Anyone interested in how the right to bear arms was thought about in the early republic will need to take this book into account." --Keith E. Whittington, author ofConstitutional Interpretation" Well-Regulated Militia offers a much-needed examination of the varied notions of the right to bear arms that have prevailed at different moments in the history of the United States. Perhaps even more important, Cornell's study challenges the static conception that often dominates public discussion of this particular constitutional provision. By tracing the competing influences of the civic, states'-rights, individual-rights, and collective-rights theories of the role of arms in American society, Cornell reveals the often overlooked republican pairing of rights and duties that defined late-eighteenth-century gun ownership."--H-Net