I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, and welcome

to We The People, a weekly show of constitutional debate. The National Constitution Center is the only institution in America, chartered by Congress, to disseminate information about the U.S. Constitution on a non-partisan basis.

And on today's show, we discuss the state of the Second Amendment

to the Constitution in the aftermath of the tragic shooting in Las Vegas. In the

wake of the tragedy renewed attention has come to the controversy about the constitutional status of guns in the United States and the role of the Second Amendment.

And joining us to discuss this crucial, central, and important question are two of America's

leading scholars of the Second Amendment.

Saul Cornell is the Paul and Diane Gunther chair in American history at

Fordham University. He's an expert on American legal history, and has written several

books about the history of the Second Amendment, including a well-regulated militia, the

founding fathers, and the origins of gun control.

Nelson Landis University Professor at the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School.

He's written extensively on the Second Amendment, including articles such as the Second Amendment and the

unalienable right to self-defense.

He is also the co-author with Adam Winkler of UCLA

of the interactive Constitution's explainers on the Second Amendment.

Nelson Saul, thank you so much for joining.

Glad to be here.

Thanks for having us.

Nelson, let's begin with you.

You did write with Adam the common statement

about the core meaning of the second amendment,

...