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Civics 101

What Does The 2nd Amendment Say?

Civics 101

NHPR

Education, History, Supreme Court, American History, Elections, Democracy, Society & Culture, Government, Civics, Politics, Social Studies

4.62.4K Ratings

🗓️ 14 June 2022

⏱️ 42 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

27 words which have been interpreted and reinterpreted by historians, activists, judges, and philosophers. What did the 2nd Amendment mean when it was written? What does it mean right now? And what happened in between?

Transcript

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0:00.0

The right to keep and bear arms is the one right that allows rights to exist at all.

0:09.0

Now either you believe that, you don't, and you must decide.

0:13.2

Because there's no such thing as a free nation where police and military are allowed the

0:17.0

force of arms, but individual citizens are not.

0:21.6

I often say if we go back to what the founders thought about guns, it would be the worst

0:26.0

nightmare for gun rights people and gun control people.

0:30.6

Because you get rid of stand your ground, your duty would be to retreat.

0:33.4

The government would inspect your firearm in your home, it would penalize you.

0:36.9

If you pick the gun you want instead of the gun the government wanted for you.

0:41.4

On the other hand, be more like living in Switzerland or Tel Aviv because we would all

0:46.8

be part of a well-regulated militia and we would have to drop everything at a minute's

0:51.7

notice and report to muster.

0:54.9

We're listening to Civics 101, I'm Nick Kepadice.

0:57.1

I'm Hannah McCarthy.

0:58.1

And at the top you heard actor and former president of the NRA, Charlton Heston.

1:02.2

There's going to be more of him later.

1:04.2

And right after that you heard Saul Cornell.

1:06.4

He's professor of history at Fordham University and he wrote the book, A Well-Regulated Militia.

1:12.2

Saul teaches popular constitutionalism in the early republic.

1:16.2

And we talked to Saul because today we're talking about the second amendment.

1:20.8

And it meant when it was ratified what it means as of this moment and what happened in

1:25.8

between.

...

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