The Mythic Meanings of the Second Amendment PDF
Preview The Mythic Meanings of the Second Amendment
The Mythic Meanings of the Second Amendment D AV I D C . W I L L I A M S The Mythic Meanings of the Second Amendment TAMING POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN A CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC Yale University Press New Haven & London Earlier versions of some of the arguments in this book appeared in the following law journal articles, and they appear here with the following permissions: David C. Williams, Civic Republicanism and the Citizen Militia: The Terrifying Second Amendment, 101 Yale Law Journal 551–615 (1991), by permission of the Yale Law Journal Company and William S. Hein Company; David C. Williams, The Unitary Second Amendment, 73 N.Y.U. L.Rev. 822–30 (1998), by permission of the New York University Law Review; David C. Williams, The Constitutional Right to ‘‘Conservative’’ Revolution, 32 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L.Rev. 413–47 (1997), ∫ (1997) by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review; David C. Williams, The Militia Movement and Second Amendment Revolution: Conjuring with the People, 81 Cornell L. Rev. 879–952 (1996), by permission of the Cornell Law Review; David C. Williams, Constitutional Tales of Violence: Populists, Outgroups, and the Multicultural Landscape of the Second Amendment, 74 Tul. L.Rev. 387–494 (1999), by permission of the Tulane Law Review Association, which holds the copyright. Copyright ∫ 2003 by Yale University. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers. Set in Sabon type by Keystone Typesetting, Inc. Printed in the United States of America by Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Williams, David C., 1960– The mythic meanings of the Second Amendment : taming political violence in a constitutional republic / David C. Williams. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-300-09562-7 (alk. paper) 1. United States. Constitution. 2nd Amendment—History. 2. Firearms—Law and legislation—United States—History. 3. Political violence—United States—History. 4. Government, Resistance to—United States—History. 5. United States—Militia. I. Title. KF4558 2nd .W55 2003 344.73%0533—dc21 2002011549 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For Susan, Benjamin, and Sarah Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 Part I. The Framers’ Constitution 15 1 The Background of the Framers’ Thinking 21 2 The History of the Second Amendment 39 3 The Original Legal Meaning of the Second Amendment and the Military Provisions of the Constitution 69 Part II. The Mythic Second Amendment Today 97 4 Antirevolutionists 102 5 Libertarians and Populists 151 6 The Militia Movement’s Theory of the Second Amendment 191 7 Outgroups and the Second Amendment 220 vii viii Contents Part III. Reconstructing a Constitutional Organization of Violence 259 8 The Silent Crisis 261 9 Redeeming the People 281 Notes 327 Index 381 Acknowledgments The right to bear arms is one of the most contentious subjects in modern America. Nonetheless, in writing on this topic for the past decade, I have been struck most not by the level of vitriol, but by the kindness, support, and generosity that many interlocutors have shown me, even across intellectual divides. Whenever I get discouraged, these colleagues remind me by example that informed, open-minded discussion is possible even on highly charged subjects. They renew my faith in the scholarly enterprise. They are too many to list, but I would like to mention Sanford Levinson, Akhil Amar, Frank Michelman, Steven Shiffrin, Glenn Harlan Reynolds, and Steven Heyman. They may not know how large a part they play in my own mythic landscape of the intellectual world, but I am deeply grateful. For most of the period that I have been studying this subject, it has been my great pleasure to work at the Indiana University School of Law in Bloom- ington. After wandering far from the Hoosier State, I feel I have returned home to a true community of scholar-teachers. During this time, I have been blessed with a dean and an associate dean the likes of which I did not know the world could boast: Alfred C. Aman and Lauren Robel. Every day, Fred’s enthusiasm, intellectualism, support, and example make me want to be a better scholar, and Lauren’s sagacity, vision, idealism, and goodness make me want to be a better member of my community. I depend on the care that they have both shown me in such profligate measure. ix
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