AUSTIN – Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Right on Crime campaign published the paper In the Lawful Defense of Himself or the State: The Historical Underpinnings of the Second Amendment.
“While the purpose of the 2nd Amendment is endlessly litigated on social media, it’s true purpose is clear: to enumerate every citizen’s right and obligation to personal and civil defense,” said Derek Cohen, Ph.D., policy director for Right on Crime. “Over 800 years of history and countless examples have demonstrated that an armed society is a free society.”
Key Points:
- The Second Amendment is an individual right and can only be restricted in limited circumstances.
- The Second Amendment stems from the need to protect against repeating a multi-century history of religious and class-based genocide extending hundreds of years prior to this country’s founding.
- The Texas Constitution is unambiguous in declaring the right to keep and bear arms as an individual right.
- Current case law rightly acknowledges the Second Amendment’s history and founding intent.
- The right to keep and bear arms is a natural right, irrespective of the Texas or the U.S. Constitution.
To read the paper in full, please visit: