U.S. Constitution News
The Daily Signal provides reporting and analysis on the U.S. Constitution, including court rulings, separation of powers, and the defense of individual rights.
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- Opinion
‘Don’t Be a Vigilante’ and Other Gun Ownership Mistakes to Avoid
Millions of American gun owners are incredibly responsible. Every month, I find story after story of law-abiding citizens who used their firearms in lawful defense of themselves or others. Unfortunately, in looking through these stories, I also find far too many instances where gun owners messed up, acted irresponsibly, or didn’t appear to fully understand…Amy Swearer -
- Opinion
Justices Continue Long, Shameful Silence on Second Amendment
When the Supreme Court earlier this spring dismissed a New York gun case from its docket without ruling on the merits, disappointed Second Amendment advocates still had high hopes. After all, even though the court hadn’t decided a meaningful Second Amendment case in more than a decade, at least four justices had recently signaled their…Amy Swearer -
- Opinion
Campus War on Free Speech Reaches US Newsrooms
Two weeks ago, if you’d asked what American institution was most intolerant of dissenting opinion, preoccupied with promoting radical ideology, and prone to erupting into disruptive temper tantrums, the answer would have been easy. Now it’s not so clear—the hysteria on college campuses has spread to America’s newsrooms. Over the weekend, the opinion page editor…Mark Hemingway -
- Opinion
In These 11 Incidents, Gun Owners Defended Life and Property
The last week of May proved just how quickly the seemingly stable peace of our world can devolve into chaos and near-anarchy. Many of us, already concerned that police departments were stretched thin by COVID-19, watched in horror as law enforcement seemed to lose control of protests in major cities. For several nights, police officers…Amy Swearer -
- Opinion
A Counterbalance to the False Narratives About Gun Ownership
The data is in: Americans are flocking to gun stores in unprecedented numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The spike has left many gun control advocates struggling to find a motive other than pure, irrational panic. After all, the common narrative goes, “the good guy with a gun” is a myth and it’s very rare that…Amy Swearer -
- Opinion
11 More Cases in Which Responsible Gun Owners Saved Lives
In recent weeks, several instances involving the reckless use of firearms dominated national headlines. In one case, a Georgia man tragically lost his life when armed civilians crossed the line between defensive necessity and vigilantism. But such headlines tell only one side of the story. Every day, many law-abiding and responsible Americans use their firearms…Amy Swearer -
- Opinion
The Supreme Court Punts on an Easy Second Amendment Case
It’s been a decade since the Supreme Court affirmed, in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) and McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), that the Second Amendment protects an individual and fundamental right, striking down laws that effectively prohibited the possession of handguns in one’s own home. Since then, the court has routinely declined to…Amy Swearer -
- Opinion
Loading a New Database of Defensive Gun Use
For well over a year, The Daily Signal has published a monthly series highlighting lawful gun owners who used their firearms to protect their liberties, lives, or livelihoods. Although these articles recount just a dozen or so stories each month, the incidents are selected from hundreds of other, similar examples. Those defensive gun uses are…Amy Swearer -
- Opinion
11 Cases Where Gun Ownership Proved ‘Essential’
As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps across the country, millions of Americans now live in states where shutdown orders effectively have stripped them of the ability to buy firearms. Although most states rightly have allowed gun stores to continue operating, a minority deemed them “nonessential businesses” that must close. Unfortunately, these ordered closures generally have occurred…Amy Swearer -
- Opinion
Want to Keep Americans Safe Without More Gun Control? Meet the TAPS Act
Too many lawmakers today cannot fathom a world where “keeping Americans safe from violence” means anything other than imposing stringent gun control measures. That makes it all the more important to highlight legislation that thinks outside the box of gun control and that gets public safety right without infringing on the rights of law-abiding Americans….Amy Swearer -
- Opinion
11 Examples of Bloomberg’s Folly on Defensive Gun Use
Earlier this month, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was asked how he justified his push for more stringent gun control when he is guarded by an armed security detail. Bloomberg’s response? He is a wealthy businessman and politician who faces threats that normal Americans do not, so it’s just fine for him to…Amy Swearer -
- Opinion
Problematic Women: Her Husband Was Murdered in a Gun-Free Zone. Now Nikki Goeser Is Fighting Back.
Nikki Goeser watched the man who had stalked her murder her husband in a gun-free zone. Because she was a law-abiding concealed carry permit holder, Goeser’s firearm was safely locked away in her vehicle, leaving her defenseless. Now a gun rights activist, Goeser is working hard to ensure every American has the means to protect…Lauren Evans -
- Opinion
Unserious Objections to Bolstering Free Speech on Campus
Wisconsin lawmakers are taking the issue of free speech on campus seriously again—and, inexplicably, that has some people upset. Legislators recently advanced a proposal based on the commonsense idea that anyone “lawfully present on campus may protest or demonstrate,” as long as they do not interfere with someone else’s ability to do the same. The…Jonathan Butcher -
- Opinion
12 Times Gun Owners Defended Themselves and Others
Many lawmakers around the country welcomed in the new year by pursuing legislation that would severely curtail the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms. Meanwhile, law-abiding citizens began 2020 just as they ended 2019—by showing repeatedly just how instrumental that right is to the security of a free state. According to almost…Amy Swearer -
- News
This County Is Utah’s First Sanctuary for Second Amendment
A county in Utah has shot down the idea of more gun control by becoming the first county in the state to declare itself a Second Amendment sanctuary. The three-member Uintah County Commission voted unanimously to pass an ordinance making the county a stronghold that refuses to comply with federal or state laws on firearms…Allison Schuster -
- Opinion
Noncompliance With New Gun Laws Follows Historical Precedent
On Jan. 20, as Americans remembered civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr., an estimated 10,000 people peacefully rallied in Richmond, Virginia, to protest the recent introduction of highly contentious gun control bills into the state Legislature. Motivated in part by the “Second Amendment Sanctuary” movement that has seen more than 100 Virginia counties and…Amy Swearer -
- Opinion
We Hear You: From Gender Identity in Sports to Second Amendment Rights
Editor's note: We're back with another batch of your emails on our coverage of the nation's policy debates. Got a point to make? Write to [email protected].—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: Kelsey Bolar’s treatment in her video report of the issue of transgender athletes in girls sports is more in depth than a previous article I…Ken McIntyre -
- News
These 10 Colleges Are Ranked ‘Worst of the Worst’ for Curbing Free Speech
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a group dedicated to standing up for free-speech rights on U.S. college and university campuses, this week released its annual report chastising the Top 10 schools where it says those rights are most infringed. Among the schools taken to task in this year’s report, “The 10 Worst Colleges for…Allison Schuster -
- News
Virginia Gun Control Bills Firing Up Second Amendment Backers
Proposed gun control legislation in the Virginia General Assembly has many Second Amendment advocates in the state literally up in arms, prompting strong pushback from gun rights groups and firearms owners. Groups including the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a pro-Second Amendment nonprofit organization, and the National Rifle Association are taking the lead in opposing enactment…Allison Schuster -
- Opinion
The Media’s Shameful Depiction of Pro-Second Amendment Protests in Virginia
It’s the tea party all over again. Way back in 2009 the press, followed by a gaggle of left-wing commentators and politicians, did a number on tea party protests, often portraying them—with little evidence—as driven by racist rage against President Barack Obama rather than principled opposition to his administration’s policies. These same tactics were on…Jarrett Stepman