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.
-
- Opinion
A Campus Free Speech Case Shows How Fragile Liberty Can Be
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution begins: “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech.” Commitment to this freedom, once universally considered fundamental, may be on the rebound. In reviving a lawsuit over the University of Michigan’s censorship code, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit reminded us how…Thomas Jipping -
- Opinion
The Gun Grabbers Mislead Us
Gun control did not become politically acceptable until the Gun Control Act of 1968 signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The law’s primary focus was to regulate commerce in firearms by prohibiting interstate firearms transfers except among licensed manufacturers, dealers, and importers. Today’s gun control advocates have gone much further, calling for an…Walter E. Williams -
- News
Border Agents Save Thousand of Lives, Seize More Drugs and Guns
Customs and Border Protection officers rescued nearly 5,000 illegal immigrants from danger, while also greatly increasing the capture of illicit drugs and weapons smuggled into the country at the southwest border, according to numbers for fiscal year 2019 released Tuesday. CBP reported that it seized about 750,000 pounds of illegal drugs. Seizures in every drug category…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
Why Are the Legacy Media Afraid of Free Speech on Social Media?
Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg came to Capitol Hill last week for a House Financial Services Committee hearing where the primary focus was supposed to be to examine Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency, Libra. But the hearing quickly went far afield. Many of the representatives were eager to push the Facebook founder into getting into the business…Jarrett Stepman -
- Opinion
The Left’s Dangerous Assault on Free Speech
Strange days, indeed, when America’s free press opposes free speech. “Free speech is killing us,” headlined a New York Times op-ed. Its author, New Yorker staff writer Andrew Marantz, argued that “hate speech” leads to violence. Worse, he claims it can cause totalitarianism and even genocide. To avoid this fate, Marantz says we must rethink the First Amendment, which would include government…Arthur Milikh -
- News
Mark Zuckerberg Leans on Free Speech While Defending Facebook’s Ad Policies
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pushed back Thursday against critics who believe his company’s new advertisement policies will allow politicians to lie and misinform voters ahead of the election. Zuckerberg defended the new ad policy, which largely exempts politicians from Facebook’s fact-checkers, during an interview with The Washington Post, telling reporters that Americans probably don’t want…Chris White -
- Opinion
These Gun Owners Were Able to Confront Criminals in September
When the Virginia State Crime Commission and the House Judiciary Committee held hearings earlier this fall regarding firearm policies, it was striking how little many gun control advocates and policymakers know about basic facts related to guns and gun violence. It also was clear how devastating many of their policy proposals would be for law-abiding…Cooper Conway -
- Opinion
Lawful Gun Owners Defended Their Lives and Livelihoods in August
It seems as though every day another celebrity or politician demands that we place more severe restrictions on the ability of law-abiding citizens to exercise their constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Unlike many of these celebrities and politicians, most of us do not live in safe, gated communities or spend much of our…Amy Swearer -
- Opinion
A Mom’s Take on Normalizing Gun Deaths in America
When I snapped the obligatory pictures of my seventh-grader and high school senior on the first day of school this year, it looked like pictures from years past. They were two kiddos grinning and bearing it in another one of Mom’s memory-capturing photo shoots. However, this year their back-to-school gear included “bulletproof” backpacks. As an entrepreneur…Dee Dee Bass Wilbon -
- Opinion
Christian Student on Why He’s Suing Chicago Over Free Speech
All they wanted to do was share the gospel message—and they’d been doing it for years in downtown Chicago. But this time, the four Christian college students were shut down by law enforcement. Now, they’re suing the city of Chicago, saying their First Amendment rights to free speech have been violated. One of those students,…Daniel Davis -
- Opinion
Free Speech Is Dying in Britain. Here’s Why the US Has Kept It.
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction,” President-to-be Ronald Reagan warned in an address to the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce in March 1961. That’s because, now as then, slavery not liberty, and serfdom not freedom, is humanity’s default setting. Those of us in Britain have seen the fulfillment of Reagan’s prophecy. We…Jules Gomes -
- Opinion
Odd Allies Are Coming Together to Defend Free Speech
It’s amazing to see who comes to the defense of freedom when you least expect it. In July, 12 leading philosophy scholars from around the world signed on to a statement supporting freedom of thought and speech in academia, specifically as those freedoms are being undercut by gender identity ideology. These scholars warned of a…Kristen Waggoner -
- Opinion
Liberals Propose First Gun Grab Since Lexington and Concord
One wishes the media would stop using absurdly lazy phrases like “mandatory gun buybacks.” Unless the politician they’re talking about is in the business of selling firearms, it’s impossible for him to “buy back” anything. No government official — not Joe Biden, not Beto O’Rourke, not any of the candidates who now support “buyback” programs…David Harsanyi -
- News
San Jose Mayor Proposes Mandatory Liability Insurance for Gun Owners
Gun owners in California’s third-largest city are slamming a proposal that would force them to buy liability insurance or be penalized with a fee. “We believe that anything that government does as a prerequisite to exercising an enumerated constitutional right is unconstitutional,” Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California, told The Daily Signal…Rachel del Guidice -
- News
Reporter Finds It’s Not Too Easy to Buy a Gun at Walmart
A journalist for Business Insider tried her luck at buying a gun at a Walmart store and said it was “far more complicated” than she expected after leaving empty-handed. Twice. Since 22 people were killed in a shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, on Aug. 3, at least six more threats of mass shootings have…Audrey Conklin -
- Opinion
Answers to Common Questions About ‘Red Flag’ Gun Laws
The national gun control conversation often sounds like a broken record, with the same advocates resorting to the same talking points about decades-old proposals, such as banning so-called assault weapons or imposing universal background checks. But, as we noted in our recent article “Answering Common Gun-Related Questions After Recent Shootings in El Paso and Dayton,”…Amy Swearer -
- Opinion
Answers to Common Gun-Related Questions After the Shootings in El Paso and Dayton
My colleague John Malcolm and I joined 243 other Americans featured on the cover of Time magazine last year for a project dedicated to exploring the various views of gun ownership in the United States. It was an insightful and well-designed project, one to which I was proud to contribute. At times, however, this past…Amy Swearer -
- Opinion
Guns Saved These Americans From Assault and Robbery in July
In the wake of tragic mass shootings, such as those occurring in recent days in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, it’s understandable that the nation would search for answers. It’s easy to blame the tools used in the killings and call for measures that would broadly restrict public access to them, instead of focusing…Amy Swearer -
- Opinion
New York City’s Rent Control Laws Erase Property Rights and Worsen Housing Supply
Owning property means more than having your name on a deed. Lawyers and judges often refer to property ownership as a “bundle of rights,” because with ownership comes more than just the mere right of possession. You also have the right to use, modify, dispose of, and exclude others from your property. You don’t need…Amy Swearer -
- News
Gun Group on Trump’s Response to Shootings: ‘He Doesn’t Know How Volatile This Issue Is’
A gun rights group has warned President Donald Trump not to underestimate the volatile effect proposing gun control legislation could have on his base. Gun Owners of America, a gun rights organization with more than 2 million members, called on Trump and other lawmakers Monday to reject calls for gun control in the wake of the El Paso,…Whitney Tipton