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
Obama Should Not Put Free Speech on Internet at Risk by Giving Up US Oversight
The incredible ingenuity of the American people invented the internet—one of the most transformational technologies in human history. But even though we created and paid for the internet, we did not keep it for ourselves; we shared it for the benefit of all humanity. That spirit of freedom and generosity is the very essence of… -
opinion
Colleges’ War on Free Speech Continues
The University of Chicago’s president, Robert J. Zimmer, wrote a Wall Street Journal article, titled “Free Speech Is the Basis of a True Education.” In it, he wrote: Free speech is at risk at the very institution where it should be assured: the university. Invited speakers are disinvited because a segment of a university community… -
news
Obama Advocates for UN Gun Treaty Ratification
The Obama administration upped its commitment to get the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty ratified, a tall order since a bipartisan coalition of 50 senators have already said they oppose the gun treaty Secretary of State John Kerry signed three years ago. Second Amendment advocates are concerned the treaty could provide an international law rationalization… -
news
Connecticut Limits Free Speech Using Campaign Finance Rules
The clash over free speech and campaign finance has erupted in Connecticut, as two Republican state legislators have refused to settle a case with the State Elections Enforcement Commission. Connecticut is one of at least three states that have a “clean campaign” system, in which a candidate collects very small donations of $5 from a… -
news
Olympic Shooter Kim Rhode Talks Gun Control, Feminism, and Media Bias
Outside of the gun world, few Americans know about Kimberly Rhode. Ironically, it wasn’t until The Wall Street Journal coined her “The Unknown Olympic Champion” that the general public became curious about what this athlete had achieved. But at the Rio Olympic Games, Rhode made history, tying a record for the most consecutive medals ever… -
news
Gun Ownership, Concealed-Carry Permits Up Among Women and Minorities
Antonia Okafor, a Dallas resident, says she believes a gun can be the great equalizer for women to defend themselves—one reason she is now the southwest regional director for a group called Students for Concealed Carry. “We see ourselves as doing this as a means of empowerment,” @antonia_okafor says. State laws allowing residents to carry concealed… -
opinion
How to Talk About Gun Rights With Gun Control Advocates
Guns are a tricky topic. Very rarely do you find voters ambivalent about gun violence, gun safety, etc. Someone is either strongly pro-gun rights or pro-gun control, which makes a civil conversation difficult to start or maintain. But the solution isn’t to avoid the topic. As I mentioned in my last column, you may be… -
opinion
Obama Claimed It’s Easier in Some Neighborhoods to Get a Gun Than a Book. Here Are the Facts.
President Barack Obama said it is easier in some neighborhoods to get a gun than a book. Is that true? The fact checkers weighed in and we have their verdict: it’s false. Here’s why: To buy a gun in most states, you need to be 18 and pass a background check. To get a book,… -
news
University of Texas Professors Sue Over Concealed Guns Allowed in Their Classrooms
Three professors are fighting a Texas law that allows students to carry concealed handguns in their college classrooms. Senate Bill 11, allowing concealed handgun license holders 21 and older (or 18 if active military) to carry in campus buildings, was signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, in June 2015. The law went into… -
opinion
District of Columbia Residents Challenge Stun Gun Ban
Gun rights advocates have fired a new salvo in the ongoing saga against the District of Columbia’s overly restrictive gun laws. Three District residents have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to overturn a law making it a crime to “receive, possess, control, transfer, offer for sale,… -
news
These Gun Owners Are Least Likely Criminals, Report Finds
Concealed-carry permit holders are nearly the most law-abiding demographic of Americans, a new report by the Crime Prevention Research Center says—comparing the permit holders foremost with police. “Indeed, it is impossible to think of any other group in the U.S. that is anywhere near as law-abiding,” says the report, titled “Concealed Carry Permit Holders Across… -
news
White House Defends Obama’s Claim That It’s Easier to Buy a Gun Than a Book
The White House struck back after a clean sweep of fact checkers criticized President Barack Obama’s assertion that it’s easier to obtain a gun than a book. “With all due respect to the fact checkers, when the president delivered that line to a room full of about a thousand cops, there was not a lot… -
news
Knife Rights: The Unseen Side of the Second Amendment
While congressional Democrats and Republicans go head-to-head over gun control, proponents of a smaller, often overlooked facet of the Second Amendment’s right to keep and bear arms pursue a battle of their own—the right to carry a knife. Knife Rights, an Arizona-based advocacy group aimed at ridding states of existing bans on specific types of… -
news
Gun Seller Says His Bank Demands ‘Ridiculous’ Information. He Blames Operation Choke Point.
A firearms dealer in North Carolina said his bank asked him to reveal “ridiculous and somewhat illegal” information about his business and its customers after the June 12 terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida, and he believes a secretive Justice Department program is to blame. Luke Lichterman, owner of Hunting and Defense in Tryon, North Carolina,… -
news
The Young Gun Helping to Craft the GOP’s Platform in Cleveland
Tommy Valentine still lives at home, hasn’t graduated from college yet, and barely looks old enough to buy a beer. But the baby-faced 22-year-old with thick glasses will help plot the course of the Republican Party—and perhaps the direction of national politics. Valentine isn’t just one of Virginia’s 49 delegates to the Republican National Convention…. -
news
Americans Must Channel the Founders and Protect Artists’ Property Rights
How do you deal with a person who steals thousands of dollars’ worth of your property and hard work, but less than the amount that makes it financially feasible for you to seek damages from them in court? That is the predicament of photographers and visual artists—the story of Kathy Keatley Garvey exemplifies it: She captured… -
news
As Congress Returns, Democrats and Republicans Clash Over Gun Control
House Republican leaders are planning to hold a vote this week on legislation intended to bar some suspected terrorism suspects from buying guns. The bill, whose language is backed by the National Rifle Association, is part of an “anti-terrorism” legislative package the House is considering in response to the terrorist attack June 12 at a… -
opinion
How the Left Is Using Intimidation to Silence Free Speech
Most Americans are familiar with the scandal at the IRS targeting conservative groups, but how widespread is the attempt to silence free speech and political activity? Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberley Strassel says it’s one of the biggest threats to our democracy. She sat down with The Daily Signal to talk about her new book,… -
news
Senators Aim to ‘Thread Needle’ With Gun Control Measure
Hours after the Senate failed to advance another round of measures aimed to limit gun sales, a bipartisan group of senators today introduced what they call compromise legislation to bar some terrorism suspects from buying firearms. They say their bill intends to achieve the delicate balance of preventing those suspected of having terrorist ties from… -
opinion
GOP Senate Debates Gun Control Instead of Real Measures to Fight Terrorism
In the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Orlando—the largest in the United States since 9/11—lawmakers on Capitol Hill have yet to introduce one piece of legislation that would actually fight terrorism. Not one. The focus on gun control continues in the world’s greatest deliberative body and any real measures to fight terrorism are nowhere…