The Myth of Second Amendment Absolutism: Rights, Limits, and a Balanced Approach

Why Gun Rights, Like All Rights, Are Subject to Reasonable Limits

Photo by Joel Moysuh on Unsplash

America’s gun debate has increasingly been framed by Second Amendment absolutism—the belief that any regulation of firearms is unconstitutional—that the Amendment mandates that the right to keep and bear arms “shall not be infringed” and allows no exceptions. Some elected officials have openly endorsed this extreme interp…