4 ms·
My state constitution clarifies it as "The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state..."
by 13of40 9y ago
My state constitution clarifies it as "The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state..."
- lostlogin 9y agoDoes it really say ‘himself’?
- ams6110 9y agoYes, it likely does. With English lacking a gender-neutral pronoun, "he" or "him" or "his" historically did not necessarily imply the male sex, depending on context. As "man" can refer to all of humankind, again it's a matter of context.
- lostlogin 9y agoYet the actual second amendment seems to avoid the problem as far as I can see. Edit: And of all the second amendment issues that could be argued, I somehow picked this one.
- laurentoget 9y agoI wish this was the only surprising bit in the constitution of Alabama. The section outlawing interracial marriage was only removed in 2000, and it still contains a section mandating segregated public schools.
- InitialLastName 9y agoYour state constitution doesn't particularly get a say in what the US constitution means (so says the 10th amendment).
- wu-ikkyu 9y agoThat's not necessarily true. The Supreme Court has ruled that the 2nd amendment only prohibits the federal government from "infringing" on your right to bear arms, and not the states. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution#Supreme_Court_cases https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_Unit...
- lawguy 9y ago> The Supreme Court has ruled that the 2nd amendment only prohibits the federal government from "infringing" on your right to bear arms, and not the states. This was true only between 2008 and 2010. In 2010, the Supreme Court clarified that it was incorporated against the states by the 14th Amendment.
- wu-ikkyu 9y agoHow is it then that different states infringe on the right to bear arms to different degrees? And it was indeed the case well before 2008-2010. See United States v. Cruikshank (1875), Presser v. Illinois (1886), Miller v. Texas (1894).
- briandear 9y agoSee DC vs Heller, 2008.