Robert Simmons

Robert Simmons is professor of law at the University of San Diego. Simmons argues in the following viewpoint that court decisions have consistently held that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not grant individuals the right to own guns. On the contrary, courts have ruled that the amendment’s purpose is to grant rights not to individuals but to states, thereby restricting the powers of the federal government. According to Simmons, other court decisions have ruled that individuals can own guns only if they can prove that they are going to participate in a state militia.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to Simmons, what did the Cruikshank decision determine was the purpose of the Second Amendment?
2. What did the court rule in the...