The Second Amendment Isn’t In Danger. But The First Amendment Is

By Joe Rothstein

It’s been nearly ten years since the Supreme Court ruled, 5–4 that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution permits just about anyone who wants one to own a gun. Now, in all 50 states and the District of Columbia you not only can own a gun but carry it with you as a concealed weapon or wave it around menacingly in public places.

A 2018 survey estimates there are about 400 million guns of all kinds — pistols, rifles, shotguns, even military — style assault weapons- — in the arsenals of U.S. citizens. That’s about 120 guns for every 100 people.

Despite the fact that there is no credible threat from Democrats or anyone else that people will be forced to give up their guns, Donald Trump is campaigning hard as a Second Amendment warrior.

When men armed with assault rifles surrounded Michigan’s state house recently demanding that the governor reverse stay-at-home orders, Trump tweeted support for them and made it a Second Amendment cause. In April, when Virginia’s legislature was considering measures to require background checks and to allow municipalities to ban weapons from public buildings, Trump called the governor of Virginia “a whack job” for supporting gun safety. He cast the debate as the first step by Democrats to take everyone’s guns away. No one proposed taking away guns, but likely due to Trump’s fear-mongering, two million guns were sold in April, a 71% spike over sales in April 2019.

Despite countless mass murders and a continuing epidemic of death by gun violence, the gun…