According to the Brennan Center for Justice, "Over the last year, peaceful demonstrators across the United States have been met by armed individuals and self-proclaimed "militias." Between January 2020 and June 2021, at least 560 protests included the presence of armed individuals other than law enforcement. One out of six of those demonstrations reported violent or destructive activity, according to research from Everytown for Gun Safety. Can speech be free when armed counter-protesters mix with unarmed protestors? What does this tension between the freedoms protected by our Constitution's First and Second Amendments bode for democracy? And should state laws regarding the presence of guns at polling places be strengthened?" 

The four readings for this discussion outline some of the issues discussed in the Brennan Center video. Rueben and Miller's "Preface" to an issue of Law and Contemporary Problems discusses problems around the Second Amendment. Articles by Li and Epps discuss the conflict between and First and Second Amendments, asking whether one "right" supersedes another. Do notice that outside of the Bill of Rights, the U.S. constitution does not refer to "freedoms" which we have heard so much about, particularly in the last 10 years. Remember that the original Constitution says little about our rights and responsibilities as citizens. And Madison added that a federal enumeration of rights might be dangerous because it might wrongly suggest that if a right was not enumerated, it was also unprotected.

Answer one of the these questions.

1. Does the right to peaceable assembly include the right to assembly without threat by armed, threatening people?
2. Do you think the recent Supreme Court decision (June 2022) allowing the open carry of guns can be considered an expression or statement protected by the First Amendment?
3. Which is more important to the concept of democracy as it is defined in the constitution--the right to political speech and assembly or the right to carry arms?

 

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ANSWER The tension between the freedoms protected by the First and Second Amendments particularly in the context of armed counterprotesters mixing wit... View the full answer