Includes bibliographical references (pages 118-120) and index.

The founders intended to protect individual gun rights / Joyce Lee Malcolm -- The founders did not intend to protect individual gun rights / Garry Wills -- The founders intended most citizens to be armed / Sanford Levinson -- The founders intended to preserve state militias / Paul Finkelman -- The Court rules that the Second Amendment applies only to Congress / Morrison Remick Waite -- The Second Amendment does not forbid states from regulating arms / William Woods -- The court upholds a federal gun control law / James McReynolds -- Banning convicted felons from owning guns is constitutional / Harry Blackmun -- The Supreme Court's decisions point away from individual gun rights / Michael C. Dorf -- Perspectives on gun rights and gun control -- Second Amendment rights are essential for liberty / Charlton Heston -- Second Amendment rights should be limited / David L. Goldberg -- Handguns should be eliminated from society / Josh Sugarmann -- Banning handguns is not a practical option / James B. Jacobs -- The origins of the American Bill of Rights -- Supreme Court cases involving the right to bear arms.