Quick Course
Understanding the Second Amendment, Ep. 1 – Introduction
Kyle Harper, Director of the Institute for the American Constitutional Heritage, introduces the series and explains why understanding the Constitution is so important for the Second Amendment debates.
Understanding the Second Amendment, Ep. 2 – Interpreting the Second Amendment
Professor Lindsay Robertson explores the current landscape of Second Amendment jurisprudence. He introduces the basic interpretive methods used by different Supreme Court justices to understand the text of the Second...
Understanding the Second Amendment, Ep. 3 – The Ideological Origins of the Second Amendment
Professor Robert Shalhope takes us back to the 18th century and evokes the ideological context of the Founding Fathers. He describes the different strands of political ideology which influenced the founding generatio...
Understanding the Second Amendment, Ep. 4 – Heller and Originalism
Professor Robert Shalhope explores the challenges which interpreters face when seeking an originalist understanding of the Second Amendment. He describes the Supreme Court’s ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller (...
Understanding the Second Amendment, Ep. 5 – Justices and Historians
Professor Kevin Butterfield discusses the way that historians think of the past, on the one hand, and the way that judges, lawyers, and politicians think of the past, on the other. The Second Amendment presents some ...
Understanding the Second Amendment, Ep. 6 – Understanding McDonald
Professor Justin Wert analyzes McDonald v. Chicago (2010), one of the most important recent Second Amendment cases. He puts the Court’s decision in McDonald in the context of the history of the Court’s doctrine on in...
Understanding the Second Amendment, Ep. 7 – Incorporation and McDonald
Professor Rick Tepker explores the meaning of “incorporation,” the doctrine by which the Supreme Court has applied the provisions of the Bill of Rights to the individual states. He takes us through the past and prese...
Understanding the Second Amendment, Ep. 8 – The Supreme Court and the Politics of Gun Control
Professor Justin Wert, a political scientist, analyzes the politics of recent Supreme Court decision-making. He considers what the study of judicial behavior can tell us about the present and future course of constit...
Understanding the Second Amendment, Ep. 9 – Executive Orders, Executive Powers, and the Constitution
Professor Rick Tepker discusses what kinds of powers the President does and does not have to enforce federal regulations.
Understanding the Second Amendment, Ep. 10 – The Future of the Second Amendment
In this final installment, Professor Lindsay Robertson summarizes the insights of the course and looks at the current landscape to see where future cases are likely to arise.
