Constitution 101
What Did “Bear Arms” Mean in the Second Amendment?
One of the many ways gun control advocates try to change the meaning to the Second Amendment is by twisting the definition of words and phrases. A common target is the phrase “bear arms,” which they claim is a military term only. In “What Did “Bear Arms” Mean in the...
What Does the Constitution Say About Federal Land Ownership?
The “Bundy stand-off” in Oregon at a federal wildlife refuge has triggered (or, rather, re-triggered) questions about the constitutionality of federal land ownership. Westerners in particular question why the federal government should own nearly 30% of the country. In...
Federally Administered Lands: The Original Intent
Today, the federal government assumes the power to own and regulate about 1 million square miles of land within the United States. Despite this, the writers and ratifiers of the United States Constitution intended for the federal government to administer much less...
Why the “Original Intention?”
by Raoul Berger EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is an excerpt of the book Government by Judiciary: The Transformation of the Fourteenth Amendment, Foreword by Forrest McDonald (2nd ed.) (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1997). Current indifference to the “original...