Thread by @TheHeartlandPOD

This is such a great time to understand the origin and history of the 2nd amendment. 🧵

The Articles of Confederation had a very similar section. It was much longer than the current text of the 2nd as we know it now. It spelled out that in order for the people to defend

https://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1497011144644784129

the newly won liberty there should be a freedom to have publicly available arms - a storage of arms that were to be open for public use in case of invasion. When the Bill of Rights was written the language was shortened. Good legal writing often does that.

So instead of spelling it out, it was written in a simple way. What is happening in #UkraineInvasion is very much that. There is an access to public arms. During invasion the citizenry is able to take up those public arms and use them for defense.

Up until Scalia wrote the the opinion in D.C. v. Heller, 2008, there was still an open question as to whether the 2nd was a purely individual right or a general public right. The Heller opinion stands for the interpretation that the 2nd is an individual liberty

What Rep. @laurenboebert seems quite confused on is that the Ukrainian people didn't open up their personal storage of firearms. They are accessing the public stores of arms for defense of invasion. It's not at all the same as wearing a pistol on your leg

at a restaurant because it's cool marketing. It's not at all like having a 9mm in your pocket in the House Chamber. It is completely different.

The Heller case is, as of 2022, the law of the land. But the nuance of the 2nd amendment is not as simple as folks might think.

If you read the Heller case (link to opinion in final tweet) you'll see the Court had to tie together several arguments to reach its opinion in that case. It's not quite as cut and dry as many think. That word "Keep" requires particular interpretation to reach the Heller outcome.

A "keep" was considered the strongest part of the castle. This is language written by scholars familiar with antiquated European usage of words. It's not crazy to think when they wrote "keep" they didn't mean in your basement at home. But, here we are.

So, yes. Ukrainian's access to a "keep" of public arms is a big deal and helping them defend their country from invasion, which is great.

TLDR: It's more complicated than that.
Here's the Heller case: supremecourt.gov/opinions/07pdf…