Opinion: Firing blanks on an implied ‘2nd Amendment’

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A reader takes exception to my comment in an earlier post that California’s constitution lacks the equivalent of a 2nd Amendment ‘right to keep and bear arms.’

But even 2nd Amendment enthusiasts admit (and lament) that California is lacking a guarantee for either a collective or an individual right to keep and bear arms. Commenter Tom points to Article I Section 1 of the state constitution declaring: ‘All people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights. Among these are enjoying and defending life and liberty...’ Tom concludes, ‘I seem to have the inalienable right to defend my life.’

But Pennsylvania’s constitution, which does have a robust (or wacky, depending on your point of view) right to keep and bear arms also includes boilerplate similar to California’s: ‘All men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent and indefeasible rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing and protecting property and reputation, and of pursuing their own happiness.’ So, if Tom is right, Section 21 of Pennsylvania’s Declaration of Rights — ‘The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned’ — is, as Chief Justice Marshall would say, mere surplusage.