Guns and Democracy
Summary: Gun regulation not only prevents physical harm — it protects citizens’ equal freedom to speak, learn, pray, shop, and vote without fear.
This essay is part of the series Protests, Insurrection, and the Second Amendment.
ABSTRACT: Recent armed protests in legislatures and in streets across America show that guns can do more than inflict physical injury — they can threaten the public sphere on which a constitutional democracy depends. It follows that gun regulation can do more than prevent physical harm — it can also protect citizens’ equal claims to security and to the exercise of liberties, whether or not they are armed and however they may differ by race, sex, or viewpoint.