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{{Short description|Right of citizens to possess weapons}}
''This article refers to the self defense and military service meanings of "bear arms". For the rights of an individual to possess a ], see the articles on ] or ].''
{{redirect2|Bear arms|Right to bear arms|other uses|Bear arms (disambiguation)}}{{Redirect|Pro gun|the firearms advocacy group in the Philippines|PROGUN}}{{Lead too short|date=May 2022}}
{{Rights}}
] scenarios with live ammunition at a video shooting range in Prague, Czech Republic.]]


The '''right to keep and bear arms''' (often referred to as the '''right to bear arms''') is a legal right for people to possess ]s (arms) for the preservation of life, liberty, and property.<ref name=Halbrook1994p8>{{cite book |last=Halbrook |first=Stephen P. |year=1994 |title=That Every Man Be Armed: The Evolution of a Constitutional Right (Independent Studies in Political Economy) |url=https://archive.org/details/thateverymanbear0000halb/page/8 |page= |publisher=] |location=Oakland, CA |isbn=0945999380 |oclc=30659789 }}</ref> The purpose of gun rights is for ], as well as ] and ].<ref name="Levan">{{cite book |last=Levan |first=Kristine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h4aWFrgW74YC |title=Crime Prevention |publisher=Jones & Bartlett |year=2013 |isbn=978-1449615932 |editor1-last=Mackey |editor1-first=David A. |page=438 |chapter=4 Guns and Crime: Crime Facilitation Versus Crime Prevention |quote=They promote the use of firearms for self-defense, hunting, and sporting activities, and also promote firearm safety. |editor2-last=Levan |editor2-first=Kristine |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h4aWFrgW74YC&pg=PA93}}</ref>{{rp|96}}<ref name="Larry Pratt">{{cite web |author=Larry Pratt |title=Firearms: the People's Liberty Teeth |url=http://gunowners.org/fs9402.htm |access-date=December 30, 2008}}</ref> Countries that guarantee a right to keep and bear arms include ], ], ], ], the ], ], ], the ] and ].
{{globalize}}


==Background==
The '''right to bear arms''' refers to the concept that individuals, and/or ]s, have a right to weapons. This right is also often presented in the context of military service and the broader right of ].


The ] allowed ] citizens of ] to "have Arms for their Defense suitable to their Conditions and as allowed by Law." This restricted the ability of the ] to have a ] or to interfere with Protestants' right to bear arms "when Papists were both Armed and Imployed contrary to Law" and established that Parliament, not the Crown, could regulate the right to bear arms.<ref name="c21WillMarSess2">{{cite web |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/WillandMarSess2/1/2/introduction |title=1688 c.2 1 Will. and Mar. Sess. 2 |publisher=The National Archives (UK) |access-date=July 2, 2014}}</ref><ref name=BBCBoR>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-lancashire/plain/A727265 |title=BBC: Bill of Rights Act, 1689 – The Glorious Revolution |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2002 |website=bbc.co.uk |publisher=BBC |access-date=July 2, 2014 |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714182517/http://news.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-lancashire/plain/A727265 |url-status=dead }}</ref>


Sir ] wrote in the 18th century that the right to have arms was auxiliary to the "natural right of resistance and self-preservation" subject to suitability and allowance by law.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/blackstone_bk1ch1.asp |title=Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England |publisher=Avalon.law.yale.edu |access-date=2012-05-22}}</ref> The term ''arms'', as used in the 1600s, refers to the process of equipping for war;<ref>{{cite web|last1=Harper|first1=Douglas|title=arm (n.)|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=arm&allowed_in_frame=0|website=Online Etymology Dictionary|publisher=Douglas Harper|access-date=12 March 2015}}</ref> it is commonly used as a synonym for weapon.<ref>{{cite web|title=Arm|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/arm|website=Thefreedictionary.com|access-date=12 March 2015}}</ref>
== Definitions of "bear arms" ==
{{POV}}
One view is that prior to and through the Eighteenth Century, usage of the expression "bear arms" predominately referred to the profession of military service, as opposed to the use of firearms by ]s<ref name = "UM194">Uviller, H. Richard. & Merkel, William G.: ''The Militia and the Right to Arms, Or, How the Second Amendment Fell Silent '', Page 194. Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-3017-2</ref><ref>Pepper, John; Petrie, Carol; Wellford, Charles F.: ''Firearms and violence'', Page 290. National Academies Press, 2004. ISBN 0309091241</ref><ref>]. ''To Keep and Bear Arms''. New York Review Of Books, Sept. 21, 1995.</ref>.
<blockquote>"In late-eighteenth-century parlance, ''bearing arms'' was a term of art with an obvious military and legal connotation. . . . As a review of the Library of Congress's data base of congressional proceedings in the revolutionary and early national periods reveals, the thirty uses of 'bear arms' and 'bearing arms' in bills, statutes, and debates of the Continental, Confederation, and United States' Congresses between 1774 and 1821 invariably occur in a context exclusively focused on the army or the militia." </blockquote>


Inclusion of this right in a written constitution is uncommon. In 1875, 17 percent of national constitutions included a right to bear arms. Since the early twentieth century, "the proportion has been less than 9 percent and falling".<ref name=Ginsburg>{{cite news |last1=Ginsburg |first1=Tom |last2=Elkins |first2=Zachary |last3=Melton |first3=James |title=U.S. Gun Rights Are Truly American Exceptionalism |work=Bloomberg |date=7 March 2013 |access-date=25 March 2016 |url=http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2013-03-07/u-s-gun-rights-truly-are-american-exceptionalism}}</ref> In an article titled "U.S. Gun Rights Truly Are ]," a historical survey and comparative analysis of constitutions dating back to 1789,<ref name=Ginsburg/> ] and colleagues "identified only 15 constitutions (in nine countries) that had ever included an explicit right to bear arms. Almost all of these constitutions have been in Latin America, and most were from the 19th century".<ref name=Elkins>{{cite news |author=Elkins, Zachary |title=Rewrite the Second Amendment |work=New York Times |date=4 April 2013 |access-date=29 March 2016 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/opinion/rewrite-the-second-amendment.html?_r=0}}</ref>
As an example, the expression 'bear arms' is used in the ] in the sense of 'military service' on a warship, as part of an indictment of the King of Great Britain for conscripting Colonial sailors to serve on British warships.


==Countries recognizing the right to keep and bear arms==
<blockquote>"He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to '''bear Arms''' against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands."</blockquote>
===North America===
====Guatemala====


{{quote box|align=right|quote=
On the other hand, the ] for the ] observed in 2001 that: <blockquote>"there are numerous instances of the phrase 'bear arms' being used to describe a civilian's carrying of arms. Early constitutional provisions or declarations of rights in at least some ten different states speak of the right of the 'people' "to bear arms in defense of themselves and the state,' or equivalent words, thus indisputably reflecting that under common usage 'bear arms' was in no sense restricted to bearing arms in military service." <ref></ref><ref> </ref></blockquote>
The right to own weapons for personal use, not prohibited by the law, in the place of inhabitation, is recognized. There will not be an obligation to hand them over, except in cases ordered by a competent judge.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/2nd-amendment-countries-constitutional-right-bear-arms-2017-10|title=Only 3 countries in the world protect the right to bear arms in their constitutions: the US, Mexico, and Guatemala|first=Brennan Weiss, James|last=Pasley|website=Business Insider}}</ref>
|source=Article 38 of Guatemala Constitution
|width=40%}} {{see also|Gun law in Guatemala}}


While protecting the right to keep arms, Guatemalan constitution specifies that this right extends only to "weapons not prohibited by law".
], author and history profession at ] has written of the origin of the term ''bear arms'':
<blockquote>"By legal and other channels, the Latin "'' ''" entered deeply into the European language of war. Bearing arms is such a synonym for waging war that Shakespeare can call a just war "'' 'justborne arms''" and a civil war "''self-borne arms''." Even outside the special phrase "''bear arms''," much of the noun's use echoes Latin phrases: to be under arms ('' armis''), the call to arms ('' arma''), to follow arms (''arma ''), to take arms (''arma ''), to lay down arms (''arma pœnere''). "Arms" is a profession that one brother chooses the way another choose law or the church. An issue undergoes the arbitrament of arms." ... "One does not bear arms against a rabbit...".<ref name = "UM194"/></blockquote>


====Honduras====
In the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, in England and the British Colonies, the militia system was based on the principle of the Twelvth Century ], where there was general obligation of adult males to possess arms and cooperate in the work of defense.<ref>Osgood, Herbert Levi : ''The American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century '', Page 499. Macmillan & Co., Ltd., 1904.</ref>
{{quote box|align=right|quote=
Every person, in the exercise of their civil rights, may request a maximum of five (5) license for the possession and carrying of up to five (5) firearms by submitting an application with the following information<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/citation/quotes/9262|title=Licences to Possess and Carry Firearms (Licencias para la Tenencia y Portación de Armas de Fuego) |website=www.gunpolicy.org}}</ref> {{hidden|(...)| (1) Form with personal information and residence; (2) Brand, model, serial number, identification of modification of calibre, if any; as well as any other characteristics of the weapon; (3) Proof of having undertaken a ballistic test; (4) Payment of municipal matriculation and criminal background check; and, (5) Identification documents.}}
|source=Article 27 of Decree No. 69-2007, Modifying the Act on the Control of Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials (Honduras)
|width=40%}} The constitution of ] does not protect the right to keep and bear arms.


Although not explicitly mentioned in the legislation, every person is entitled to receive a license to keep and carry arms by Honduran Statute law, provided that they fulfill the conditions required by the law.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/honduras|title=Guns in Honduras – Firearms, gun law and gun control|website=www.gunpolicy.org|access-date=2019-08-23}}</ref>
Also, in the Nineteenth century, in the United States, considerable attention in public discourse and the courts was directed to the issue of the risks of arming of slaves (prior to the Civil War), and later to the right of the Negro people to belong to militia and the arming of the Negro people. Most famously this is seen in the court arguments of the court case ], whether the slave ] could be a citizen, with rights, including the right to bear arms. This debate about the rights of slaves and former slaves often included the usage of the term 'bear arms' with the meaning of individual Negro's having or not having the right to possess firearms.


====Mexico====
==The right to arms==
{{quote box|align=right|quote=
{{section stub}}
The inhabitants of the United Mexican States have the right to possess arms within their domicile, for their safety and legitimate defense, except those forbidden by Federal Law and those reserved for the exclusive use of the Army, Militia, Air Force and National Guard. Federal law shall provide in what cases, conditions, under what requirements and in which places inhabitants shall be authorized to bear arms.<ref name="auto">{{cite web
In an effort to consolidate power in Seventeenth Century England, the Catholic King ] sought to disarm Protestants by discharging them from the militia, both in Ireland and in England, replacing them with Catholics. This policy of consolidation also included an aspect of shifting control of the weapons from citizens' militia to the professional army, thereby reducing the number of weapons in the hands of his Protestant subjects and political opponents. This disarmament policy included enforcement of the Game Act, and an archaic measure from 1328 that forbade men to ride armed 'in affray of the peace'.<ref>Malcolm, Joyce Lee (2002). ''Guns and Violence: The English Experience '', Page 57-58. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674007530</ref>
| url= http://www.ordenjuridico.gob.mx/Constitucion/articulos/10.pdf
| title= Mexican Constitution (As amended)
|pages= Article 10}}</ref>
|source=Article 10 of ]
|width=40%}} {{See also|Gun politics in Mexico}}


The Mexican constitution of 1857 first included the right to be armed. In its first version, the right was defined in similar terms as it is in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. A new Mexican ] revised the right, stating that its utilization must be in line with local police regulations.
== Historical sources or protections of the right==
The right to keep and bear arms varies by country (see ]) and at times varies by ] within a ].


Another change was included in 1917 Constitution. Since then, Mexicans have the right to be armed only within their home and further utilization of this right is subject to ].
=== Jurisdictions with English judicial origin ===
{{main|English law}}
Frequently cited sources:
*]
*], 1689


====United States====
The responsibility to keep and bear arms in jurisdictions operating under ] follows a precedent that predates the invention of ], originating contemporaneously with the ] and the emergence of the ] system, during the reign of ], who promulgated the ] in ], which required ]s and ] to keep arms and to bear them in service of the ].. A Common Law right to have arms for self defense was codified in the English Bill of Rights of 1689 (also known as the English Declaration of Rights), at least for ]s. England, Ireland, the Colonies in North America (which became the United States), Canada, and Australia all received this Common Law inheritance and long maintained a responsibility to keep and bear arms tradition originating from this common basis. Subsequent to this, over the last 80 years, in all these countries except the United States, ] has permitted ] to be developed that extinguishes the historical common law right to have arms for self defense. Similarly, in the United States, the courts have widely allowed local jurisdictions in some states (e.g., New York, Illinois, California, New Jersey) to license and regulate historical common law rights to have arms for self defense.
{{quote box
| align = right
| quote = A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.<ref>{{Cite web|title=U.S. Senate: Constitution of the United States|url=https://www.cop.senate.gov/civics/constitution_item/constitution.htm#amdt_2_(1791)|access-date=2021-12-30|website=www.cop.senate.gov}}</ref>
| source = ]
| width = 40%
}} {{Main|Right to keep and bear arms in the United States}}
{{further|Second Amendment to the United States Constitution}}


In the ], which has an English ] tradition, a longstanding common-law right to keep and bear arms was practiced prior to the creation of a written national constitution.<ref name=McAffeeQuinlan>{{cite journal |last1=McAffee |first1=Thomas B. |last2=Quinlan |first2=Michael J. |year=1997 |title=Bringing Forward The Right To Keep And Bear Arms: Do Text, History, or Precedent Stand In The Way? |url=http://scholars.law.unlv.edu/facpub/512/ |journal=Scholarly Works |volume=Paper 512 |issue= |pages= }}</ref> Today, this right is specifically protected by the ] and many ].<ref name=Volokh2008>{{cite web |url=http://www2.law.ucla.edu/volokh/beararms/statecon.htm |title=State Constitutional Right to Keep and Bear Arms Provisions |last=Volokh |first=Eugene |date=2008 |website=law.ucla.edu |publisher= |accessdate= }}</ref>
====England, Wales and Northern Ireland====
{{see|English law|Northern Ireland law}}
Although a right to have and use arms once existed in ], this is no longer the case and has not been so for many decades. Some argue that a general right to keep or bear arms has not existed for centuries. In any case, the modern legal situation is that the possession of firearms is effectively a privilege granted only to persons who can demonstrate both a need and that they are sufficiently responsible.


===Europe===
The ] of 1689 included the provision that "the subjects which are Protestants may have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Conditions, and as allowed by Law."<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=12995#s11
| title = House of Lords Journal Volume 14
| date = 12 February 1689
| accessdate = 2007-03-07
}}</ref> The words "as allowed by Law" indicate this was always a qualified rather than an absolute right. However this provision, along with many other pieces of ancient law, is now effectively obsolete.<ref>Even if this section of the 1689 Bill of Rights were to be considered as remaining in English law the ], which has certain characteristics of a modern "Bill of Rights", effectively overrules it and makes it unconstitutional on the grounds that according privileges solely to "Protestants" is incompatible with the right to freedom from religious persecution.</ref> The English Bill of Rights should not be equated to the ]. In the United Kingdom, ] is the ultimate authority and legislation is not constrained by a central ] constitution like that of the United States, although the ] is generally considered to have altered the situation slightly.<ref>There is also a ] covering control of the acquisition and possession of weapons, which has a binding constitutional effect on member states. This does not confer any additional right to bear arms but is concerned mostly with harmonising national laws for trade purposes. ({{cite web
| url = http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexapi!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=EN&numdoc=31991L0477&model=guichett
| title = Council Directive 91/477/EEC of 18 June 1991 on control of the acquisition and possession of weapons
|accessdate = 2007-03-07}}</ref> Thus, over the years, Parliament has fundamentally changed the ]al position. This includes very substantial restrictions on any right to bear arms.


====Czech Republic====
Pistols, revolvers, rifles and ammunition were first controlled by the ], which made it illegal to possess these weapons without first obtaining a certificate from the police. Similar provisions were introduced for shotguns in 1967.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.parliament.uk/post/pn087.pdf
| title = ''Report 87: Psychological Evaluation and Gun Control''
| publisher = Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology
| date = 1996
| accessdate = 2007-03-07}}</ref>


{{quote box|align=right|quote=
The ] placed an absolute ban on certain types of weapons, including automatic or self-loading guns.<ref>{{cite web
The right to acquire, keep and bear firearms is guaranteed under conditions set by this law.
| url = http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?LegType=All+Primary&PageNumber=5&BrowseLetter=F&NavFrom=1&parentActiveTextDocId=1628564&ActiveTextDocId=1628564&filesize=486184
|source=Article 1 Subsection 1 of ]
| title = Firearms Act 1968
|width=40%}}
| publisher = Statute Law Database
{{quote box|align=right|quote=
| accessdate = 2007-03-07}}</ref> Since then only the armed forces and police have any right to these types of arms. The ] extended the provision of the 1968 Act, including control of imitation firearms. The ] and ] introduced further very significant restrictions.<ref>{{cite web
(1) Everyone has the right to life. Human life is worthy of protection even before birth. <br />(2) Nobody may be deprived of their life. <br />(3) The death penalty is prohibited. <br />(4) Deprivation of life is not inflicted in contravention of this Article if it occurs in connection with conduct which is not criminal under the law. '''The right to defend own life or life of another person also with arms is guaranteed under conditions set out in the law'''.<ref name="Con am3">{{Citation
| url = http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts1997/1997005.htm
| last = 35 Members of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic
| title = Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997
| year = 2019
| publisher = Office of Public Sector Information
| title = Proposal of amendment of Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms
| accessdate = 2007-03-07}} and {{cite web
| location = Prague
| url = http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts1997/1997064.htm
| url = https://www.senat.cz/xqw/webdav/pssenat/original/92773/77778
| title = Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997
| access-date = 29 September 2017
| publisher = Office of Public Sector Information
| language = cs
| accessdate = 2007-03-07}}</ref> This has led, in effect, to a total ban on private possession of pistols even for competitive sporting purposes. ] rifles remain permitted for competition however.
}}</ref>
|source=Constitutional amendment of Czech ] passed in 2021. Most of the Article is preexisting, the last sentence in subsection 4 was newly added.
|width=40%}} {{Main|Gun laws in the Czech Republic}} {{further|History of Czech civilian firearms possession}}


Historically, the ] were at the forefront of the spreading of civilian firearms ownership.<ref name="zrizeni" /> In the 1420s and 1430s, firearms became indispensable tools for the mostly peasant ] whose amateur combatants, including women, fended off a series of invasions of professional crusader armies of well-armored warriors with cold weapons.<ref name="zrizeni" /> Throughout and after the Hussite wars, firearms' design underwent fast development and their possession by civilians became a matter of course.<ref name="zrizeni" />
The ] has brought certain types of air weapons into the categories of control created by the firearms acts.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.met.police.uk/firearms-enquiries/new_legis.htm
| title = ''New Legislation''
| publisher = The Metropolitan Police
| accessdate = 2007-03-07}}</ref>


Their first firearms regulation was enacted in 1517 as a part of general accord between the nobles and ]s and later in 1524 as a standalone Enactment on Firearms (''zřízení o ručnicích''). The 1517 law explicitly stated that "all people of all standing have the right to keep firearms at home" while at the same time enacting a universal carry ban.<ref name="zrizeni" /> The 1524 enactment set out a process of issuing of permits for carrying of firearms and detailed enforcement and punishment for carrying without such a permit.<ref name="zrizeni">{{cite web
] often gives considerable powers to ministers to issue regulations that control the way the various acts are applied. In relation to firearms this power generally falls to the ]. The ] therefore has some control of the conditions under which firearms can be licensed. On a few occasions over the years permits have been granted to private individuals to keep firearms for personal protection, for example during "]" in ], however these are very limited and exceptional cases.
| last = Gawron
| first = Tomáš
| title = Historie civilního držení zbraní: Zřízení o ručnicích – česká zbraňová legislativa v roce 1524
| work = zbrojnice.com
| date = November 2019
| url = https://zbrojnice.com/2019/11/01/historie-civilniho-drzeni-zbrani-zrizeni-o-rucnicich-ceska-zbranova-legislativa-v-roce-1524/
| access-date = 1 November 2019
| language = cs}}
</ref> Carrying later became permitless again until 1852, when Imperial Regulation No. 223 reintroduced carry permits. This law remained in force until the ].<ref name="zrizeni" />


Since its inception during the Hussite revolution, the right to keep firearms endured over five-hundred years until the Nazi gun ban during the ] in the 20th century. Firearms possession later became severely restricted during the ]. After the ], the Czech Republic instated a shall-issue permitting process, under which all residents can keep and bear arms subject to the fulfillment of regulatory conditions.<ref name="zrizeni" />
====United States of America====
The right to keep and bear arms did not originate fully-formed in the ] in 1791; rather, the ] was the codification of the six centuries old responsibility to keep and bear arms for king and country that was inherited from the English Colonists that settled North America, tracing its origin back to the Assize of Arms of 1181 that occurred during the reign of Henry II. Through being codified in the ], the common law right was continued and guaranteed for the People, and statutory law enacted subsequently by Congress cannot extinguish the pre-existing common law right to keep and bear arms.


In the Czech Republic, every resident that meets conditions laid down in Act No. 119/2002 Coll.<ref name="Firearms Act">{{Citation
This right is often presented in the United States as synonymous with the ], although this belief is controversial among some factions and is not subscribed to by all.
| last = Parliament of the Czech Republic
| year = 2002
| title = Act No. 119/2002 Coll., on Firearms and Ammunition
| location = Prague
| url = http://www.zakonyprolidi.cz/cs/2002-119
| language = cs
}}</ref> has the right to have a firearms license issued and can then obtain a firearm.<ref name="Firearms Act-p8">''Firearms Act, Section 8''</ref><ref name="Firearms Act-p16(1)">''Firearms Act, Section 16(1)''</ref> Holders of ''D'' (exercise of profession) and ''E'' (self-defense) licenses, which are also ], can carry up to two concealed firearms for protection.<ref name="Firearms Act-p28(3)(B), 28(4)(C)">''Firearms Act, Section 28(3)(B), 28(4)(C)''</ref> The right to be armed is statutorily protected.


A proposal to have the right to keep and bear arms included in the constitution was entered in the Czech Parliament in December 2016.<ref name="Con am">{{Citation
*] Protects the pre-existing right to keep and bear arms.
| last = Ministry of Interior
{{cquote|A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.}}
| year = 2016
*] Provides for unenumerated rights, including implicitly a right to keep and bear arms and a right to have arms for defense.
| title = Proposal of amendment of constitutional act no. 110/1998 Col., on Security of the Czech Republic
| location = Prague
| url = https://apps.odok.cz/veklep-detail?pid=KORNAGNGZSFW
| access-date = 16 December 2016
| language = cs
}}</ref> The proposal was approved by vote of 139 to 9 on 28 June 2017 by the Chamber of Deputies. It later failed to reach necessary support in Senate, where only 28 out of 59 Senators present supported it (with constitutional majority being 36 votes).<ref>{{Citation
| year = 2017
| title = Právo nosit zbraň pro zajištění bezpečnosti Česka Senát neschválil
| url = https://zpravy.idnes.cz/zbrane-senat-pravo-bezpecnost-statu-ustava-novela-fw8-/domaci.aspx?c=A171206_215545_domaci_lre
| access-date = 6 December 2017
| language = cs
}}</ref>


A new proposal was entered by 35 Senators in September 2019<ref>{{Citation
Some have seen the Second Amendment as derivative of a common law right to keep and bear arms; Thomas B. McAffee & Michael J. Quinlan, writing in the North Carolina Law Review, March 1997, Page 781, have stated ''"... Madison did not invent the right to keep and bear arms when he drafted the Second Amendment--the right was pre-existing at both common law and in the early state constitutions."''
| last = Senate of the Czech Republic
| year = 2020
| title = Detail historie tisku č. 135
| publisher = Senate of the Czech Republic
| location = Prague
| url = https://senat.cz/xqw/xervlet/pssenat/historie?ke_dni=17.8.2020&O=12&action=detail&value=4471
| access-date = 17 August 2020
| language = cs
}}</ref> and then approved on 21 July 2021, adding a new sentence, according to which "the right to defend one's own life or the life of another person even with the use of a weapon is guaranteed under the conditions set by the law."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-07-21|title=The right to bear arms in self-defense is embedded in the Czech constitution|url=https://www.expats.cz/czech-news/article/right-to-arms-embedded-in-czech-consitution|access-date=2021-07-22|website=www.expats.cz|language=en}}</ref>
The provision is interpreted as guaranteeing legal accessibility of arms in a way that must ensure possibility of effective self-defense<ref>{{cite book
| last1 = Bartošek
| first1 = Jan
| last2 = Bačkovská
| first2 = Milena
| author-link =
| date = 2021
| title = Zbraně a střelivo
| url = https://search.mlp.cz/cz/titul/zbrane-a-strelivo/4634451/
| location = Praha
| publisher = C. H. Beck
| page = 209
| isbn = 978-80-7400-843-6
}}</ref> and as constitutional stipulation which underscores the individual right to be prepared with arms against an eventual attack, i.e. that courts cannot draw a negative inference from the fact that a defender had been preparing to avert a possible attack with use of weapons.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Gawron
| first = Tomáš
| author-link =
| date = 2023
| title = Nutná obrana v právní praxi
| url = https://knihovna.usoud.cz/arl-us/cs/detail-us_us_cat-0054718-Nutna-obrana-v-pravni-praxi/?disprec=1&iset=1
| location = Brno
| publisher = Václav Klemm
| page = 30
| isbn = 978-80-87713-23-5
}}</ref>


====Switzerland====
Akhil Reed Amar similarly notes in the Yale Law Journal, April 1992, Page 1193, the basis of Common Law for the first ten amendments of the U.S. Constitution, "following John Randolph Tucker's famous oral argument in the 1887 Chicago anarchist case, Spies v. Illinois": <blockquote>''Though originally the first ten Amendments were adopted as limitations on Federal power, yet in so far as they secure and recognize '''fundamental rights -- common law rights -- of the man, they make them privileges and immunities of the man as citizen of the United States'''...'' </blockquote>
{{quote box|align=right|quote=
The right to acquire, keep and bear arms is guaranteed within boundaries of this law.
|source=Article 3 of Swiss Firearms Act
|width=40%}}
{{Further|Gun laws in Switzerland}}
The Swiss have a statutory right to bear arms under Article 3 of the 1997 Weapons Act.<ref name=WG>{{cite web |url=http://www.admin.ch/opc/de/classified-compilation/19983208/index.html |title=SR 514.54 Bundesgesetz über Waffen, Waffenzubehör und Munition (Waffengesetz WG) |publisher=The Swiss Federal Council |location=Berne, Switzerland |type=official site |language=de, it, fr |date=1 July 2016 |access-date=2015-06-10}}</ref>{{refn|group=lower-alpha|"Art. 3 Recht auf Waffenerwerb, Waffenbesitz und Waffentragen: Das Recht auf Waffenerwerb, Waffenbesitz und Waffentragen ist im Rahmen dieses Gesetzes gewährleistet." (The right to acquire, possess and carry arms is guaranteed in the framework of this law.)}} ] practices ], which requires that all able-bodied male citizens keep a firearm at home in case of a call-up. Each male between the ages of 20 and 34 is considered a candidate for conscription into the military, and following a brief period of active duty will commonly be enrolled in the ] until age or an inability to serve ends his obligation.<ref>.</ref> Until December 2009, these men were required to keep their government-issued ] combat rifles and semi-automatic handguns in their homes as long as they were enrolled in the armed forces.<ref name="jrlnr">{{cite news|last=Lott |first=John R. |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/lott200310020833.asp |title=Swiss Miss|work=National Review|date=October 2, 2003 |access-date=March 17, 2010}}</ref> Since January 2010, they have had the option of depositing their personal firearm at a government arsenal.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hinterlegung der persönlichen Waffe|url=http://www.lba.admin.ch/internet/lba/de/home/themen/pers0/bewaffnung/hinterlegung_der_persoenlichen.html|publisher=Logistikbasis der Armee, Eidgenössisches Departement für Verteidigung, Bevölkerungsschutz und Sport|access-date=4 May 2013}}</ref> Until September 2007, soldiers received 50 rounds of government-issued ammunition in a sealed box for storage at home; after 2007 only about 2,000 specialist troops are allowed to keep the ammunition at home.<ref>{{cite news|title= Soldiers can keep guns at home but not ammo |publisher=]|date=27 September 2007|url=http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/search/Result.html?siteSect=882&sid=8470114}}</ref>


In ], voters rejected a citizens' initiative that would have obliged members of the armed services to store their rifles and pistols on military compounds and required that privately owned firearms be registered.<ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12441834 |title=Switzerland rejects tighter gun controls |date=13 February 2011 |newspaper=]}}</ref>
=====A collective and/or an individual right?=====
<!-- THERE IS NOTHING IN THE TEXT SUGGESTING LEGAL RECOGNITION OF RKBA IN UKRAINE. DO NOT ADD UKRAINE WITHOUT PROPER EXPLANATION HOW RKBA IS RECOGNIZED IN NATIONAL LAW. MAY ISSUE SYSTEM IS ANTITHESIS OF RKBA
====Ukraine====
{{Further|Gun law in Ukraine}}


The right to keep and bear arms in Ukraine was expanded to include open carry by all citizens on February 23, 2022,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reuters |date=2022-02-23 |title=Ukraine MPs vote to give permission for civilians to carry firearms |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-mps-vote-give-permission-civilians-carry-firearms-2022-02-23/ |access-date=2022-09-14}}</ref> in response to the ] The move to expand the right to carry arms for all citizens of Ukraine was viewed as highly popular by Ukrainians.<ref name="Ukrainians Take Up Arms in Self Defense – Reason – J.D. Tuccille">{{cite web |last1=Tuccille |first1=J.D. |title=Ukrainians Take Up Arms in Self Defense |url=https://reason.com/2022/03/02/ukrainians-take-up-arms-in-self-defense/ |website=reason.com |date=2 March 2022 |publisher=Reason |access-date=11 March 2022}}</ref>
United States federal courts have consistently interpreted the federal right to bear arms in United States as a collective right, not an individual right<ref>Holder, Angela Roddy: ''The Meaning of the Constitution'', Page 64. Barron's Educational Series, 1997. ISBN 0764100998</ref>, with two recent exceptions in the federal lower courts: The 2001 Fifth Circuit court ruling ] and the Ninth Circuit court 2007 ruling ], both of which introduce principles of an individual right to firearms. Presently, nine of the federal circuit courts support a collective rights view, two of the federal circuit courts an individual rights view, and the Supreme Court and one federal circuit court have not addressed the question<ref>Liptak, Adam: ''A Liberal Case for Gun Rights Sways Judiciary''. New York Times, May 6, 2007. </ref>.
-->


====United Kingdom====
At the state level, each of the fifty United States state constitutions, state laws and state courts address the state based right to bear arms distinctly within their respective jurisdictions<ref>Cooley, Thomas M. & Angell, Alexis C.: ''A Treatise on the Constitutional Limitations which Rest Upon the Legislative Power of the States of the American Union'', Page 427. Boston: Little, Brown & Company. 1890</ref>. The degree and the nature of the protection, prohibition and regulation at the state level varies from state to state. The District of Columbia, not being a state, falls within the federal jurisdiction.
{{quote box
| align = right
| quote = That the Subjects which are Protestants may have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Conditions and as allowed by Law.
| source = Bill of Rights 1689
| width = 40%
}}
{{See also|Firearms policy in the United Kingdom}}
{{See also|Self-defence in English law}}
{{See also|Offensive weapon#UK}}
In the ], there is no automatic right to bear arms,<ref name="SydneySchoolOfPublicHealth2015">{{cite web|author1=Alpers, Philip |author2=Wilson, Marcus |author3=Rossetti, Amélie |author4=Salinas, Daniel |url=http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/united-kingdom |title=United Kingdom – Gun Facts, Figures and the Law&nbsp;– Gun regulation, Right to Possess Firearms |publisher=Sydney School of Public Health, The University of Sydney|date=2015-04-29 |access-date=2015-05-13}}</ref> although citizens may possess certain firearms on obtaining an appropriate licence.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/518193/Guidance_on_Firearms_Licensing_Law_April_2016_v20.pdf |title=Guide on Firearms Licensing Law |website=www.gov.uk |date=April 2016}}</ref> Ordinary members of the public may own sporting rifles and shotguns, subject to licensing, while ]s, ], and ] ] weapons are illegal to possess without special additional conditions.<ref name="SydneySchoolOfPublicHealth2015"/><ref>{{cite journal| last =Kopel| first =David| title =It isn't about duck hunting: The British origins of the right to arms| journal =Michigan Law Review| issue =6| pages =1333–1362| publisher =Michigan Law Review Association| year =1995| volume =93| doi =10.2307/1289883| jstor =1289883| url =http://www.guncite.com/journals/dk-dhunt.html| access-date = 7 April 2013}}</ref>
When not attended, all licensed firearms must be stored securely (locked) and separate from their ammunition. ] are less stringent and air pistols with a muzzle energy not exceeding 6 foot-pounds force (8.1 joules) and other airguns with a muzzle energy not exceeding 12&nbsp;ft⋅lbf (16 J) do not require any certificates or licensing, although the same storage requirement applies.
The first serious control on firearms was established with the passing of the ],<ref>{{cite web|author=John Pate |url=http://www.dvc.org.uk/dunblane/pistolsact.html |title=Dunblane Massacre Resource Page&nbsp;– Pistols Act, 1903 |publisher=Dvc.org.uk |date=1903-08-11 |access-date=2012-05-22}}</ref> handgun restrictions being added in response to the 1996 ] in which 18 people died.


Historically the English ] allowed:
===Jurisdictions with Civil Law/Roman Law judicial origin===
{{blockquote|That the Subjects which are ] may have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Conditions and as allowed by Law.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/WillandMarSess2/1/2/introduction/data.htm|title=Bill of Rights |website=www.legislation.gov.uk}}</ref>}}
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Since 1953, it has been a criminal offence in the United Kingdom to carry a knife (with the exception of non-locking folding knives with a cutting edge of 3 inches (7.62 centimetres) or less) or any "]" in a public place without lawful authority (e.g. police or security forces) or reasonable excuse (e.g. tools that are needed for work). The cutting edge of a knife is separate to the blade length. The only manner in which an individual may carry arms is on private property or any property to which the public does not have a lawful right of access (e.g., a person's own home, private land, the area in a shop where the public have no access, etc.), as the law only creates the offence when it occurs in public.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Eliz2/1-2/14/section/1/data.htm|title=Prevention of Crime Act 1953|website=www.legislation.gov.uk|access-date=2019-08-23}}</ref><ref name="cps.gov.uk">{{cite web|url=https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/offensive-weapons-knives-bladed-and-pointed-articles|title=Offensive Weapons, Knives, Bladed and Pointed Articles {{!}} The Crown Prosecution Service|website=www.cps.gov.uk|access-date=2019-08-23}}</ref> Furthermore, ] Section 141 specifically lists all ]s that cannot technically be owned, even on private property, by way of making it illegal to sell, trade, hire, etc. an offensive weapon to another person.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/33/section/141/data.htm|title=Criminal Justice Act 1988|website=www.legislation.gov.uk|access-date=2019-08-23}}</ref>
====Cuba====
Chapter 1, Article 3 of the ''"... all citizens have the right to struggle through all means, including armed struggle. .."''


Furthermore, the law does not allow an offensive weapon or ordinary item intended or adapted as an offensive weapon to be carried in public before the threat of violence arises. This would only be acceptable in the eyes of the law if the person armed themselves immediately preceding or during an attack (in a public place). This is known as a "]" or "instantaneous arming".<ref name="cps.gov.uk"/>
====Mexico====


===Other===
''"Article 10. The inhabitants of the United Mexican States are entitled to have arms of any kind in their possession for their protection and legitimate defense, except such as are expressly forbidden by law, or which the nation may reserve for the exclusive use of the Army, Navy, or National Guard; but they may not carry arms within inhabited places without complying with police regulations."''


====Scotland==== ====Sharia law====
Under ], there is an intrinsic freedom to own arms. However, in times of civil strife or internal violence, this right can be temporarily suspended to keep peace and prevent harm, as mentioned by Imam ash-Shatibi in his works on Maqasid ash-Shari'ah (The Intents and Purposes of Shari'ah).<ref name="p.60 Imam Al-Shatibi's Theory of the Higher Objectives and Intents of Islamic Law">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zt8I2GwVZs8C|author=Aḥmad Raysūnī |title=Imam Al-Shatibi's Theory of the Higher Objectives and Intents of Islamic Law |year=2005 |page=60 |publisher=International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) |isbn=978-1565644120 |access-date=October 13, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Purpose of Islamic Law">{{cite web |url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565644123/mower.shocksale-20 |title=Purpose of Law |format=Book |work=Imam Al-Shatibi's Theory of the Higher Objectives and Intents of Islamic Law (Paperback)
{{main|Scots law}}
}}</ref> Citizens not practicing Islam are prohibited from bearing arms and are required to be protected by the military, the state for which they pay the ]. In exchange they do not need to pay the ].<ref name="isbn0-8133-3885-9">{{cite book |author1=Goldschmidt, Arthur |author2=Goldscmidt Jr., Arthur |title=A concise history of the Middle East |publisher=Westview Press |location=Boulder, Colo |year=2002 |page= |isbn=0813338859 |url=https://archive.org/details/concisehistoryof00gold/page/108 }}</ref><ref>حر عاملی، وسائل الشیعه، بیروت، ۱۴۰۳، ج۳، ص۳۸، باب۲۴، ح۲، و کلینی، محمد بن یعقوب، فروع کافی، تهران، ۱۳۱۲، ج۲، ص۱۱۷، و نجفی، محمد حسن، جواهر الکلام، بیروت، چاپ مؤسسة تاریخ عربی، ج ۱۱، ص ۳۳۱.</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.isna.ir/news/92100100355/%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%87-%DA%86%D9%87-%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%B3%D8%AA-%D9%85%DB%8C-%DA%AF%DB%8C%D8%B1%D9%86%D8%AF-%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%A7%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%B1 | title=امامان جمعه چه سلاحی دست می‌گیرند؟ + تصاویر | date=22 December 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.yjc.news/fa/news/7006374/%D8%AA%DA%A9%DB%8C%D9%87-%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD-%D8%B6%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%87-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD-%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%B7-%D8%AE%D8%B7%DB%8C%D8%A8-%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%87-%D9%81%DB%8C%D9%84%D9%85 | title=تکیه بر سلاح؛ ضرورت استفاده از سلاح توسط خطیب جمعه +فیلم }}</ref>
Following the ], the Cullen Inquiry recommended tighter control of handgun ownership as well as other changes in school security and vetting of people working with children under 18.


====Spain==== ====Yemen====
{{quote box|align=right|quote=The citizens of the Republic shall have the right to hold the necessary rifles, machine guns, revolvers, and hunting rifles for their personal use with an amount of ammunition for the purpose of legitimate defense.<ref>, ''Gunpolicy.org'' (accessed 29 August 2019)</ref>
Per section 149.26 of the ''"The State shall have exclusive competence over. ..the use of arms. .."''
|source=Law Regulating Carrying Firearms, Ammunition & their Trade
|width=40%}} {{main|Gun law in Yemen}}
Yemen recognizes statutory right to keep and bear arms. Firearms are both easily and legally accessible.<ref name="Yemeni gun market">, Yemeni gun market.</ref><ref name="Yemeni gun laws">, Gun policy in Yemen</ref>


{{Clear}}
===Jurisdictions with Religious Law judicial origin===
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== Gun violence and the politics of the right to bear arms ==
==Footnotes==
<references/>


] countries, 2010, countries in graph ordered by total death rates (homicide plus suicide plus other gun-related deaths)<ref name="AJM201603">{{cite journal |last1=Grinshteyn |first1=Erin |last2=Hemenway |first2=David |title=Violent Death Rates: The US Compared with Other High-income OECD Countries, 2010 |journal=] |date=March 2016 |volume=129 |issue=3 |pages=266–273 |doi=10.1016/j.amjmed.2015.10.025 |pmid=26551975 |doi-access=free }} (). ().</ref>]]
==References==
]
{{cite book |last= Uviller |first= H. Richard |coauthors= William G. Merkel |title= The Militia and the Right to Arms|publisher= ] |year= 2002 |isbn= 0-8223-3017-2 }}
Legal restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms are usually put in place by legislators in an attempt to reduce ] and crime.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/International/Story?id=3066193&page=1 |title=U.K. Response to School Massacre: Ban Handguns |first=David |last=Wright |date=April 22, 2007 |work=ABC News }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/29/europe/union.php |title=EU legislators push tougher gun controls |work=] |date=November 29, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080208193010/http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/29/europe/union.php |archive-date=February 8, 2008 }} </ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/01/us/clinton-calls-brady-law-a-success-and-backs-more-limits.html |title=President Clinton Calls Brady Law a Success and Backs More Limits |work=] |date=December 1, 1999 }}</ref> Their actions may be the result of political groups advocating for such regulations. The ], ], and the ] are examples of campaigns calling for tighter restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms. Accident statistics can be hard to obtain, but much data is available on the issue of gun ownership and gun related deaths.

=== United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute ===

The ] (UNICRI) has made comparisons between countries with different levels of gun ownership and investigated the correlation between gun ownership levels and gun homicides, and between gun ownership levels and gun suicides. A "substantial correlation" is seen in both:<ref name="UNICRI">{{cite book |last=Killias |first=Martin |year=1993 |chapter=Gun Ownership, Suicide and Homicide: An International Perspective |editor1-first=Anna |editor1-last=Alvazzi del Frate |editor2-first=Ugljesa |editor2-last=Zvekic |editor3-first=Jan J. M. |editor3-last=van Dijk |title=Understanding Crime, Experiences of Crime and Crime Control – Acts of the International Conference, Rome, 18–20 Nov 1992 |pages=289–306 |location=Rome |publisher=United Nations International Crime & Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) |isbn=9290780231 |chapter-url=http://www.unicri.it/wwk/publications/books/series/understanding/19_GUN_OWNERSHIP.pdf |quote=During the 1989 and 1992 International Crime Surveys data on gun ownership in eighteen countries have been collected on which WHO data on suicide and homicide committed with guns and other means are also available. The results ... based on the fourteen countries surveyed during the first ICS and on rank correlations...suggested that gun ownership may increase suicides and homicides using firearms, while it may not reduce suicides and homicides with other means. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080107174528/http://www.unicri.it/wwk/publications/books/series/understanding/19_GUN_OWNERSHIP.pdf |archive-date=2008-01-07 }}</ref>

{{blockquote|text=During the 1989 and 1992 International Crime Surveys, data on gun ownership in eighteen countries have been collected on which WHO data on suicide and homicide committed with guns and other means are also available. The results presented in a previous paper based on the fourteen countries surveyed during the first ICS and on rank correlations (Spearman's rho), suggested that gun ownership may increase suicides and homicides using firearms, while it may not reduce suicides and homicides with other means. In the present analysis, four additional countries covered by the 1992 ICS only have been included, and Pearson's correlation coefficients have been used. The results confirm those presented in the previous study.|author=Martin Killias|source=Understanding Crime, Experiences of Crime and Crime Control – Acts of the International Conference<ref>{{cite book |last=Killias |first=Martin |year=1993 |chapter=Gun Ownership, Suicide and Homicide: An International Perspective |editor1-first=Anna |editor1-last=Alvazzi del Frate |editor2-first=Ugljesa |editor2-last=Zvekic |editor3-first=Jan J. M. |editor3-last=van Dijk |title=Understanding Crime, Experiences of Crime and Crime Control – Acts of the International Conference, Rome, 18–20 Nov 1992 |pages=289–306 |location=Rome |publisher=United Nations International Crime & Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) |isbn=9290780231 |chapter-url=http://www.unicri.it/wwk/publications/books/series/understanding/19_GUN_OWNERSHIP.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080107174528/http://www.unicri.it/wwk/publications/books/series/understanding/19_GUN_OWNERSHIP.pdf |archive-date=2008-01-07 }}</ref>}}

UNICRI also investigated the relationship between gun ownership levels and other forms of homicide or suicide to determine whether high levels of gun ownership added to or merely displaced other forms of homicide or suicide. They reported that "widespread gun ownership has not been found to reduce the likelihood of fatal events committed with other means. Thus, people do not turn to knives and other potentially lethal instruments less often when more guns are available, but more guns usually means more victims of suicide and homicide." The researchers concluded that "all we know is that guns do not reduce fatal events due to other means, but that they go along with more shootings. Although we do not know why exactly this is so, we have a good reason to suspect guns to play a fatal role in this".<ref name="UNICRI" />

This research found that guns were the major cause of homicides in three of the fourteen countries it studied: ], ], and the United States.<ref name="UNICRI" /> Although some data indicates that reducing the availability of one significant type of arms—firearms—leads to reductions both in gun crimes and gun suicides and moderate reductions in overall crimes and overall suicides, the author did caution that "reducing the number of guns in the hands of the private citizen may become a hopeless task beyond a certain point," citing the ] (see also ]).<ref name="UNICRI" />

A posterior study by UNICRI researchers from 2001 examined the link between household gun ownership and overall homicide, overall suicide, as well as gun homicide and gun suicide rates amongst 21 countries. The researchers declared "The results show very strong correlations between the presence of guns in the home and suicide committed with a gun, rates of gun-related homicide involving female victims, and gun-related assault."<ref name="UNICRI2001" /> There were no significant correlations detected for total homicide and suicide rates, as well as gun homicide rates involving male victims.<ref name="UNICRI2001">{{cite journal |last1=Killias |first1=Martin |last2=van Kesteren |first2=John |last3=Rindlisbacher |first3=Martin |year=2001 |title=Guns, Violent Crime, and Suicide in 21 Countries |journal=] |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=429–448 |doi=10.3138/cjcrim.43.4.429 |url=https://pure.uvt.nl/portal/files/5263789/GunsKilliasvKesteren.pdf }}</ref>

=== Other ===

Some other research indicates that gun levels do not affect the total number of homicides or the total number of suicides, but rather affect the share of homicides or suicides committed with guns.<ref>''Journal of Criminal Justice'' 43:30–38 (2015); Social Science Quarterly 110(3):936–950 (2019)</ref>

Public-health critic, gun-rights proponent, and editor-in-chief of '']'' ] contended in 2012 that keeping and bearing arms not only has constitutional protection, but also that firearms have beneficial aspects that have been ignored by the public health establishment in which he played a part.<ref name="Faria" /> He also contended that guns are beneficial in self-defense, collective defense, and in protecting life and property.<ref name="Faria">{{cite journal |last1=Faria |first1=Miguel A. |title=America, guns, and freedom. Part I: A recapitulation of liberty |url=https://surgicalneurologyint.com/surgicalint-articles/america-guns-and-freedom-part-i-a-recapitulation-of-liberty/ |journal=Surgical Neurology International |year=2012 |volume=3 |pages=133 |publisher=Elsevier |doi=10.4103/2152-7806.102951 |pmid=23227438 |pmc=3513846 |access-date=17 April 2020 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Faria 2">{{cite journal |last1=Faria |first1=Miguel A. |title=America, guns and freedom: Part II – An international perspective |journal=Surgical Neurology International |year=2012 |volume=3 |pages=135 |publisher=Elsevier | issue=1| doi=10.4103/2152-7806.103542 |pmid=23227440 |pmc=3513850 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

A 2012 study in the journal '']'' found that suicide rates are greater in households with firearms than those without them.<ref name="Miller 393–408">{{cite journal | vauthors = Miller M, Azrael D, Barber C | title = Suicide mortality in the United States: the importance of attending to method in understanding population-level disparities in the burden of suicide | journal = ] | volume = 33 | pages = 393–408 | date = April 2012 | pmid = 22224886 | doi = 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031811-124636 | doi-access=free }}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
<!-- See-also article "Gun politics" was moved/renamed 16 DEC 2013 to "List of gun laws and policies by country," and that was moved/renamed on 28 DEC 2013 to "Overview of gun laws by nation." Noting here because some editors, like me, have less-than-1-year editing on these pages and it's hard carrying the changes (December 2013 – January 2014) around in one's noggin. There was a little 3-editor discussion at the (currently) "Overview" talk page. -->
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==Notes==
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==References==
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{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal|last= Baker |first= Dennis |title= Collective Criminalization and the Constitutional Right to Endanger Others |journal= Criminal Justice Ethics |year= 2009 |volume= 28 |issue= 2 |pages= 168–200 |doi= 10.1080/07311290903181200 |s2cid= 144553546 |url= http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/rcre}}
* {{cite book |last=Cramer |first= Clayton E. |title= For the Defense of Themselves and the State: The Original Intent and Judicial Interpretation of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms |publisher= Praeger Publishers |year= 1994 |isbn= 0275949133 |url= https://archive.org/details/fordefenseofthem00cram }}
* {{cite book |last1=Dizard |first1= Jan E. |last2= Muth |first2= Robert Merrill |last3= Andrews | first3= Stephen P. Jr. |title= Guns in America: A Reader |publisher= New York University Press |year= 1999 |isbn= 0814718787 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/gunsina_xxx_1999_00_9977 }}
* {{cite book |last=Halbrook |first=Stephan P. |title= A Right to Bear Arms: State and Federal Bills of Rights and Constitutional Guarantees |publisher= Greenwood Press |year= 1989 |isbn= 0313265399}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last= Lund|first=Nelson |author-link=|editor-first=Ronald |editor-last=Hamowy |editor-link=Ronald Hamowy |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism |chapter= Right to Bear Arms|chapter-url=https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/libertarianism/n269.xml|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=yxNgXs3TkJYC |year=2008 |publisher= ]; ] |location= Thousand Oaks, CA |doi= 10.4135/9781412965811.n269|isbn= 978-1412965804 |oclc=750831024| <!-- lccn = 2008009151 | -->pages=438–440}}
* {{cite book |last=Malcolm |first=Joyce |title= To Keep and Bear Arms: The Origins of an Anglo-American Right |publisher= Harvard University Press |year= 1996 |isbn= 978-0674893078}}
* {{cite book |last=Malcolm |first=Joyce |title= Guns and Violence: The English Experience |publisher= Harvard University Press |year= 2004 |isbn= 978-0674016088}}
* {{cite book |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |title= The Politics of Gun Control |url= https://archive.org/details/politicsofguncon00spit |url-access= registration |publisher= Chatham House Publishers |year= 1998 |isbn= 1566430216}}
* {{cite book |last=Uviller |first=H. Richard |author2=William G. Merkel |title= The Militia and the Right to Arms|publisher= ] |year= 2002 |isbn= 0822330172}}

{{Particular human rights|state=expanded}}
{{Firearms}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Right To Keep And Bear Arms}}
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Latest revision as of 09:01, 5 December 2024

Right of citizens to possess weapons "Bear arms" and "Right to bear arms" redirect here. For other uses, see Bear arms (disambiguation)."Pro gun" redirects here. For the firearms advocacy group in the Philippines, see PROGUN.
This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (May 2022)
Rights
Theoretical distinctions
Human rights
Rights by beneficiary
Other groups of rights
A woman trains real-life defensive gun use scenarios with live ammunition at a video shooting range in Prague, Czech Republic.

The right to keep and bear arms (often referred to as the right to bear arms) is a legal right for people to possess weapons (arms) for the preservation of life, liberty, and property. The purpose of gun rights is for self-defense, as well as hunting and sporting activities. Countries that guarantee a right to keep and bear arms include Albania, Czech Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, the Philippines, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United States and Yemen.

Background

The Bill of Rights 1689 allowed Protestant citizens of England to "have Arms for their Defense suitable to their Conditions and as allowed by Law." This restricted the ability of the English Crown to have a standing army or to interfere with Protestants' right to bear arms "when Papists were both Armed and Imployed contrary to Law" and established that Parliament, not the Crown, could regulate the right to bear arms.

Sir William Blackstone wrote in the 18th century that the right to have arms was auxiliary to the "natural right of resistance and self-preservation" subject to suitability and allowance by law. The term arms, as used in the 1600s, refers to the process of equipping for war; it is commonly used as a synonym for weapon.

Inclusion of this right in a written constitution is uncommon. In 1875, 17 percent of national constitutions included a right to bear arms. Since the early twentieth century, "the proportion has been less than 9 percent and falling". In an article titled "U.S. Gun Rights Truly Are American Exceptionalism," a historical survey and comparative analysis of constitutions dating back to 1789, Tom Ginsburg and colleagues "identified only 15 constitutions (in nine countries) that had ever included an explicit right to bear arms. Almost all of these constitutions have been in Latin America, and most were from the 19th century".

Countries recognizing the right to keep and bear arms

North America

Guatemala

The right to own weapons for personal use, not prohibited by the law, in the place of inhabitation, is recognized. There will not be an obligation to hand them over, except in cases ordered by a competent judge.

Article 38 of Guatemala Constitution See also: Gun law in Guatemala

While protecting the right to keep arms, Guatemalan constitution specifies that this right extends only to "weapons not prohibited by law".

Honduras

Every person, in the exercise of their civil rights, may request a maximum of five (5) license for the possession and carrying of up to five (5) firearms by submitting an application with the following information

(...) (1) Form with personal information and residence; (2) Brand, model, serial number, identification of modification of calibre, if any; as well as any other characteristics of the weapon; (3) Proof of having undertaken a ballistic test; (4) Payment of municipal matriculation and criminal background check; and, (5) Identification documents.
Article 27 of Decree No. 69-2007, Modifying the Act on the Control of Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials (Honduras)

The constitution of Honduras does not protect the right to keep and bear arms.

Although not explicitly mentioned in the legislation, every person is entitled to receive a license to keep and carry arms by Honduran Statute law, provided that they fulfill the conditions required by the law.

Mexico

The inhabitants of the United Mexican States have the right to possess arms within their domicile, for their safety and legitimate defense, except those forbidden by Federal Law and those reserved for the exclusive use of the Army, Militia, Air Force and National Guard. Federal law shall provide in what cases, conditions, under what requirements and in which places inhabitants shall be authorized to bear arms.

Article 10 of Mexican Constitution See also: Gun politics in Mexico

The Mexican constitution of 1857 first included the right to be armed. In its first version, the right was defined in similar terms as it is in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. A new Mexican constitution of 1917 revised the right, stating that its utilization must be in line with local police regulations.

Another change was included in 1917 Constitution. Since then, Mexicans have the right to be armed only within their home and further utilization of this right is subject to statutory authorization in Federal law.

United States

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Second Amendment to the United States Constitution Main article: Right to keep and bear arms in the United States Further information: Second Amendment to the United States Constitution

In the United States, which has an English common law tradition, a longstanding common-law right to keep and bear arms was practiced prior to the creation of a written national constitution. Today, this right is specifically protected by the United States Constitution and many state constitutions.

Europe

Czech Republic

The right to acquire, keep and bear firearms is guaranteed under conditions set by this law.

Article 1 Subsection 1 of Czech Firearms Act

(1) Everyone has the right to life. Human life is worthy of protection even before birth.
(2) Nobody may be deprived of their life.
(3) The death penalty is prohibited.
(4) Deprivation of life is not inflicted in contravention of this Article if it occurs in connection with conduct which is not criminal under the law. The right to defend own life or life of another person also with arms is guaranteed under conditions set out in the law.

Constitutional amendment of Czech Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms passed in 2021. Most of the Article is preexisting, the last sentence in subsection 4 was newly added. Main article: Gun laws in the Czech Republic Further information: History of Czech civilian firearms possession

Historically, the Czech lands were at the forefront of the spreading of civilian firearms ownership. In the 1420s and 1430s, firearms became indispensable tools for the mostly peasant Hussite armies whose amateur combatants, including women, fended off a series of invasions of professional crusader armies of well-armored warriors with cold weapons. Throughout and after the Hussite wars, firearms' design underwent fast development and their possession by civilians became a matter of course.

Their first firearms regulation was enacted in 1517 as a part of general accord between the nobles and burghers and later in 1524 as a standalone Enactment on Firearms (zřízení o ručnicích). The 1517 law explicitly stated that "all people of all standing have the right to keep firearms at home" while at the same time enacting a universal carry ban. The 1524 enactment set out a process of issuing of permits for carrying of firearms and detailed enforcement and punishment for carrying without such a permit. Carrying later became permitless again until 1852, when Imperial Regulation No. 223 reintroduced carry permits. This law remained in force until the 1939 German invasion.

Since its inception during the Hussite revolution, the right to keep firearms endured over five-hundred years until the Nazi gun ban during the German occupation in the 20th century. Firearms possession later became severely restricted during the communist period. After the Velvet revolution, the Czech Republic instated a shall-issue permitting process, under which all residents can keep and bear arms subject to the fulfillment of regulatory conditions.

In the Czech Republic, every resident that meets conditions laid down in Act No. 119/2002 Coll. has the right to have a firearms license issued and can then obtain a firearm. Holders of D (exercise of profession) and E (self-defense) licenses, which are also shall-issue, can carry up to two concealed firearms for protection. The right to be armed is statutorily protected.

A proposal to have the right to keep and bear arms included in the constitution was entered in the Czech Parliament in December 2016. The proposal was approved by vote of 139 to 9 on 28 June 2017 by the Chamber of Deputies. It later failed to reach necessary support in Senate, where only 28 out of 59 Senators present supported it (with constitutional majority being 36 votes).

A new proposal was entered by 35 Senators in September 2019 and then approved on 21 July 2021, adding a new sentence, according to which "the right to defend one's own life or the life of another person even with the use of a weapon is guaranteed under the conditions set by the law." The provision is interpreted as guaranteeing legal accessibility of arms in a way that must ensure possibility of effective self-defense and as constitutional stipulation which underscores the individual right to be prepared with arms against an eventual attack, i.e. that courts cannot draw a negative inference from the fact that a defender had been preparing to avert a possible attack with use of weapons.

Switzerland

The right to acquire, keep and bear arms is guaranteed within boundaries of this law.

Article 3 of Swiss Firearms Act Further information: Gun laws in Switzerland

The Swiss have a statutory right to bear arms under Article 3 of the 1997 Weapons Act. Switzerland practices universal conscription, which requires that all able-bodied male citizens keep a firearm at home in case of a call-up. Each male between the ages of 20 and 34 is considered a candidate for conscription into the military, and following a brief period of active duty will commonly be enrolled in the militia until age or an inability to serve ends his obligation. Until December 2009, these men were required to keep their government-issued selective fire combat rifles and semi-automatic handguns in their homes as long as they were enrolled in the armed forces. Since January 2010, they have had the option of depositing their personal firearm at a government arsenal. Until September 2007, soldiers received 50 rounds of government-issued ammunition in a sealed box for storage at home; after 2007 only about 2,000 specialist troops are allowed to keep the ammunition at home.

In a referendum in February 2011, voters rejected a citizens' initiative that would have obliged members of the armed services to store their rifles and pistols on military compounds and required that privately owned firearms be registered.

United Kingdom

That the Subjects which are Protestants may have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Conditions and as allowed by Law.

Bill of Rights 1689 See also: Firearms policy in the United Kingdom See also: Self-defence in English law See also: Offensive weapon § UK

In the United Kingdom, there is no automatic right to bear arms, although citizens may possess certain firearms on obtaining an appropriate licence. Ordinary members of the public may own sporting rifles and shotguns, subject to licensing, while handguns, automatic, and centerfire semi-automatic weapons are illegal to possess without special additional conditions. When not attended, all licensed firearms must be stored securely (locked) and separate from their ammunition. Regulations for airguns are less stringent and air pistols with a muzzle energy not exceeding 6 foot-pounds force (8.1 joules) and other airguns with a muzzle energy not exceeding 12 ft⋅lbf (16 J) do not require any certificates or licensing, although the same storage requirement applies. The first serious control on firearms was established with the passing of the Firearms Act 1920, handgun restrictions being added in response to the 1996 Dunblane Massacre in which 18 people died.

Historically the English Bill of Rights 1689 allowed:

That the Subjects which are Protestants may have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Conditions and as allowed by Law.

Since 1953, it has been a criminal offence in the United Kingdom to carry a knife (with the exception of non-locking folding knives with a cutting edge of 3 inches (7.62 centimetres) or less) or any "offensive weapon" in a public place without lawful authority (e.g. police or security forces) or reasonable excuse (e.g. tools that are needed for work). The cutting edge of a knife is separate to the blade length. The only manner in which an individual may carry arms is on private property or any property to which the public does not have a lawful right of access (e.g., a person's own home, private land, the area in a shop where the public have no access, etc.), as the law only creates the offence when it occurs in public. Furthermore, Criminal Justice Act 1988 Section 141 specifically lists all offensive weapons that cannot technically be owned, even on private property, by way of making it illegal to sell, trade, hire, etc. an offensive weapon to another person.

Furthermore, the law does not allow an offensive weapon or ordinary item intended or adapted as an offensive weapon to be carried in public before the threat of violence arises. This would only be acceptable in the eyes of the law if the person armed themselves immediately preceding or during an attack (in a public place). This is known as a "weapon of opportunity" or "instantaneous arming".

Other

Sharia law

Under Sharia law, there is an intrinsic freedom to own arms. However, in times of civil strife or internal violence, this right can be temporarily suspended to keep peace and prevent harm, as mentioned by Imam ash-Shatibi in his works on Maqasid ash-Shari'ah (The Intents and Purposes of Shari'ah). Citizens not practicing Islam are prohibited from bearing arms and are required to be protected by the military, the state for which they pay the jizyah. In exchange they do not need to pay the zakat.

Yemen

The citizens of the Republic shall have the right to hold the necessary rifles, machine guns, revolvers, and hunting rifles for their personal use with an amount of ammunition for the purpose of legitimate defense.

Law Regulating Carrying Firearms, Ammunition & their Trade Main article: Gun law in Yemen

Yemen recognizes statutory right to keep and bear arms. Firearms are both easily and legally accessible.

Gun violence and the politics of the right to bear arms

Gun-related homicide and suicide rates in high-income OECD countries, 2010, countries in graph ordered by total death rates (homicide plus suicide plus other gun-related deaths)
Multiple studies show that where people have easy access to firearms, gun-related deaths tend to be more frequent, including by suicide, homicide, and unintentional injuries.

Legal restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms are usually put in place by legislators in an attempt to reduce firearm-based violence and crime. Their actions may be the result of political groups advocating for such regulations. The Brady Campaign, Snowdrop Campaign, and the Million Mom March are examples of campaigns calling for tighter restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms. Accident statistics can be hard to obtain, but much data is available on the issue of gun ownership and gun related deaths.

United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute

The United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) has made comparisons between countries with different levels of gun ownership and investigated the correlation between gun ownership levels and gun homicides, and between gun ownership levels and gun suicides. A "substantial correlation" is seen in both:

During the 1989 and 1992 International Crime Surveys, data on gun ownership in eighteen countries have been collected on which WHO data on suicide and homicide committed with guns and other means are also available. The results presented in a previous paper based on the fourteen countries surveyed during the first ICS and on rank correlations (Spearman's rho), suggested that gun ownership may increase suicides and homicides using firearms, while it may not reduce suicides and homicides with other means. In the present analysis, four additional countries covered by the 1992 ICS only have been included, and Pearson's correlation coefficients have been used. The results confirm those presented in the previous study.

— Martin Killias, Understanding Crime, Experiences of Crime and Crime Control – Acts of the International Conference

UNICRI also investigated the relationship between gun ownership levels and other forms of homicide or suicide to determine whether high levels of gun ownership added to or merely displaced other forms of homicide or suicide. They reported that "widespread gun ownership has not been found to reduce the likelihood of fatal events committed with other means. Thus, people do not turn to knives and other potentially lethal instruments less often when more guns are available, but more guns usually means more victims of suicide and homicide." The researchers concluded that "all we know is that guns do not reduce fatal events due to other means, but that they go along with more shootings. Although we do not know why exactly this is so, we have a good reason to suspect guns to play a fatal role in this".

This research found that guns were the major cause of homicides in three of the fourteen countries it studied: Northern Ireland, Italy, and the United States. Although some data indicates that reducing the availability of one significant type of arms—firearms—leads to reductions both in gun crimes and gun suicides and moderate reductions in overall crimes and overall suicides, the author did caution that "reducing the number of guns in the hands of the private citizen may become a hopeless task beyond a certain point," citing the American example where gun laws remain a subject of heated debate (see also Gun politics in the United States).

A posterior study by UNICRI researchers from 2001 examined the link between household gun ownership and overall homicide, overall suicide, as well as gun homicide and gun suicide rates amongst 21 countries. The researchers declared "The results show very strong correlations between the presence of guns in the home and suicide committed with a gun, rates of gun-related homicide involving female victims, and gun-related assault." There were no significant correlations detected for total homicide and suicide rates, as well as gun homicide rates involving male victims.

Other

Some other research indicates that gun levels do not affect the total number of homicides or the total number of suicides, but rather affect the share of homicides or suicides committed with guns.

Public-health critic, gun-rights proponent, and editor-in-chief of Surgical Neurology International Miguel Faria contended in 2012 that keeping and bearing arms not only has constitutional protection, but also that firearms have beneficial aspects that have been ignored by the public health establishment in which he played a part. He also contended that guns are beneficial in self-defense, collective defense, and in protecting life and property.

A 2012 study in the journal Annual Review of Public Health found that suicide rates are greater in households with firearms than those without them.

See also

Notes

  1. "Art. 3 Recht auf Waffenerwerb, Waffenbesitz und Waffentragen: Das Recht auf Waffenerwerb, Waffenbesitz und Waffentragen ist im Rahmen dieses Gesetzes gewährleistet." (The right to acquire, possess and carry arms is guaranteed in the framework of this law.)

References

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Further reading

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