JONATHAN TURLEY: James Talarico’s defense of gun control leaves out a key word

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A virtual cottage industry has emerged among people finding James Talarico clips espousing everything from declaring his campaign meat-free, to there being six genders, to God being nonbinary.

One recently uncovered video from a meet-and-greet, however, attracted my interest and deepened my concerns about Talarico. It shows Talarico explaining why sweeping gun control laws do not violate the Second Amendment.

The reason, he declared, is that the Second Amendment expressly embraces gun control by referring to the right to bear arms as “well regulated.”

James Talarico speaks while holding a microphone

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In the clip, Talarico mocks those who oppose gun control measures and appears not to have taken the time to actually read the Amendment:

“A lot of politicians like to talk about the Second Amendment. Very few have actually read the Second Amendment because, if they did, they would know that the words ‘well regulated’ are right there in the text of the amendment itself.”

What he omits is the word following “well regulated”: “militia.”

It is hardly a long read, so here is the language:

“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.”

The term “well regulated” was not a reference to regulation in the contemporary sense. It was used to mean orderly or well maintained.

Militias were considered the backbone of the American military, particularly by those who feared a standing army. Some militias were less capable than others during the Revolutionary War. A well-regulated militia meant state militias that were combat-ready.

The individual right to possess guns was viewed as central to maintaining such militias. However, the Supreme Court has repeatedly held that a “well regulated militia” was not a limitation but a justification for the individual right.

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Notably, Talarico’s rationale differs from the classic interpretation against reading the Second Amendment as an individual right. Under that construct, it is the word “militia” that conditions the rest of the amendment, stating the purpose of the right to possess firearms.

It is not that the militias are “well regulated,” but rather that possessing guns was protected in order to, and to the extent of, maintaining militias.

Many of us reject that view and believe that the drafters were protecting a long-held and cherished individual right. The reference to the militia was a common rationale or justification for protecting that individual right.

Illustration of Jefferson editing Declaration with Franklin, Adams

Talarico made the comments in support of a ban on certain commonly used guns, such as the AR-15. Notably, those bans will soon be before the Supreme Court after the justices accepted review in Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins.

The grant of certiorari follows the court striking down Hawaii’s “Vampire Law” in Wolford v. Lopez , which barred gun owners with concealed-carry licenses from bringing guns onto private property unless they had explicit permission from the owner.

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That decision again reaffirms the individual right under the Second Amendment and clearly does not embrace Talarico’s “well regulated” rationale for gun control.

Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the New York Times bestselling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”

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