Article
The Tortious Second Amendment: A Response to Andrew McClurg’s the Right to be Negligent
FL. L. REV.
(2018)
Abstract
In his recent provocative article addressing gun violence and the negligence of gun owners and gun sellers, Professor Andrew McClurg asserts the failure of courts and legislatures to invoke traditional tort principles to gun ownership has created what he calls “[t]he Second Amendment right to be negligent.” Professor McClurg’s claim is eye opening in that it can be characterized as anti-private gun ownership, or at the very least his article is advocating for a far more regulated right of ownership, during a time where the U.S. Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller, specifically endorsed an arguable unregulated private right of ownership. Moreover, Professor McClurg takes on this issue when it is rare for any politician to dare question the Second Amendment, let alone assert it promotes negligent conduct.However, the tragic events of February 14, 2018, where a teenage former student gunman killed 17 and injured 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, may have changed the political will of the public to address regulation concerning the arguable third rail of politics—the Second Amendment’s right to own guns.
Disciplines
- Law and
- Second Amendment
Publication Date
2018
Citation Information
Ediberto Roman, The Tortious Second Amendment: A Response to Andrew McClurg’s the Right to be Negligent, 68 FL. L. REV., 126 (2018).