right to keep and bear arms

English

Etymology

From the wording of the second amendment to the US Constitution: " […] the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

Pronunciation

• see right, to, keep, and, bear, arms

Noun

right to keep and bear arms

1. (chiefly US) The right of individuals to possess firearms and armor.
   • 1789, Second Amendment to the United States Constitution:

     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.

   • 2005, Bill Clinton, My Life‎^[1], volume II, New York: Vintage Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 120:

     President Bush had vetoed an earlier version of the Brady bill because of the intense opposition of the NRA, which said it infringed on the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

   • 2022 January 20, Don Thompson, “California’s COVID gun store shutdowns ruled illegal”, in AP News‎^[2], archived from the original on 20 January 2022:

     Two California counties violated the Constitution’s right to keep and bear arms when they shut down gun and ammunition stores in 2020 as nonessential businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday. […]
     Because buyers can obtain guns only by personally going to gun stores in California, Ventura County’s 48-day closure of gun shops, ammunition shops and firing ranges “wholly prevented law-abiding citizens in the County from realizing their right to keep and bear arms,” he wrote.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:right to keep and bear arms.

Synonyms

• right to bear arms

Coordinate terms

• freedom of movement, freedom of contract, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly

Translations

the right of individuals to possess weapons and armor

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 持有和攜帶武器的權利／持有和携带武器的权利 (chíyǒu hé xiédài wǔqì de quánlì)

• Finnish: aseenkanto-oikeus
• French: port d’armes (fr) m
• Georgian: იარაღის შენახვისა და ტარების უფლება (iaraɣis šenaxvisa da ṭarebis upleba), ცეცხლსასროლი იარაღის შენახვისა და ტარების უფლება (cecxlsasroli iaraɣis šenaxvisa da ṭarebis upleba)
• German: Waffenführungsrecht n
• Hungarian: fegyvertartáshoz és -viseléshez való jog
• Russian: пра́во на владе́ние ору́жием n (právo na vladénije orúžijem)
• Spanish: derecho a portar armas

Further reading

• right to keep and bear arms on Wikipedia.Wikipedia