Background US Attorney General John Ashcroft has stated "the text and the original intent of the Second Amendment clearly protect the right of individuals to keep and bear firearms." Mr. Ashcroft is joined in this position by a special senate committee, by the vast majority of respected Constitutional scholars, and most recently by 18 state attorneys general, who signed a letter initiated by Alabama AG Bill Pryor. These opinions confirm a ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in US v Emerson, which stated the Second Amendment guarantees the right of a private citizen to keep and bear arms,...