There Should Not Be Stricter Gun Control Laws - Statement Of Dr. David I. Caplan, Ph.d., Ll.b., New York, Before The Subcommittee On Criminal Law, United States Senate, May 5, 1982

The constitutional right of the people to keep arms has deep roots in common law and constitutional history, and it remains of fundamental importance to this day. This right is explicitly guaranteed in the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights and includes the keeping by private citizens of any hand-carried arms commonly used by private individuals and police for personal defense.

Because "a man's house is his castle and his defense," and because the Third Amendment in the Bill of Rights prohibits government from quartering soldiers in a person's house during times of peace without his consent, the constitutional right of the people to keep arms must guarantee at its core the legally unfettered ability of the householder to acquire speedily and to keep permanently and anonymously in his house such arms as are commonly used for home defense, not only as a means for resistance against violent burglars but also as a strong moral check and deterrent against illegal quartering of troops in his house.

In short, the arms protected under the common law, and hence under the Constitution, in the hands of the citizenry are all those arms which are "hand-carried weapons commonly used by individuals and police for personal defense." Thus, firearms such as pistols, revolvers, rifles, and shotguns are all clearly within the ambit of constitutional protection, and none can logically be excluded.