William Rawle’s 1829 second edition of A View of the Constitution. Alito cites pages 125–126 in McDonald as early American commentary on the right to keep and bear arms; the source note preserves Rawle’s public-peace qualifications.
A View of the Constitution of the United States of America
William Rawle · 2d ed. · 1829
William Rawle, A View of the Constitution of the United States of America (Philadelphia, Philip H. Nicklin, 2d ed. 1829)
Internet Archive scan of the New York Public Library copy, sponsored by MSN, item viewofconstituti00rawl; NYPL call number b4191477. This is an independent library scan, not the Google-origin 1825 file. The single-volume second edition appears complete, including the index through printed page 349. Second edition, 1829; this file must not be presented as Scalia’s cited 1825 Heller edition. The public-peace qualifications on page 126 accompany the arms discussion. Rawle’s earlier authorities remain a citation chain; this acquisition did not independently verify them. OCR is a discovery aid and must not substitute for the page image.
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Use in constitutional interpretation
Samuel A. Alito Jr. · Opinion of the Court, Part III-A; joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas
McDonald v. City of Chicago, 561 U.S. 742, 769 (2010)
Alito cites the second edition as early American commentary supporting the historical importance of the right to keep and bear arms. Rawle describes the militia, rejects a general power to disarm the people, and treats the amendment as a restraint on federal and state governments. Page 126 also preserves restrictions on unlawful armed assemblies and carrying arms in circumstances giving just reason to fear unlawful use. This is historical commentary published in 1829, not a ratification-era enactment or an independent statement of current incorporation doctrine.
Read printed 125–26 →
Cites the second edition, published in Philadelphia by Philip H. Nicklin in 1829. The title page and the original pagination were checked.
Alito cites printed pages 125–126, PDF pages 131–132, in McDonald, 561 U.S. 742, 769 (2010). The surrounding pages 124 and 127, PDF pages 130 and 133, were also inspected.
This 1829 edition is not the 1825 edition Scalia cited in Heller. Keep those editions and their pagination distinct.
Rawle’s discussion includes limits concerning the public peace. His pre-Barron view that amendments restrained state governments is historical commentary, not a statement of current incorporation doctrine.
Listed passage pages were visually checked. Other page labels follow the checked sequence and remain inferred. OCR contains recognition errors.
