The Second Amendment contains just 27 words, yet these words have sparked one of America’s most enduring constitutional debates. Ratified on December 15, 1791, the amendment reads: “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.”
The 2026 annual Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey shows that a quarter (25%) of the respondents incorrectly cite the right to bear arms is protected by the First Amendment. The annual survey continues to show glaring gaps in basic civics knowledge. The survey was conducted August 6-9 among a national sample of 1,034 U.S. adults.
Yes, and sadly so, a growing percentage of Americans simply have their amendments confused – the right to bear arms is not the First Amendment. That right is protected by the Second Amendment.
“Ignorance is costly,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director emerita of the Annenberg Public Policy Center. “You can’t protect and cherish rights that you don’t know you have.”
With the Mass. Voter Guide now published and can be read/downloaded here (https://ma.omniballot.us/sites/25/vg/app/vig/voter-guide/instructions), ballot question number 9 is 40+ pages long. What’s a confused voter to make of this? More confusion? Intentional confusion by the state? The Civil Rights Coalition, GOAL, and the Mass Conservation Alliance have worked diligently for the past two years to educate and inform Mass. voters about Ballot Question #9, that to repeal Chapter 135 of the 2024 Firearm Laws requires a NO vote, and that these laws reflect an ongoing national partisan policy to chip away and gravely infringe everyone’s Second Amendment rights. All of the amendments in the Bill of Rights are protected by the USA government, not privileges granted by a state government.
Reclaim your rights, tell our Mass. legislators to stop passing bad laws that will eventually get scrapped by the Supreme Court of the USA. Vote NO on Ballot Question Number 9, November 3rd. ♦
