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« Great ruling from the 9th Circuit | Main | Mike Vanderbeogh's valediction »

A novel idea

Posted by David Hardy · 16 May 2016 05:43 PM

Does the Second Amendment cover encryption? It covers "arms," after all, and when the private encryption tool PGP made its way outside the US, the government investigated the creator on charges of exporting munitions without a license.

5 Comments | Leave a comment

Anonymous | May 17, 2016 6:46 AM | Reply

http://m.xkcd.com/504/

Anonymous | May 17, 2016 6:47 AM | Reply

alt-text)

It's totally a reasonable modern analogue. Jefferson would have been all about crypto.

Anonymous | May 17, 2016 12:54 PM | Reply

in fact, Jefferson *was* all about crypto: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_disk

David Mason | May 19, 2016 5:25 PM | Reply

Militaries depend on envelopes, pencils, paper, and water bottles. That does not make envelopes, pencils, paper, and water bottles, weapons. Likewise, the fact that governments and militaries use encryption for military purposes does not make encryption weapons.

But on the other hand, the 2nd Amendment prohibits banning necessary components and accessories to arms as well, even if they are not weapons themselves. For example; shooting ranges, gun stores, gunpowder, brass, steel, nuts and bolts, cleaning rods. And encryption can be a critical part of command and control, and even an actual physical part of weapons themselves, such as the encryption that is necessary in the control link in a remotely piloted armed drone.

Thus I think that encryption clearly is not a weapon, but can be a critical component of a weapon or militia equipment, and therefore should come under the protection of the 2nd Amendment.

Of course if Hillary wins, her Supreme Court appointee will be sure to rub out the 2nd Amendment. All of the other Democratic Supreme Court justices have already said they would.

Anon | May 23, 2016 6:32 PM | Reply

Does it need to?

The right to be "secure in one's person and papers" would seem more than sufficient to cover encryption.

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