Liberty · Guide
What a term means, how the law classifies the thing it names, which statute or ruling put a rule in place, and what a right protects you from — every civil-liberties piece on the site, grouped by the question you are asking.
Liberty pieces here explain terminology, legal classification and history — statutes as written, cases as decided, and the record of how a rule came to be. Nothing on this page tells you how to buy, build, modify or carry anything, and no piece is built around a case that hasn’t been decided; where the law is unsettled, the piece says so and dates the claim. Start with the question you are asking.
Look it up by state
Map
Concealed carry reciprocity map
Pick the state that issued a permit and see where it is honored; click any state for its licence regime on the statute’s face, its permitless-carry rule, and its official page.
Reference
State-by-state firearm law reference
For the states covered so far: the statutory term, the constitutional provision, preemption and the licence statute’s classification — dated and quoted, closing with what is still unsettled.
In the works
“Assault weapon” definitions by state: the table
What each state’s statute means by the term, quoted from the code.
In the works
Carry permit regimes by state
How each state classifies its permit rules — the categories, not the technique.
Firearm terms and legal categories
What a term means, and how the law classifies the thing it names. Most arguments about guns are arguments about words, and the statute usually settles them.
- How It Works Firearm Terms the Law Uses: A Plain-Language Guide to the Categories
The cornerstone: the statutory definitions on their face — what each term covers, without the mechanics. - Myth Check Assault Rifle vs. AR-15: Two Terms, Two Different Meanings
“AR-15” gets used two different ways, and neither is quite the same as “assault rifle.” - How It Works What Is an NFA Item? The 1934 Law That Still Defines Machine Guns and Suppressors · planned
The categories the National Firearms Act created, and why they still decide what is registered today. - How It Works Handgun, Rifle, Shotgun: How Federal Law Draws the Lines · planned
The definitions and the length thresholds as the statute states them, and why the categories exist. - How It Works Prohibited Persons: The Federal Categories in 18 U.S.C. 922(g) · planned
The categories as written, what “adjudicated” and “convicted” mean there, and restoration of rights in outline.
How the rules came to be
Which law or ruling put a rule in place, and what it did and didn’t decide.
- How It Works Four Congresses, One Code: What 1934, 1968, 1986 and 1993 Each Added to Federal Firearms Law
The cornerstone: four statutes, what each added on its face, with the public-law citations. - How It Works The Second Amendment’s Text: What ‘Well Regulated’ Meant in 1791
Founding-era usage from period sources, with both readings of the clause presented. - The Courts Heller, McDonald, Bruen: What Each Ruling Decided, and What It Left Open · planned
Three decided cases, holdings quoted, and the open questions in a dated “still unsettled” close. - How It Works The Hughes Amendment: How One 1986 Floor Vote Froze the Machine-Gun Registry · planned
The provision, the vote, and the effective date — from the public law itself. - The Courts United States v. Miller (1939): The Case Both Sides Cite · planned
What the Court decided, what it didn’t, and why Heller read it the way it did.
Your rights in everyday encounters
What a right protects you from, and where the courts have drawn its edge.
- How It Works The Bill of Rights in Plain Language: What Each Amendment Protects You From
The cornerstone: ten amendments, one paragraph each, and what “against the government” means. - Myth Check Free Speech and Private Platforms: The First Amendment Restrains Government
The state-action doctrine, the statute, and the settled cases — with the live disputes named and dated. - How It Works What ‘Probable Cause’ and ‘Reasonable Suspicion’ Mean at a Traffic Stop · planned
The two standards and what a stop legally is — rights education, not tactics. - How It Works Civil Asset Forfeiture: How Property Gets Seized Without a Conviction · planned
How the proceeding works, the federal-state sharing arrangement, and the state reforms, dated. - Myth Check Miranda Rights: What the Warning Covers, and the Silence That Doesn’t Count · planned
Custody plus interrogation, what invoking requires, and the television myths corrected.
Start with these
Myth Check
Assault Rifle vs. AR-15: Two Terms, Two Different Meanings
The piece that started this pillar, and the right first read on terminology.
How It Works
Four Congresses, One Code: What 1934, 1968, 1986 and 1993 Each Added to Federal Firearms Law
The history cornerstone — every classification piece points back to one of these four statutes.
How It Works
The Bill of Rights in Plain Language: What Each Amendment Protects You From
The civics cornerstone — the section of this guide that isn’t about firearms at all.
Newest in Liberty
Free Speech and Private Platforms: The First Amendment Restrains Government
The Second Amendment’s Text: What ‘Well Regulated’ Meant in 1791
The Bill of Rights in Plain Language: What Each Amendment Protects You From
Firearm Terms the Law Uses: A Plain-Language Guide to the Categories
Four Congresses, One Code: What 1934, 1968, 1986 and 1993 Each Added to Federal Firearms Law
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