by Charlton Heston

About the author: Charlton Heston is a well-known actor who has starred in many motion pictures. He is a vice president and spokesman for the National Rifle Association.

Today I want to talk to you about guns: Why we have them, why the Bill of Rights guarantees that we can have them, and why my right to have a gun is more important than your right to rail against it in the press.

Ibelieve every good journalist needs to know why the Second Amendment must be considered more essential than the First Amendment. This may be a bitter pill to swallow, but the right to keep and bear arms is not archaic. It’s not an outdated, dusty idea some old dead white guys dreamed up in fear of the Redcoats. No, it is just...