sec. of the 2d art. of the Constitution, which declares, "that the free white men of this State shall have a right to keep and bear arms for their common defence ;" thus indicating, in terms too plain to be misunderstood, that the sole object of the latter in securing this right, was to provide, beyond the power of legal control, adequate means for the preservation and defence of the State, and her republican institutions. And therefore, without applying to this provision in our Constitution the maxim "expressio unius, exclusio alterius," so often applied in the interpretation of laws, I have come to the conclusion, that the legislature possesses competent powers to prescribe, by law, that any and all arms, kept or borne by individuals, shall be so kept and borne as not to injure or endanger the private rights of others, disturb the peace or domestic tranquillity, or in any manner endanger the free institutions of this State or the United States; and that no enactment on this subject, which neither directly nor indirectly so operates as to impair or render inefficient the means provided by the constitution for the defence of the State, can be adjudged invalid, on the ground that it is repugnant to the constitution. The act in question does not, in my judgment, detract any thing from the power of the people to defend their free state and the established institutions of the country. It inhibits only the wearing of certain arms concealed. This is simply a regulation as to the manner of bearing such arms as are specified. The practice of so bearing them, the legislative department of the government has determined to be wrong, or at least inconsistent with sound policy. So far, that department had a discretion in regard to the subject, over which the judiciary, as I conceive, has no control; and therefore the duty of the courts must be the same, whether the policy of the law be good or bad. In either event it is binding; and the obligation of the courts to enforce its provisions, when legally called upon to do so, is imperative.
In several States of this Union, the Court of the highest authority in the State has adjudicated upon the right to keep and bear arms, under and by virtue of the provisions contained in the respective constitutions of such States, in some of which, the language used appears to be different from and more comprehensive than that used either in the constitution of the United States or of this State. But I am not
