The Second Amendment

The Second Amendment states that 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. It reflected founding-era distrust of standing armies and reliance on state militias of ordinary citizens, the forerunners of today's National Guard. For most of the twentieth century courts paid it little attention, and in United States v. Miller in 1939 the Supreme Court upheld a federal tax on sawed-off shotguns, reasoning that such weapons had no clear connection to militia service.

In District of Columbia v. Heller in 2008, the Court held for the first time that the amendment protects an individual right to keep a handgun at home for self-defense, unconnected to militia service, while noting that longstanding restrictions such as bans on possession by felons remain valid. McDonald v. City of Chicago in 2010 applied the right to the states. In New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen in 2022, the Court held that gun laws must be consistent with the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation and struck down a law requiring special need for a carry permit.

In United States v. Rahimi in 2024, the Court upheld a federal ban on gun possession by people subject to domestic violence restraining orders, clarifying that modern laws need only be analogous to historical ones, not identical. Federal firearms law is enforced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives under statutes such as the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Gun Control Act of 1968. Gun rights supporters see the amendment as a guarantee of individual liberty and self-defense, while gun control advocates argue that its militia language and public safety justify broad regulation, and lower courts remain divided on how to apply the historical test.