Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/07pdf/07-290.pdf
Page Number: 48.0

Cite as:  554 U. S. ____ (2008) 

45 

Opinion of the Court 

“It  might  be  supposed  from  the  phraseology  of  this
provision  that  the  right  to  keep  and  bear  arms  was
only  guaranteed  to  the  militia;  but  this  would  be  an 
interpretation not warranted by the intent.  The mili­
tia, as has been elsewhere explained, consists of those 
persons who, under the law, are liable to the perform­
ance  of  military  duty,  and  are  officered  and  enrolled 
for service when called upon.  But the law may make
provision  for  the  enrolment  of  all  who  are  fit  to  per­
form  military  duty,  or  of  a  small  number  only,  or  it
may  wholly  omit  to  make  any  provision  at  all;  and  if
the right were limited to those enrolled, the purpose of
this guaranty might be defeated altogether by the ac­
tion or neglect to act of the government it was meant 
to  hold  in  check.    The  meaning  of  the  provision  un­
doubtedly  is,  that  the  people,  from  whom  the  militia
must be taken, shall have the right to  keep and bear 
arms;  and  they  need  no  permission  or  regulation  of 
law  for  the  purpose.    But  this  enables  government  to
have a well-regulated militia; for to bear arms implies
something more than the mere keeping; it implies the 
learning to handle and use them in a way that makes
those  who  keep  them  ready  for  their  efficient  use;  in 
other words, it implies the right to meet for voluntary
discipline  in  arms,  observing  in  doing  so  the  laws  of
public order.”  Id., at 271. 

All  other  post-Civil  War  19th-century  sources  we  have
found  concurred  with  Cooley.  One  example  from  each 
decade will convey the general flavor: 

“[The purpose of the Second Amendment is] to secure 
a well-armed militia. . . .  But a militia would be use­
less unless the citizens were enabled to exercise them­
selves in the use of warlike weapons.  To preserve this
privilege, and to secure to the people the ability to op­
pose themselves in military force against the usurpa­