Opinion ID: 614652
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Heller Decision

Text: In Heller the Supreme Court explained the Second Amendment codified a pre-existing  individual right to keep and bear arms, 554 U.S. at 592, 128 S.Ct. 2783, which was important to Americans not only to maintain the militia, but also for self-defense and hunting, id. at 599, 128 S.Ct. 2783. Although self-defense had little to do with the right's codification [,] it was the central component of the right itself. Id. Still, the Court made clear the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited, id. at 626, 128 S.Ct. 2783, and it gave some examples to illustrate the boundaries of that right. For instance, the Court noted the Second Amendment does not protect those weapons not typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes, such as short-barreled shotguns. Id. at 625, 128 S.Ct. 2783 (citing United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174, 59 S.Ct. 816, 83 L.Ed. 1206 (1939)). This limitation upon the right to keep and bear arms was supported by the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of dangerous and unusual weapons. Id. at 627, 128 S.Ct. 2783 (internal quotation marks omitted). The Court identified other historical limitations upon the scope of the right protected by the Second Amendment. For example, it noted the majority of the 19th-century courts to consider the question held that prohibitions on carrying concealed weapons were lawful under the Second Amendment or state analogues. Id. at 626, 128 S.Ct. 2783. It also provided a list of some presumptively lawful regulatory measures: nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms. Id. at 626-27 & n. 26, 128 S.Ct. 2783. The Court made clear, however, it was not undertak[ing] an exhaustive historical analysis today of the full scope of the Second Amendment. Id. at 626, 128 S.Ct. 2783.