US Supreme Court Upholds 2nd Amendment: Gun Ownership is a Right of Americans

Right now, one of the arguments circulating online against private gun ownership is that the Second Amendment doesn’t actually give people the right to own guns.

The reason for this view is not a mystery because, within the modern context, the plain language of the Second Amendment is a little bit confusing. It states: “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’s quite easy to look at the surface of those words and assume that the right to keep and bear arms only applies to militias, who are in the service of defending a state. And in the modern context, that’s something like a national guard.

However, that is not in fact true.

The Supreme Court ruled in District of Columbia v. Heller in 2008 that the Second Amendment does protect the people’s right to keep and bear arms.

To understand their rationale, let’s dissect the Second Amendment.