In Heller, a 5-4
majority, led by Justice Antonin Scalia, held that the Second Amendment protects
an individual right to possess a gun unconnected with service in a militia, and
to use the gun for traditionally lawful purposes, such as in the home for self
defense. The decision invalidated the District of Columbia's handgun ban —
considered the strictest in the nation — and its requirement that firearms kept
in the home be disassembled or have a trigger lock....
However, the majority
also said the Second Amendment right is not unlimited, and gave examples of some
limits.
"From Blackstone through the 19th-century cases, commentators and
courts routinely explained that the right was not a right to keep and carry any
weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose," wrote
Scalia. "For example, 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."
Nothing in the Heller ruling, he
said, should be read 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."
Another "important limitation," explained Scalia, was contained in
the justices' 1939 decision in Miller v. U.S. "Miller said, as we have
explained, that the sorts of weapons protected were those 'in common use at the
time.' We think that limitation is fairly supported by the historical tradition
of prohibiting the carrying of 'dangerous and unusual weapons,' " he wrote.
Based on Miller, the Second Amendment does not protect weapons not typically
possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes, such as short-barreled
shotguns, he added.
