Gun Control & RKBA

For much of the nation's history, the Second Amendment was taken to mean that the individual states, but not the federal government, had the power to limit who could or couldn't posses guns, and who was and wasn't part of the state militia. This was the principle that was upheld in Presser v. Illinois in 1886, where the court ruled that the state of Illinois could decide who was and wasn't part of a proper militia, and who could and couldn't parade through the streets with guns.

Since then, it's become gradually, but firmly established that the federal government can exercise some authority over the manufacture, sale, and possession of weapons, explosives, and other dangerous materials. The first national gun control laws were passed in the 1920s in response to interstate violence from gangsters. This established a principle, which was upheld in the courts, that the federal government had the power to regulate some aspects of the manufacture and possession of guns.

But in a 5-4 decision in 2008 (D.C. v. Heller), the court departed from previous rulings and found that Americans do have an individual right to posses guns for defense of the home. The court's divided ruling was muddled and leaves more questions than answers. For instance, in the majority opinion, Justice Scalia wrote:

Adding to the confusion, Scalia recognized and oddly confirmed the earlier precedent in Presser v. Illinois, writing:



The courts have never held that the right to "keep and bear arms" is absolute or beyond reasonable limitations. Again, from Antonin Scalia's majority opinon in D.C. v. Heller:



So basically, the courts have left the landscape completely muddled, both affirming that the federal government can impose reasonable prohibitions, and at the same time taking away some of the state's original powers to regulate them.

Personally, I don't really give a shit. Guns are everywhere. If I wanted one, I'd get in my my car and drive 3 miles to any of a half-dozen or so gun shops and get one.