Supreme court ruling No. 07-290
Today the supreme court upheld a lower court ruling that affirmed that the 2nd amendment protects the rights of individual citizens to own and carry firearms for self defense. This is the first time the supreme court has examined and ruled on the 2nd amendment since 1791.
From the majority opinion:
Putting all of these textual elements together, we find that they guarantee the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation. This meaning is strongly confirmed by the historical background of the Second Amendment. We look to this because it has always been widely understood that the Second Amendment, like the First and Fourth Amendments, codified a pre-existing right. The very text of the Second Amendment implicitly recognizes the pre-existence of the right and declares only that it “shall not be infringed.”
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/07pdf/07-290.pdf
From the majority opinion:
Putting all of these textual elements together, we find that they guarantee the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation. This meaning is strongly confirmed by the historical background of the Second Amendment. We look to this because it has always been widely understood that the Second Amendment, like the First and Fourth Amendments, codified a pre-existing right. The very text of the Second Amendment implicitly recognizes the pre-existence of the right and declares only that it “shall not be infringed.”
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/07pdf/07-290.pdf