History
In 1791, the U.S. adopted the Second Amendment which reads: “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." And in 1792 the Congress enacted the Militia Acts of 1792, which conscripted every "free able-bodied white male citizen" into the militia and required such citizens to procure "a good musket or firelock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints, and a knapsack, a pouch with a box therein to contain not less than twenty-four cartridges, suited to the bore of his musket or firelock, each cartridge to contain a proper quantity of powder and ball;..." (U.S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 1, 1st Session, Ch. 33)
In the 2008 case of District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to own a gun for personal use, unconnected with service in a militia. It also specifically stated that individuals have the right to keep a loaded gun at home for self-defense. In 2010 the Supreme Court incorporated the right to apply to the states as well as the federal government in McDonald v. Chicago.
Read more about this topic: Gun Law In The United States
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“The whole history of civilisation is strewn with creeds and institutions which were invaluable at first, and deadly afterwards.”
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
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