Scope of Individual Gun Rights—Especially Outside the Home
1. Heller (2008): The Home Turf District of Columbia v. Heller drew a bright constitutional line: the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms unconnected to militia service, for traditionally lawful purposes like self-defense within the home. The Court struck down D.C.’s handgun ban and the requirement that firearms be stored nonfunctional—because it gutted self-defense in your own living room WikipediaEncyclopedia Britannica.But make no mistake—the right wasn't infinite. The Court stressed that some restrictions remain permissible, and this ruling didn't yet apply to state laws—that came later in McDonald v. Chicago Wikipedia. 2. The March into Public Spaces: Wrenn (2017) Before Bruen, in Wrenn v. D.C., the D.C. Circuit ruled that the right to carry common firearms...