The Types of Arms Protected
The most recent Supreme Court case directly raising the 2nd Amendment was United States v. Miller, decided in 1939.
The Miller case simply defined the types of guns protected by the 2nd Amendment. Reviewing the case of two bootleggers charged with failing to pay federal taxes on a sawed-off shotgun, the court concluded that the "instrument" was not covered by the 2nd Amendment. The relevant language is quoted below in full:
"In the absence of any evidence tending to show that possession or use of a 'shotgun having a barrel of less than 18 inches in length' at this time has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia, we cannot say that the 2nd Amendment guarantees the right to keep and bear such an instrument. Certainly it is not within judicial notice that this weapon is any part of the ordinary military equipment or that its use could contribute to the common defense."
The court did not find that since the defendants were bootleggers—and not members of a militia—they had no 2nd Amendment rights. Rather, the court's conclusion turned solely on the fact that a sawed-off shotgun was not "ordinary military eqipment."
It does not take a rocket scientist to conclude that the individual citizen has the right to keep and bear bazookas, rocket launchers, and assault weapons."
Updated 08/10/2005