District of Columbia v. Heller: An Individual Right

On June 26, 2008, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in District of Columbia v. Heller^[1], resolving a question that had been debated for over two centuries: whether the Second Amendment protects an individual right or a collective right tied to militia service.

The Holding

In a 5-4 decision authored by Justice Scalia, the Court held that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home. The Court struck down Washington D.C.'s handgun ban and its requirement that lawfully owned rifles and shotguns be kept unloaded and disassembled or bound by a trigger lock.

Textual Analysis

The Court parsed the Second Amendment into a prefatory clause ("A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State") and an operative clause ("the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed"). Justice Scalia wrote that the prefatory clause announces a purpose but does not limit the operative clause. The phrase "the people" refers to individual persons, consistent with its use elsewhere in the Bill of Rights.

Limits of the Right

The Court emphasized that the right is not unlimited. Justice Scalia wrote that "nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms."^[2]

What Heller Did Not Decide

Because Washington D.C. is a federal enclave, Heller only established that the Second Amendment constrains the federal government. Whether the right also applied to state and local governments was left for a future case. That question was answered two years later in McDonald v. City of Chicago.

Impact on California

While Heller did not directly apply to California (a state, not a federal enclave), it established the constitutional foundation for all subsequent Second Amendment challenges to state firearms laws. California's extensive regulatory framework, including its assault weapons ban, handgun roster, and large-capacity magazine restrictions, would eventually face scrutiny rooted in the principles Heller articulated.