Finally: Supreme Court States That Second Amendment Means What It Says

Finally, a win for those bitter people who cling to their guns. The Supreme Court issued its much anticipated Heller ruling this morning, and stated clearly - for the first time in history - that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual the right to own guns for self-defense and hunting.

Here's the SCOTUS Blog post on the decision, and here's an excerpt from their excerpt from the majority opinion:

“Logic demands that there be a link between the stated purpose and the command.”

“We start therefore with a strong presumption that the Second Amendment right is exercised individually and belongs to all Americans.”

“the most natural reading of ‘keep Arms’ in the Second Amendment is to “have weapons.”

“The term was applied, then as now, to weapons that were not specifically designed for military use and were not employed in a military capacity.”

“Putting all of these textual elements together, we find that they guarantee the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation.”

The ruling is not an unlimited license to carry handguns. The majority opinion states clearly that laws prohibiting weapons in highly sensitive areas, and restrictions to gun ownership by the mentally ill and felons (along with regulations on the commercial sales of guns) are, and continue to be, valid.

This is a huge win for proponents of the "original meaning" school of jurisprudence.