"Nowhere else in the Constitution does a 'right' attributed to 'the people' refer to anything other than an individual right. What is more, in all six other provisions of the Constitution that mention 'the people,' the term unambiguously refers to all members of the political community, not an unspecified subset... The Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms... The very text of the Second Amendment implicitly recognizes the pre-existence of the right and declares only that it ‘shall not be infringed.' " | by: | Justice Antonin Scalia
(1936-2016) American jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States |
Source: | District of Columbia v. Heller, June 26, 2008, striking down D.C.'s gun ban as unconstitutional |
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