In 2008, The Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to own a firearm unrelated to service in a militia. The landmark ruling, also called the Heller decision, also determined that gun owners can use their weapon for lawful purposes such as self-defense in their home.
The decision struck down parts of the 1975 Washington, D.C. Firearms Control Regulation Act, which banned the registration of handguns. It also made it a crime to carry an unregistered firearm and required residents to store lawfully owned firearms unloaded and disassembled. The Court held that the city’s near-total ban on handguns violated the Second Amendment.