The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Second Amendment of the Constitution guarantees an individual right to bear arms. That's a huge shift in constitutional law. It is the first time the Supreme Court has unequivocally taken this position on the Second Amendment.
The decision came in a challenge to Washington, D.C.'s gun ban. The nation's capital has one of the strictest gun laws in the country.
It's been almost 70 years since the Supreme Court ruled on the Second Amendment. In that decision, the justices suggested that the amendment is limited to a collective right to own weapons. That's the position the Justice Department has generally held, but this Justice Department, under President Bush, has taken a different position.
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