Second Amendment Right to Bear Arms: Cases, Limits, and Carry Laws

The Second Amendment right to bear arms protects an individual’s ability to own and carry common firearms for lawful purposes, including self-defense at home and in public. That protection applies against federal, state, and local governments. It is not unlimited: federal law still bars certain people from possessing firearms, regulates certain weapons and accessories, and permits restrictions on carrying in sensitive locations.

What the Amendment Says

The full text reads: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”¹ For most of American history, courts and scholars disagreed about whether the opening militia language limited the right to organized military service or whether the second half stood on its own as a personal guarantee. The Supreme Court resolved that debate in 2008, and a series of decisions since then has filled in what the right covers in practice.

The Cases That Define the Right

Heller Established an Individual Right

In District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment “protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.”² The ruling struck down a Washington, D.C. handgun ban and confirmed that the government cannot flatly prohibit an entire class of firearms Americans commonly use for self-defense. Because D.C. is a federal enclave, Heller by itself only bound the federal government.

McDonald Applied It to the States

Two years later, McDonald v. City of Chicago held that “the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Second Amendment right recognized in Heller.”³ After McDonald, every state and municipality was bound by the same individual-right framework, and Chicago’s handgun ban fell.

Bruen Extended the Right Outside the Home

Heller and McDonald focused on firearms kept at home. New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen held that “the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.”⁴ The Court struck down New York’s requirement that applicants show a special need for self-defense before receiving a carry permit. Bruen also announced a new legal test: once the amendment’s text covers the conduct, the government must show any regulation “is consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”⁵ States that ran discretionary “may-issue” permitting had to move to “shall-issue” systems, which grant permits to anyone meeting objective criteria such as passing a background check.

Rahimi Confirmed Limits Still Apply

In United States v. Rahimi, the Court held that “an individual found by a court to pose a credible threat to the physical safety of another may be temporarily disarmed consistent with the Second Amendment.”⁶ The decision upheld the federal ban on firearm possession by people under qualifying domestic violence restraining orders and clarified that Bruen does not require a “historical twin” for every modern regulation, only consistency with “the principles that underpin our regulatory tradition.”⁷

Who Cannot Legally Own Firearms

Federal law identifies nine categories of people who cannot possess firearms or ammunition. Violating the prohibition can bring up to 15 years in federal prison.⁸ The prohibited categories are:

Anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison, regardless of what the offense is called in the charging state.
Fugitives from justice, including anyone with an outstanding warrant or who has fled to avoid prosecution.
Anyone who currently uses or is addicted to a controlled substance, including marijuana under federal classification.
Anyone a court or other authority has formally found to be a danger to themselves or others, or who has been involuntarily committed to a mental institution. A diagnosis alone does not trigger this bar.
Anyone in the country illegally, plus most nonimmigrant visa holders.
Anyone discharged from the military under dishonorable conditions.
Anyone who has formally renounced U.S. citizenship.
Anyone subject to a qualifying domestic violence restraining order that restrains them from threatening an intimate partner or child.
Anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence in any court.

⁹

Age and Immigration Status

Federal law also sets the minimum age for buying firearms from a licensed dealer at 18 for rifles and shotguns and 21 for handguns.¹⁰ States can set higher minimums. Buyers under 21 face an extended background check window of up to 10 business days under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022.⁹

Foreign nationals in the U.S. on nonimmigrant visas generally cannot possess firearms or ammunition. Federal law carves out limited exceptions for people admitted for lawful hunting who hold a valid U.S.-issued hunting license, accredited foreign government officials, foreign law enforcement officers on official business, and those who receive a waiver from the Attorney General.⁹ Lawful permanent residents holding green cards are not subject to this restriction.

Cannabis Users Are Prohibited Under Federal Law

This is where people most often go wrong. Even if your state has legalized marijuana medically or recreationally, federal law still treats it as a controlled substance. Anyone who uses marijuana is a prohibited person under the unlawful-drug-user category.⁹ ATF Form 4473, which every buyer signs at a licensed dealer, asks directly about marijuana use, and lying on it is a separate federal crime. A federal appeals court struck down the prohibition as applied to a marijuana user who was not impaired at the time of possession, and the Supreme Court accepted United States v. Hemani for its current term with oral arguments scheduled for March 2026. Until the Court rules, the federal prohibition remains enforceable regardless of state law.

Which Firearms Are Protected

Heller established that the Second Amendment covers arms “in common use” for lawful purposes. Modern handguns, the most widely owned type of firearm for self-defense, are squarely within that category, as are standard rifles and shotguns used for hunting or home defense. Weapons that fall outside common civilian use receive weaker protection or none. The Court has indicated repeatedly that the government can restrict weapons that are “dangerous and unusual,” meaning they are not typically owned by ordinary citizens for ordinary purposes. That is why federal bans on things like explosive devices have never faced serious constitutional challenge.

NFA-Regulated Items

The National Firearms Act requires federal registration for short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, suppressors, and machine guns manufactured after 1986, which are effectively banned for civilians. Owning an NFA item requires submitting an application to the ATF, passing a background check, and providing fingerprints and photographs. As of January 1, 2026, the $200 federal tax historically charged on each NFA application was reduced to zero under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed in July 2025. The registration process itself remains in effect, and state laws can impose additional restrictions or outright bans.

Where You Can and Can’t Carry

Both Heller and Bruen acknowledged that the government can prohibit firearms in “sensitive places.” The classic examples are government buildings, courthouses, polling places, and schools. The Gun-Free School Zones Act makes it a federal crime to knowingly possess a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school, with a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. Exceptions cover people with a state-issued concealed carry permit valid in the state where the school is located, along with firearms stored in locked vehicles on school grounds.

After Bruen, many states tried to designate broad categories of locations as sensitive places, including parks, public transit, and private businesses that have not posted permission to carry. Lower courts are still working through which of these designations survive the historical-tradition test. The government can bar firearms from traditional sensitive locations; the outer boundaries of that category remain actively litigated.

The Background Check at Purchase

Every purchase from a licensed dealer triggers a check through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), run by the FBI. Three outcomes are possible: approval, denial, or delay. Most checks resolve within minutes. If the system needs more time, federal law gives the FBI three business days to make a determination. If those days pass without a decision, the dealer has the legal option to complete the transfer under what is often called the “default proceed” rule.⁹ Some states override this by requiring dealers to wait for an affirmative approval.

If you are denied, the FBI provides a process to learn the reason and challenge the decision, either electronically or by mail. Fingerprints may be requested to resolve identity issues. If the denial was made by a state agency acting as a NICS point of contact, the challenge goes to that state agency.¹¹

Private sales historically did not require background checks under federal law, though many states have closed that gap. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 also expanded the federal definition of who counts as a dealer. Anyone who sells firearms “to predominantly earn a profit” now needs a license and must run background checks on buyers.¹² That is a substantially lower bar than the previous “principal means of earning a living” standard.

Losing and Restoring Firearm Rights

Losing firearm rights does not always mean losing them forever, but restoration under federal law is difficult. The main paths are a presidential pardon of the underlying conviction, expungement or reversal of that conviction, or an application to the Attorney General for relief from disabilities. The relief application looks available on paper, but Congress has prohibited the ATF from spending any money to process these applications every year since 1992, which makes the statutory right effectively meaningless for most people.¹³

A state pardon or state-level rights restoration does not automatically resolve federal restrictions.¹⁴ You can have your rights restored under state law while still being prohibited under federal law. Anyone in that situation should consult a lawyer familiar with both state and federal firearms law before possessing a gun.

1
Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Second Amendment
2
Cornell Law Institute. District of Columbia v. Heller
3
Justia. McDonald v. City of Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010)
4
Justia. New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. ___ (2022)
5
Supreme Court of the United States. New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen – Opinion
6
Justia. United States v. Rahimi, 602 U.S. ___ (2024)
7
Supreme Court of the United States. United States v. Rahimi – Opinion
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 924 – Penalties
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts
10
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Minimum Age for Gun Sales and Transfers
11
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Challenges / Appeals
12
Congress.gov. Text – Bipartisan Safer Communities Act
13
Federal Register. Application for Relief From Disabilities Imposed by Federal Laws
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 925 – Exceptions: Relief From Disabilities