The Justice Department stresses that the Supreme Court declared that its D.C. v. Heller ruling placed no doubt as to the constitutionality of "longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms." In addition, the Court, based on its decision in the 1939 case of U.S. v. Miller, stated that the "carrying of dangerous and unusual weapons," such as sawed-off shotguns or machine guns, is not protected by the Second Amendment.
The D.C. v. Heller decision marked the first time in its history that the Supreme Court had clearly established that the Second Amendment guarantees the right of gun ownership to individual citizens, rather than granting the states a "collective" right to form armed militias. How this landmark decision will impact state and local gun control laws remains to be seen. Remember, the District of Columbia is a federally-controlled district, not a state.
