 The right to keep and bear arms in the United States is protected by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.While there have been contentious debates on the nature of this right, there was a lack of clear federal court rulings defining the right until the two U.S. Supreme Court cases of "District of Columbia v. Heller" (2008) and "McDonald v. City of Chicago" (2010).An individual right to own a gun for personal use was affirmed in the landmark "District of Columbia v. Heller" decision in 2008, which overturned a handgun ban in the federal District of Columbia.