<P> The Second Amendment ( Amendment II ) to the United States Constitution protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms and was adopted on December 15 , 1791 , as part of the first ten amendments contained in the Bill of Rights . The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the right belongs to individuals for self defence , but `` Like most rights , the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited ... '' . It is `` ... not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose . '' `` Nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on 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 . '' while also ruling that the right is not unlimited and does not prohibit all regulation of either firearms or similar devices . State and local governments are limited to the same extent as the federal government from infringing this right , per the incorporation of the Bill of Rights . </P>
<P> The Second Amendment ( Amendment II ) to the United States Constitution protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms and was adopted on December 15 , 1791 , as part of the first ten amendments contained in the Bill of Rights . The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the right belongs to individuals for self defence , but `` Like most rights , the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited ... '' . It is `` ... not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose . '' `` Nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on 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 . '' while also ruling that the right is not unlimited and does not prohibit all regulation of either firearms or similar devices . State and local governments are limited to the same extent as the federal government from infringing this right , per the incorporation of the Bill of Rights . </P>
when was the second amendment of the constitution
when was the second amendment of the constitution
adopted on December 15 , 1791
adopted on December 15 , 1791