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Britannica refers to the 1689 Bill of Rights as the "predecessor".
As [[U.S. Supreme Court]] Justice [[Joseph Story]] explained:
As [[U.S. Supreme Court]] Justice [[Joseph Story]] explained:
{{cquote|The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a [[republic]]; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.}}
{{cquote|The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a [[republic]]; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.}}
The predecessor<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Second-Amendment/Origins-and-historical-antecedents Origins and historical antecedents], Second Amendment, Britannica</ref> of the Second Amendment, the 1689 [[English Bill of Rights]] states that Protestant citizens can "have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Conditions and as allowed by Law".
== Individual or Collective Right? ==
== Individual or Collective Right? ==
For several decades, the lower federal courts had interpreted the Second Amendment as protecting merely a collective right of state militias.<ref>http://www.davekopel.com/2A/LawRev/35finalpartone.htm</ref> However, the [[U.S Supreme Court]] has always called it an individual right. The 2008 Supreme Court decision of ''[[District of Columbia v. Heller]]'' ruled 5–4 that the Second Amendment protects an individual right. This decision was expanded upon in ''[[McDonald v. Chicago]]'' two years later, which ruled that Second Amendment applies to protect individual rights against state and city laws also.
For several decades, the lower federal courts had interpreted the Second Amendment as protecting merely a collective right of state militias.<ref>http://www.davekopel.com/2A/LawRev/35finalpartone.htm</ref> However, the [[U.S Supreme Court]] has always called it an individual right. The 2008 Supreme Court decision of ''[[District of Columbia v. Heller]]'' ruled 5–4 that the Second Amendment protects an individual right. This decision was expanded upon in ''[[McDonald v. Chicago]]'' two years later, which ruled that Second Amendment applies to protect individual rights against state and city laws also.