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. |