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Second Amendment

United States v. Miller

Decided: 1939

In brief

Upheld regulation of sawed-off shotguns, tying Second Amendment protection to militia service.

The Court's ruling in depth

The Court upheld the National Firearms Act's restrictions on sawed-off shotguns, reading the Second Amendment as tied to service in a 'well regulated Militia.' For nearly seventy years Miller was read as denying an individual right to arms — until Heller decisively rejected that reading.

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