Also known as: armorum · armis · arms · weapons
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Instruments used for offense or defense. In constitutional law the term encompasses firearms and similar weapons that individuals may keep and bear for lawful purposes including self-defense.
Antonio Alvarado, a Chicago resident, kept a loaded handgun in his home for protection after repeated burglaries. City police seized the weapon under a local ordinance banning most handguns. Alvarado sued, claiming the ordinance violated his right to keep arms. The court applied the Second Amendment through the Fourteenth Amendment and struck down the ban.
Aaron Adams faced an attacker swinging a metal pipe in a parking lot. Adams grabbed a nearby baseball bat and struck the assailant once in the arm, breaking it. The attacker sued for battery. Adams raised self-defense. The court examined whether the bat was used in a manner intended or likely to cause serious bodily harm and found the force privileged.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Audrey Ashton, a member of her state's organized militia, stored a semiautomatic rifle at home. State legislation later required registration and restricted certain features. Ashton refused to comply and was charged. She defended on the ground that the Second Amendment protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms.
Anita Ali lived with her extended family in a single-family home. The city cited her for violating an ordinance limiting occupancy to nuclear families. Ali argued the restriction interfered with her liberty to maintain a household. The court analyzed whether the zoning rule violated substantive due process protections for family living arrangements.
Alexis Archer, a pregnant resident, sought an abortion at a clinic after the state enacted a near-total ban. The clinic refused service. Archer sued, asserting a constitutional right to choose. The court considered whether the statute violated substantive due process under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Anthony Arnold was indicted for possessing a short-barreled shotgun. He argued the weapon was protected because it could be used in a militia context. The court examined whether the Second Amendment extended to that type of firearm when not shown to have a reasonable relationship to militia service.
Yes. The Second Amendment secures an individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense that applies against the states through the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause.
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Serious bodily harm is injury whose consequences differ in kind from ordinary harm. It includes harm creating a substantial risk of death, permanent loss of an important bodily function, or conduct amounting to mayhem.
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Statements describing an assailant's location and armament are nontestimonial when made to resolve an ongoing emergency. They remain admissible even without cross-examination because the primary purpose was to address an immediate threat rather than to create evidence for trial.
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…points pricked out in terms of the taking of property; the freedom of speech, press, and religion; the right to keep and bear arms; the freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures; and so on. It is a rational continuum which, broadly speaking, includes a freedom from all substantial arbitrary impositions and…