<P> In the twenty - first century, the amendment has been subjected to renewed academic inquiry and judicial interest . In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision that held the amendment protects an individual right to possess and carry firearms . In McDonald v. Chicago (2010), the Court clarified its earlier decisions that limited the amendment's impact to a restriction on the federal government, expressly holding that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Second Amendment against state and local governments . In Caetano v. Massachusetts (2016), the Supreme Court reiterated its earlier rulings that "the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding" and that its protection is not limited to "only those weapons useful in warfare". </P> <P> Despite these decisions, the debate between various organizations regarding gun control and gun rights continues . </P> <P> There are several versions of the text of the Second Amendment, each with capitalization or punctuation differences . Differences exist between the drafted and ratified copies, the signed copies on display, and various published transcriptions . The importance (or lack thereof) of these differences has been the source of debate regarding the meaning and interpretation of the amendment, particularly regarding the importance of the prefatory clause . </P> <P> One version was passed by the Congress, and a slightly different version was ratified . As passed by the Congress and preserved in the National Archives, with the rest of the original hand - written copy of the Bill of Rights prepared by scribe William Lambert, the amendment says: </P>

Brown political review the second amendment individual or collective rights