<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms and was adopted on December 15, 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights . The Supreme Court has ruled that the right belongs to individuals for self - defense, while also ruling that the right is not unlimited and does not prohibit long - standing bans from the possession "of firearms by felons or the mentally ill" of firearms or similar devices . State and local governments are limited to the same extent as the federal government from infringing this right . </P> <P> The Second Amendment was based partially on the right to keep and bear arms in English common law and was influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689 . Sir William Blackstone described this right as an auxiliary right, supporting the natural rights of self - defense and resistance to oppression, and the civic duty to act in concert in defense of the state . </P>

When was the second amendment added to the bill of rights