Liscotti

DISCUSSION

A.

IS POSSESSION OF A BILLY

PROTECTED BY THE SECOND AMENDMENT

OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUION?

The Second Amendment “Confers an individual right to keep and bear arms, at least for the core purpose of allowing law-abiding citizens to „use arms in defense of hearth and home.” District of Colombia v. Heller (2008) 554, U.S. 570 128 S. Ct. 2783, 2821. The right is not absolute or unlimited. It does not extend to all types of weapons and is only extended to types of weapons „typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes.‟ Heller, supra, at 2814. There is a historical exception to the right to bear arms reflecting a prohibition of the right to carry „dangerous and unusual‟ weapons. Heller, supra, at 2817. “…The Heller court recognized that the right to bear arms in self defense, like most constitutional rights, is not unlimited. (cites omitted.) „The right is [is] not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.‟ ” People v. Mitchell (2012) 209 Cal. App. 4th 1364, 1373. There have been longstanding prohibitions imposed upon rights under the Second Amendment, including limitations on which people…