02 最高法院关于枪支的言论 What does the US Supreme Court Say About Guns

The Second Amendment of the U. S. Constitution says: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

What these words mean, exactly, is disputed in the United States.

Even the Supreme Court, whose job it is to interpret the Constitution, has disagreed.

The issue is whether the federal government can place restrictions on who owns guns and how people use them.

In the Court's 200-plus-year history, it has ruled on cases related to the Second Amendment several times – and its answer to what the Amendment means has recently changed.

The Second Amendment was adopted in 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights.

About 80 years later, an event prompted the Supreme Court to clarify it.

A group of white supremacists in Louisiana attacked and killed more than 100 African American men.

Later, the white supremacists were charged - not with murder, but with violating the victims' constitutional rights.

In time, the Supreme Court heard the case.