This ruling came down from the D.C. Circuit this morning:
To summarize, we conclude that the Second Amendmentprotects an individual right to keep and bear arms. That rightexisted prior to the formation of the new government under theConstitution and was premised on the private use of arms foractivities such as hunting and self-defense, the latter beingunderstood as resistance to either private lawlessness or thedepredations of a tyrannical government (or a threat fromabroad). In addition, the right to keep and bear arms had theimportant and salutary civic purpose of helping to preserve thecitizen militia. The civic purpose was also a political expedientfor the Federalists in the First Congress as it served, in part, toplacate their Antifederalist opponents. The individual rightfacilitated militia service by ensuring that citizens would not bebarred from keeping the arms they would need when called forthfor militia duty. Despite the importance of the SecondAmendment’s civic purpose, however, the activities it protectsare not limited to militia service, nor is an individual’senjoyment of the right contingent upon his or her continued or
intermittent enrollment in the militia.