How did Caetano v. Massachusetts address the Second Amendment and stun guns?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Second Amendment The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

In Caetano v. Massachusetts (2016), the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the Second Amendment by vacating a Massachusetts ruling that had upheld a state ban on stun guns.1

The lower court had argued that stun guns were not protected because they were not in common use when the Second Amendment was enacted, were considered dangerous per se, and were not readily adaptable for military use. The Supreme Court rejected this reasoning, clarifying that the Second Amendment protects all "bearable arms," including modern weapons that did not exist at the time the Bill of Rights was drafted. Furthermore, the Court emphasized that the protection of the Second Amendment is not limited to weapons that are commonly used in warfare.1