How did Presser v. Illinois interpret the Second Amendment in 1886?

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 the 1886 case Presser v. Illinois, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an Illinois law prohibiting unauthorized military organizations from drilling or parading with arms was constitutional.1

In the majority opinion, Justice William Burnham Woods interpreted the Second Amendment as a limitation only on the power of Congress and the federal government, rather than on the states. However, the Court also established that states could not prohibit the people from keeping and bearing arms in a manner that would deprive the United States of its "rightful resource for maintaining the public security," acknowledging that citizens capable of bearing arms constitute a reserved military force for the nation.12