United States Constitution: Amendments 2 & 3

THE 2ND AMENDMENT

The Second Amendment is divided into two clauses:

1. The Militia Clause (Collective Right): Authorized States to form and maintain militias, now called National Guard units.
2. The Right of Arms Clause (Individual Right).

Rulings

• Presser v. Illinois (1886): A State can ban private citizens from forming military groups, drilling and parading.
• United States v Miller (1939): A citizen does not have the right to possess a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun.
• Lewis v United States (1980): States can prohibit felons from possessing firearms.
• Printz v United States (1997): Congress cannot require local law enforcement officers to perform federal tasks for it, even temporarily.
• District of Columbia v Heller (2008): Banning the possession of handguns in the home is unconstitutional.
• McDonald v Chicago (2010): The 2nd Amendment is incorporated under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment and applies to the States.
• Caetano v Massachusetts (2016): Stun guns is protected under the 2nd Amendment.

THE 3RD AMENDMENT

• Prohibits the Government from forcing private citizens to house and feed soldiers during peacetime without the property owner's consent.
• In wartime, the Government must use legal procedures to quarter troops in private property.
• The 3rd Amendment has been used to support individual privacy rights.
  • Griswold v Connecticut (1965): The right to privacy in marital relations.
    • Together with the 3rd Amendment, the 1st, 5th and 9th Amendments create "zones of privacy." (Justice Willam O. Douglas)
• Engblom v Carey (1982): The Second Court of Appeals established three criteria for 3rd Amendment ruling:
  1. National Guardsmen are considered legally soldiers.
  2. The 3rd Amendment applies to State authorities.
  3. Any resident has a legal expectation to privacy in their residence and a legal right to exclude others from their residency.