What Did Factually Say the Second Amendment Was for?

Smash Notes' June 10, 2019 roundup points to Factually, the show from comedian Adam Conover. He talks with a UCLA School of Law professor about the Second Amendment now versus 1791, when it was adopted. The professor says the framers were writing about militias, which the text names. A gun then was a poor home-defense tool: powder was too unstable to store a loaded weapon, and loading took about a minute. Guns mattered for militia service. As firearms improved, a gun-rights movement recast the right as personal protection. For most of American history the Court tied it to the militia. A 5-4 Supreme Court decision in 2008 said an individual may keep a gun at home for self-defense.