00:00 In 1934, a bank robber named Jack Miller used the Second Amendment to justify his possession of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun, leading to a Supreme Court case that would change how we understand the Second Amendment and gun rights.

05:41 The Second Amendment, consisting of just 27 words, sparked intense battles and debates over whether it guarantees the right of an organized militia to exist or the right of an individual to own guns.

10:29 The evolution of gun rights in the United States has always involved restrictions, targeting groups such as Black Americans, Native Americans, and Catholics, and has included regulations on where guns could be carried and displayed.

15:00 The National Firearms Act of 1934, which imposed new regulations on weapons associated with gang violence, was deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court in a case involving Jack Miller, who was later found dead after robbing a bar.

19:48 The Supreme Court's first true Second Amendment ruling suggested that the right to bear arms is about a militia's right, not individuals like Jack Miller, but that interpretation would change.

25:47 The Gun Control Act of 1968, prompted by the assassination of President Kennedy, set the stage for the National Rifle Association (NRA) to reshape the conversation about guns, leading to a shift in focus from hunting and recreation to self-defense, culminating in the NRA's takeover in 1977 and their successful ground game in mobilizing members to influence local gun control policies.

30:49 The NRA's success in the 1980s at the state level led to the adoption of preemption laws that made it difficult for cities to pass gun laws, while the increase in law and order rhetoric and invocations of the Second Amendment as an individual right, along with the assassination attempt on President Reagan, prompted the Brady's to focus on handgun control and eventually pass the Brady Act, expanding the list of prohibited individuals and implementing background checks.

35:34 The rise of absolutist rhetoric around the Second Amendment and the NRA's influence led to a belief that all forms of gun regulation are unconstitutional, but in reality, there is still widespread support for reasonable gun regulation, such as background checks, among both Americans and NRA members.

40:16 The court's opinion in the Heller case clarified that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to bear arms for self-defense, but it also acknowledged that the government can regulate guns in certain ways, such as prohibiting felons and the mentally ill from possessing firearms and forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places like schools and government buildings.

44:50 The Supreme Court is currently considering a case involving a man who argues that denying him a gun based on a domestic violence restraining order violates his constitutional right to bear arms.

49:06 The Supreme Court has the chance to clarify what it means for gun laws to be consistent with historical regulations and whether a domestic violence restraining order is enough to limit someone's constitutional right to bear arms.