On the other hand, some scholars point to the prefatory language 'a well regulated Militia' to argue that the Framers intended only to restrict Congress from legislating away a state's right to self-defense.

Under this 'individual right theory,' the United States Constitution restricts legislative bodies from prohibiting firearm possession, or at the very least, the Amendment renders prohibitory and restrictive regulation presumptively unconstitutional. On the one hand, some believe that the Amendment's phrase 'the right of the people to keep and bear Arms' creates an individual constitutional right for citizens of the United States.

The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: 'A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.' Such language has created considerable debate regarding the Amendment's intended scope.