The question is somewhat complicated by the many different issues related to guns, gun control, and the Second Amendment Rights. The Second Amendment 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."

The ACLU asserts the right to keep and bear arms is a collective right; not an individual right. The distinction is important in understanding how the ACLU views the Second Amendment. Reading information from the ACLU website and other materials the ACLU believes the word "militia" is incredibly important to how the Amendment is interpreted. The ACLU points out that until the Supreme Court decision in the case of D.C. v. Heller in 2008, the Supreme Court held the same view. In the Heller case, the Supreme Court affirmed the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms (5 to 4 vote). A person does not have to be associated with a state militia to have the right to own and carry a firearm. The ACLU believes the Supreme Court interpreted the Second Amendment incorrectly in the Heller case and the decision, in this case, does not offer the same protection to gun manufacturers or sellers for example.

The answer is the ACLU defends the Second Amendment from a different perspective than gun right's advocates who assert gun ownership and strenuous gun regulation violates the Second Amendment in virtually every instance.