Justice Alito - Heller already decided what the Second Amendment means

JUSTICE ALITO: Well, Heller -- and -- and I will stop after this -- Heller cited decisions going into the 19th Century as confirmation of what it had already concluded based on text and history at or before the time of the adoption of the Second Amendment and said this is what it was understood to mean at the time and it's further evidence that this is what this right was understood to mean because it kept being reaffirmed by decisions that came after. But I find it hard to understand how later decisions and statutes, particularly when you start to get into the late 19th Century and the early 20th Century, can be used as a substitute for evidence about what the right was understood to mean in 1791 or 1868 if you think that's the relevant date.

Justice Alito - Heller already decided what the Second Amendment means