Up until 2008 in the Supreme Court Heller decision, the second amendment was not recognized as an unlimited individual right to firearms, and the 'well regulate

Up until 2008 in the Supreme Court Heller decision, the second amendment was not recognized as an unlimited individual right to firearms, and the 'well regulated militia' part of the amendment allowed states and localities to introduce their own ownership requirements, and indeed, many did, even in the 18th century, many local ordinances regulated firearms. A reactionary supreme court and aggressive NRA produced the overton window shift we now find ourselves in, where even banning those on mental health or terrorist watch lists from buying guns is perceived as a "slippery slope" too much to bear.