Congress arguably screwed up when it let a ban on many semiautomatic weapons expire back in 2004.
But in a 2008 opinion that struck down Washington D.C.'s handgun ban, Justice Antonin Scalia suggested the Second Amendment shouldn't stop the U.S. from barring certain weapons.
Scalia, a strict interpreter of the Constitution, said there's an "important limitation" on the right to bear arms.
"We think that limitation is fairly supported by the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of 'dangerous and unusual weapons'," Scalia wrote, in an opinion first cited by UPI over the weekend.
Scalia reiterated that sentiment in July of this year when he told Fox News Sunday that the Second Amendment leaves room for federal gun control legislation.
The conservative justice's views on gun control could come into play if the high court decides to review an appeals court's decision that citizens have a right to walk around with concealed weapons.
SEE ALSO: How Congress Screwed Up And Let The Assault Weapons Ban Expire >
