Supreme Court extends gun rights in Chicago case

[ralph wiggum]

The Supreme Court reversed a ruling upholding Chicago's ban today and extended the reach of the 2nd Amendment as a nationwide protection against laws that infringe the "right to keep and bear arms."

The 5-4 decision appears to void the 1982 ordinance, one of the nation's strictest that barred city residents from having handguns for their own use, even at home.

Two year ago, the high court ruled in a case from Washington, D.C. that the 2nd Amendment protects the rights of individuals to have a gun for self-defense. Since the District is a federal city and not a state, the court did not decide then whether the 2nd Amendment could be used to challenge other municipal ordinances or state laws.

In today's decision, the court said the constitutional protection of the 2nd Amendment extends to city and state laws, not just federal measures.

But because the court sent the case back to a lower court, Chicago's handgun ban remains in effect for now.

Gun-rights advocates have been closely following the Chicago case. They said a victory for the 2nd Amendment would clear the way for constitutional challenges to restrictions on firearms to be heard in federal courts nationwide.

LINK (http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/06/united-states-supreme-court-scotus-gun-control-rifle-ban-chicago-police-mayor-richard-daley-nra-second-2nd-amendment.html)

[djones520]

5-4 Vote... unbelievable how close that was. Glad the decision has finally been made though.

[Odysseus]

In the majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, the court noted a recent call by two state legislators to deploy National Guard troops to quell the violence on Chicago's streets.

"The legislators noted that the number of Chicago homicide victims during the current year equaled the number of American soldiers killed during that same period in Afghanistan and Iraq," the opinion stated.

"If (the) safety of . . . law abiding members of the community would be enhanced by the possession of handguns in the home for self-defense, then the Second Amendment right protects the rights of minorities and other residents of high-crime areas whose needs are not being met by elected public officials."

The call for Gov. Pat Quinn to deploy the National Guard was made by Democratic state Reps. John Fritchey and LaShawn Ford and was quickly rejected by Mayor Richard Daley

I am reminded of the Dinkins administration's claim that it had no obligation to send police into Crown Heights when rioting blacks targeted Jews and Jewish-owned businesses. The right of self-defense doesn't disappear when you delegate it to the police.