The Supreme Court’s decision Wednesday to hear a 2nd Amendment challenge to Chicago’s handgun ban could open the door to similar lawsuits in cities and states across the nation.
At issue is whether the right to keep and bear arms is a full-fledged constitutional privilege that can be invoked by individuals against the government at all levels, or a freedom that applies only as it concerns the federal government.
Last year, the justices in a 5-4 ruling said for the first time that the 2nd Amendment protected an individual’s right to have a handgun at home for self-defense. Though that ruling struck down a handgun ban in the nation’s capital — which is a federal enclave — it did not decide whether the right extended to states and cities.
After the Civil War, the Supreme Court on several occasions ruled that the 2nd Amendment applied only to national laws. In the last year, gun rights advocates in Chicago and New York went to court to challenge local or state gun restrictions but lost. Judges said they were bound by the high court’s 19th century rulings.
