Supreme Court gun case could imperil state laws!
WASHINGTON - March 1, 2010 - The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in a case that could affect the ability of states and cities to pass gun bans, and, more broadly, could shift the balance of power between the states and Washington.
If the Supreme Court rules in favor of a challenge to Chicago's ban on handguns, it could lead to a slew of challenges against state laws on everything, not just guns.
The Supreme Court will rule on McDonald v. City of Chicago, a case in which a Chicago resident has challenged that city's handgun ban as unconstitutional.
But the case goes much further than the typical bickering over the Second Amendment. That's because it has more to do with the 14th Amendment than it does with the Second Amendment.
In 2008, the Supreme Court struck down the District of Columbia's law restricting handgun possession, on the grounds it violated the Second Amendment. But that didn't settle the issue because, as Laura E. Davis reports at Yahoo News, Washington, DC, is federal territory; and the Supreme Court has long maintained that the Second Amendment doesn't apply the same way to state laws as it does to federal laws.
If the Supreme Court rules in favor of a challenge to Chicago's ban on handguns, it could lead to a slew of challenges against state laws on everything, not just guns.
The Supreme Court will rule on McDonald v. City of Chicago, a case in which a Chicago resident has challenged that city's handgun ban as unconstitutional.
But the case goes much further than the typical bickering over the Second Amendment. That's because it has more to do with the 14th Amendment than it does with the Second Amendment.
In 2008, the Supreme Court struck down the District of Columbia's law restricting handgun possession, on the grounds it violated the Second Amendment. But that didn't settle the issue because, as Laura E. Davis reports at Yahoo News, Washington, DC, is federal territory; and the Supreme Court has long maintained that the Second Amendment doesn't apply the same way to state laws as it does to federal laws.
