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US Supreme Court case: gun control v gun rights
Both Sides of US Gun Debate Citing Nazis as Reason For, Against Guns
24 March 2013
Washington Post
When the president of Ohio's state school board posted her opposition to gun control, she used a powerful symbol to make her point: a picture of Adolf Hitler. When a well-known conservative commentator decried efforts to restrict guns, he argued that if only Jews in Poland had been better armed, many more would have survived the Holocaust.
In the months since the Newtown, Conn., school massacre, some gun rights supporters have repeatedly compared U.S. gun control... (GunPolicy.org)
How the White House Silenced US Gun Control Groups
7 March 2013
Politico (Washington DC)
President Barack Obama's gun control agenda is looking more doomed by the day, but gun control advocates still haven't said a word to complain.
That's no accident.
The White House knew its post-Newtown effort would require bringing key gun control groups into the fold. So the White House offered a simple arrangement: the groups could have access and involvement, but they'd have to offer silence and support in exchange.
The implied rules, according to conversations... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Control Fight in Danger of Being Lost
3 March 2013
United Press International
WASHINGTON - As the images of 20 first-graders massacred in Connecticut, of the horrific attack on former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others in Arizona, of the slaughter of movie-goers in Aurora, Colo., and of numerous other mass killings in the United States fade in the national memory, the fervor to restrict access to some types of weapons and magazines appears to be abating.
The debate on gun control itself has largely been subsumed in recent weeks by concern over... (GunPolicy.org)
Appeals Court Upholds New York Hidden Handgun Licensing Law
27 November 2012
Reuters
The state of New York can continue to require residents who want to carry a concealed handgun in public to obtain a special license, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York rejected a challenge brought by several Westchester residents and the Second Amendment Foundation against the state's handgun licensing scheme.
Like numerous other states, New York imposes restrictions on individuals who wish to carry concealed... (GunPolicy.org)
New York Man Shot and Killed By Israeli Chef Over Personal Dispute
5 October 2012
Guardian (UK)
A young American shot and killed a chef at a hotel in the Red Sea resort city of Eilat Friday, before forces from an anti-terror unit shot the gunman dead, police said. The incident appeared to be based on a personal dispute.
The attacker was on a Jewish work and study program and was employed at the hotel until earlier this week.
Eilat police official Eitan Gedassis told Israel Radio the attacker snatched a gun from a hotel security guard and fired a number of shots... (GunPolicy.org)
'Carrying a Firearm - That's Being an American' [Francais]
23 July 2012
Le Point (France), Transcript
[Translated summary: Aurora's shooting has revived the debate over the right to carry firearms in the United States. Didier Combeau, researcher at the Center of Urban Studies in the English-speaking World, explains why the United States will never ban firearms.]
La fusillade d'Aurora a relancé la question du port d'armes aux États-Unis… Du moins, en apparence.
Didier Combeau, chercheur au Centre d'études urbaines dans le monde anglophone à l'université Paris... (GunPolicy.org)
America's Gun Lobby and Bad Law Block a Crime-busting Tool to Catch Killers
26 June 2012
CNN, Opinion
The gun lobby is fiercely, and so far successfully, blocking what easily could be the greatest technological breakthrough to catching killers and deterring others.
The simple method allows bullet manufacturers to stamp a numeric code on shell casings that would make it very easy to identify the gun that fired the shot. But the National Rifle Association is lobbying against states enacting laws to require such "microstamping."
The gun lobby is likely to prevail, given... (GunPolicy.org)
Battleground America: One nation, under the gun - New Yorker feature
17 April 2012
New Yorker
Just after seven-thirty on the morning of February 27th, a seventeen-year-old boy named T. J. Lane walked into the cafeteria at Chardon High School, about thirty miles outside Cleveland. It was a Monday, and the cafeteria was filled with kids, some eating breakfast, some waiting for buses to drive them to programs at other schools, some packing up for gym class. Lane sat down at an empty table, reached into a bag, and pulled out a .22-calibre pistol. He stood up, raised... (GunPolicy.org)
Is Gun Control Dead in America? Adam Winkler in the Washington Post
13 April 2012
Washington Post, Opinion
Monday marks five years since the massacre at Virginia Tech, where a mentally ill student, Seung Hui Cho, used two handguns he had bought legally to kill 32 people and wound 25 others. Other than a relatively minor law to improve the national database used for background checks, no significant gun-control legislation followed that tragedy.
Since then, there have been several mass shootings, including additional school rampages and the attempted assassination last year... (GunPolicy.org)
'Child-access Prevention' Laws to Prevent Accidental Shootings in US
20 March 2012
Seattle Times, Opinion
Gun owners can help protect others by storing their guns responsibly; a useful site for starters is lokitup.org, says Dr. Frederick P. Rivara, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington.
In our local community and in the nation, parents are grieving for their children who have been injured or killed recently by guns. We have all read the headlines, seen the news reports and shaken our heads about these tragedies. While we all agree that such events... (GunPolicy.org)
Why More Americans Carry Hidden Handguns in Public Places - Feature
11 March 2012
Christian Science Monitor
Leaning against a scrub pine as preschoolers scurry about at his feet, Shane Gazda, father of 3-year-old twins, recalls a conundrum he faced earlier that morning: whether to take his Smith & Wesson .40 caliber handgun to a Groundhog Day celebration in this town's White Deer Park.
After all, what was once against the law in North Carolina – carrying a concealed gun in a town park, square, or greenway – is now, as of Dec. 1, 2011, very much allowed. To Mr. Gazda, who... (GunPolicy.org)
California Gun Lobby Has High Hopes of Winning Hidden Handgun Fight
20 February 2012
Los Angeles Times
Chuck Michel's strategy for crime-fighting rests on the element of surprise: Keep the bad guys guessing who's armed and who's not.
"If 5% of the ducks could shoot back, you're not going to go duck hunting," said the Long Beach lawyer representing many Californians denied concealed weapons permits and, in his view, their constitutional right to self-defense.
For decades, that argument has fallen flat in the courtroom. Judges have routinely held that denying permits to... (GunPolicy.org)
Super Bowl TV Ad Makes New York Mayor Bloomberg US Gun Control King
4 February 2012
Christian Science Monitor
The gun control movement has faltered in recent years. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has vowed to spend his own fortune to buck that trend, most notably with a Super Bowl ad.
ATLANTA - With little political capital to lose and millions of his own cash to spend, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is determined to check the role of guns in American society.
A 30-second Super Bowl ad featuring Mr. Bloomberg on a couch with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino will go a long way... (GunPolicy.org)
New York, Boston Mayors Lead Influential American Gun Control Group
4 February 2012
Reuters
NEW YORK - Among the slick, million-dollar ads for the likes of Pepsi and Honda during the Super Bowl this Sunday, viewers in Washington will see a far more modest spot. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino will be sitting on a couch touting an issue most politicians avoid like the plague: gun control.
The two mayors, whose local teams face off in the big game, are making the pitch for Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG), the organization they... (GunPolicy.org)
'Gun Fight' Over the US Constitution
18 October 2011
BBC News, Editorial
I've just read a fascinating book about one of the big issues in America which divides the US and most puzzles us British: America's gun laws.
Gun Fight by Professor Adam Winkler (full disclosure: a freebie) is intriguing in these partisan times, both because it is a very balanced, objective book and because the author makes the case for a middle way.
He argues for a ground somewhere between an attempt to ban all handguns from cities and the contention that stopping... (GunPolicy.org)
America's Founding Fathers, Towns Once Imposed Strict Gun Control
9 October 2011
New York Times, Book review
In "Gunfight," his provocative, highly uneven new book about the fight over gun control, the constitutional law professor Adam Winkler writes that "gun rights and gun control are not only compatible; they have lived together since the birth of America." He argues that "despite the controversy over the meaning of the Second Amendment, Americans have always had the right to keep and bear arms as a matter of state constitutional law. Today, nearly every state has such a... (GunPolicy.org)
Florida Law that Limited Doctors' Ability to Ask about Guns Is Blocked
19 September 2011
Time (USA)
A federal court has blocked a new Florida law that limited the ability of doctors to ask patients if they had guns in the home. Judge Monica Cooke, a Republican appointee, rightly said that the law interfered with both doctors' right to free speech and patients' right to receive information.
The ruling, which came down last week, struck an important blow for freedom of expression. But it did something more: it dealt a rare setback to a gun-rights lobby that is... (GunPolicy.org)
400 Failing Court Cases Suggest US 2nd Amendment Ruling May Be 'Hollow Victory'
15 August 2011
Washington Post
A funny thing has happened in the three years since gun-rights activists won their biggest victory at the Supreme Court.
They've been on a losing streak in the lower courts.
The activists found the holy grail in 2008 when the Supreme Court's 5 to 4 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller said the Second Amendment guaranteed an individual right to own a firearm unconnected to military service. The court followed it up with McDonald v. Chicago two years later,... (GunPolicy.org)
In America's Gun Battle, Both Sides Have Distorted History and the Law
9 August 2011
Atlantic (USA)
The Ku Klux Klan, Ronald Reagan, and, for most of its history, the NRA all worked to control guns. The Founding Fathers? They required gun ownership — and regulated it. And no group has more fiercely advocated the right to bear loaded weapons in public than the Black Panthers — the true pioneers of the modern pro-gun movement. In the battle over gun rights in America, both sides have distorted history and the law, and there's no resolution in sight.
THE... (GunPolicy.org)
Arizona Relaxes Law to Allow Hunting in Cities, Hidden Handguns in Bars
19 June 2011
Arizona Republic
Gun advocates were shocked in April when Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed bills that would have relaxed restrictions on guns in public facilities and on college campuses.
While those measures failed, four less-controversial gun bills will take effect July 20.
The bills involve hunting within city limits, concealed-carry licensing, carrying firearms in wildlife refuges and firearm rights for those who have been rehabilitated from mental illness. All four either modify or repeal... (GunPolicy.org)
California Gun Control Law Could Lead to More People Carrying Guns
24 May 2011
Los Angeles Times, Opinion
What if we passed a gun control law but it led to more people carrying guns on our streets? That may be exactly what happens if a bill passed last week by the California Assembly becomes law.
AB 144 would prohibit the carrying of visible firearms in California cities. It was inspired by the spectacle of gun-rights advocates showing up last year at Starbucks shops with their handguns prominently displayed. That's legal, as long as those guns are unloaded.
If, however,... (GunPolicy.org)
Looking Down the Barrel of Debate - Oscar Winner's Take on Guns in USA
13 April 2011
New York Times, TV preview
Barbara Kopple's engrossing, frustrating documentary "Gun Fight" — it's not liable to inspire happy thoughts in people on either side of the gun-control debate — begins with eerie cellphone video footage taken during the Virginia Tech shootings in April 2007, and the aftermath of that rampage provides the film's emotional ballast.
But events have rushed along since Virginia Tech, and Ms. Kopple has had to account for, among other developments, the Supreme Court... (GunPolicy.org)
30 Years After the Reagan Shooting, Gun Violence Still Reigns in America
29 March 2011
Washington Post, Opinion
Sometimes I remember the early days of my life with Jim Brady, a man possessed of so much intelligence, wit and charm. There was the vivacious Washington life we shared, Jim's rise to White House press secretary and the laughter of our toddler reverberating through our home.
Sometimes it's hard to believe that it's been 30 years since a mentally ill man tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan because of a romantic figment of his imagination. On March 30, 1981, a... (GunPolicy.org)
America's Left Has Permanently Lost the Argument for Gun Control
1 March 2011
Washington Times, Editorial
The left has permanently lost the argument on gun control. Despite their best efforts to take advantage of the tragic shooting in Arizona to promote pointless restrictions on things like the size of handgun magazines, the propaganda campaign is unlikely to go anywhere. Instead, the right to keep and bear arms continues to gain steam as state lawmakers around the country are enacting measures that would have been unthinkable not so long ago.
On Monday, Wyoming lawmakers... (GunPolicy.org)
Republican 'Super Majority' Rushes to Slacken More Gun laws in Arizona
24 February 2011
Daily Star (Arizona), Editorial
We join most Americans in supporting and embracing our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. We differ from some - and they are a minority - by also insisting that our society must demand that each of us exercise that right responsibly.
Moreover, we believe that in Arizona the discussion about gun rights has come to be framed too narrowly and too emotionally.
In truth, we don't have to choose between being "a Second Amendment state" and one that requires... (GunPolicy.org)
US Should Follow Canadian Example of Tougher Gun Registration
21 February 2011
News-Press (Florida), Opinion
Taking on the gun lobby is an exercise in futility. No politician - Democrat or Republican - will risk having the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) campaign against them at election time. It would have been a losing battle especially in the face of the 2008 Supreme Court 5-4 majority opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller which held that the second amendment was not limited to a "well regulated Militia" but secures an individual's right to own firearms.
In... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Rights vs. Gun Control: Arizona Legislators Push to Weaken Gun Law
20 February 2011
Daily Star (Arizona)
It didn't take much effort for the accused gunman in Tucson's Jan. 8 mass shooting to buy a semiautomatic handgun and ammunition - quick trips to the Sportsman's Warehouse and Walmart near his home.
It didn't take long - 15 seconds - for him to shoot 19 people, killing six, when he fired 31 rounds using a high-capacity magazine. That's roughly double the standard number for the Glock pistol he used.
And even if police could go back in time, they wouldn't have been... (GunPolicy.org)
Why Barack Obama's Silence, 'Passivity' on Gun Control Pleases No One
7 February 2011
Time (USA)
There are some issues Democratic Presidents can't seem to win, and gun control is one of them. As a legislator, Barack Obama backed tighter gun laws; as a presidential candidate, he pledged restraint. "I'm not going to take away your guns," he said at a Pennsylvania glass factory in September 2008. He hasn't. Last year the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, citing "extraordinary silence and passivity," graded Obama an F on gun control.
During his tenure, the... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Control Measures Don't Stop Violence: None Worth Trying in US
19 January 2011
CNN
Against the horrific backdrop of the Tucson, Arizona, tragedy, new gun control proposals are on the way. Some of our legislators will be tempted to apply Rahm Emanuel's aphorism, "Never let a good crisis go to waste."
For example, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-New York, wants to outlaw magazines with more than 10 rounds -- even those already in circulation. She hasn't explained how a ban on previously sold magazines would deter anyone but law-abiding citizens.
Still, the... (GunPolicy.org)
Openly Carrying Guns, $5million Fine for Doctors Go Too Far in Florida
18 January 2011
News-Press (Florida), Editorial
After the Tucson shootings, one can imagine how potentially provocative it would be for a concealed weapon permit holder to be striding down the street openly carrying a firearm.
Picture the reaction of families when someone enters a restaurant or crosses a university campus with weapon at the ready.
All that and more would be legal under Senate Criminal Justice Chairman Sen. Greg Evers' Senate Bill 234 that would allow concealed-weapons-licensed gun owners to openly... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Lobby Solution to Arizona Shootings: Hidden Handguns in Classrooms
15 January 2011
Wall Street Journal
The Arizona shooting has emboldened pro-gun groups that plan to lobby politicians for proposed laws that could expand the right to carry concealed weapons on the state's college campuses.
At least two bills are on the table in Arizona, which resumed its legislative session this week. One would allow faculty members to carry concealed weapons on campus. The other would prevent colleges from stopping people with a valid permit, including students, from carrying them on... (GunPolicy.org)
Business Brisk at Tucson Gun Show Just a Week After Shooting Rampage
15 January 2011
Reuters
TUCSON, Arizona - Thousands of shoppers browsed for guns at a trade show in Tucson on Saturday, a week after a shooting rampage that killed six people and raised questions about permissive gun laws in the United States.
"People see it as either guns are going to get banned, or I'm going to get shot," said stall holder Randall Record, 27, explaining the mood at the Crossroads of the West Gun Show on the outskirts of the city. "Either way, it drives sales."
The show was... (GunPolicy.org)
Five Reasons Why Gun Control Has Been Disarmed in the United States
14 January 2011
Globe & Mail (Toronto)
The long arm of the Bush-era Supreme Court
During the most recent Bush administration, the Supreme Court largely sided with gun proponents in its interpretation of the Second Amendment:
"A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed," it reads.
The gun-control lobby has always argued the second part of the amendment refers to the "well-regulated militia," meaning the... (GunPolicy.org)
Guns Missing from US Shooting Debate, and That Suits the Firearm Lobby
11 January 2011
Politico (Washington DC)
In the wake of the attempted assassination of a member of Congress, politicians on both sides of the aisle are passionately debating the role of incendiary rhetoric.
Very few of them are talking about guns.
Those who have brought up gun control in light of the Tucson shooting have largely been the issue's regular standard-bearers on Capitol Hill. Even gun-control advocates aren't very optimistic about their chances.
The fact that the shooting does not appear to be... (GunPolicy.org)
Why Gun Control Is Dead in America: Democrats Have Ceded to the NRA
11 January 2011
Salon (USA)
As the immediate shock of the mass shooting in Arizona subsides and the conversation turns to gun control, it's becoming increasingly clear that there is little chance that new anti-gun measures will pass the Republican-dominated Congress.
But a picture is also coming into focus of a gun control movement that has been on the retreat for at least a decade, facing setbacks not only in Congress, but also in the courts and in public opinion polls, and of a Democratic Party... (GunPolicy.org)
Tucson Suspect's Mental Health Troubles Didn't Prevent Him Buying a Gun
11 January 2011
Associated Press
Jared Loughner had trouble with the law, was rejected by the Army after flunking a drug test and was considered so mentally unstable that he was banned from his college campus, where officials considered him a threat to other students and faculty.
But the 22-year-old had no trouble buying the Glock semiautomatic pistol that authorities say he used in the Tucson rampage Saturday that left six dead and 14 injured, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
Loughner's personal... (GunPolicy.org)
Focus Turns to Arizona's Gun Laws: 'More People Should Be Carrying'
10 January 2011
Los Angeles Times
TUCSON - It was a busy day at the Tucson Mountain Park shooting range Sunday, where the aroma of gunpowder filled the air one day after 20 people were shot, six fatally, at a shopping center.
Alex Anderson, 24, was armed with a 9-millimeter Taurus, the same caliber as the gun that authorities say Jared Lee Loughner used in the shootings. Anderson, who works at the Home Depot next to the Sportsman's Warehouse where the gunman's weapon was purchased, has a permit to... (GunPolicy.org)
Arizona's Most Likely Response to Mass Shooting is Reduced Gun Control
10 January 2011
Slate (Washington DC)
Arizona's Legislature began its new session Monday, guns in tow. At a rally outside of the state Capitol, a 73-year-old Tea Party activist named Arthur Olivas Jr. was photographed wearing a holstered pistol. Anyone who blamed the Tea Party for the slaughter outside a Tucson Safeway, he said, didn't understand the movement and didn't understand gun rights.
"If you see 20 guns out there," Olivas told Politico, "you would not be stupid enough to hold up a bank or shoot... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Control Timeline: 7 Big Events in the Federal Gun Control Debate
10 January 2011
Huffington Post (USA), Blog
The deadly shooting at Rep. Gabrielle Giffords's political event in Tucson, Ariz. on Saturday is re-energizing gun control advocates. But Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said he fears there will be little legislative response from Congress.
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), whose husband was killed and son was injured in a 1993 shooting on the Long Island Rail Road, took on the challenge on Sunday, promising to... (GunPolicy.org)
After Tucson: Why Are the Mentally Ill Still Bearing Arms in America?
10 January 2011
Time (USA)
When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the handgun ban in the nation's capital in 2008, Representative Gabrielle Giffords applauded the ruling, calling gun ownership "an Arizona tradition." That she had co-signed a congressional amicus brief against the ban came as no surprise: she has always been pro-gun, and she represents a state with a history of proud gun ownership and lax gun laws.
So there is at least a touch of irony to the fact that her name is being invoked,... (GunPolicy.org)
Shot Democrat Congresswoman a Longtime Supporter of US Gun Lobby
9 January 2011
Fox News (USA)
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona Democrat targeted in a Saturday shooting that killed six and injured 13 at an event for constituents, was holding a similar "Congress on Your Corner" gathering at a Safeway grocery store in 2009 when a man dropped a loaded gun onto the ground. Citing safety concerns, staffers called the police.
But Giffords, a centrist Democrat in a conservative-leaning desert district, later made light of the 2009 encounter with an armed man. "When... (GunPolicy.org)
Another Setback for Gun Grabbers: DC Court of Appeals Lifts Gun 'Stigma'
7 January 2011
Washington Times, Editorial
Fourteen years after being forced to plead guilty to the "crime" of owning a gun in Washington, the blot against the record of Dave Magnus may be cleared. On Thursday, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals recognized that one should not bear a stigma for the past possession of a firearm in the nation's capital for the purpose of self-defense. "A conviction for conduct that is not criminal, but is instead constitutionally-protected, is the ultimate miscarriage of... (GunPolicy.org)
Encouraging Teens to Carry Hidden Handguns Seen As OK in Nevada
28 November 2010
Las Vegas Review Journal (Nevada), Editorial
The U.S. Supreme Court has been, of late, restoring Second Amendment rights taken away by states and cities -- specifically in the overturning of handgun prohibitions in the Heller case out of Washington, D.C., and the McDonald case from Chicago.
But at what age does the constitutional right to own and carry a handgun accrue?
The National Rifle Association has filed suit in federal court in Lubbock, Texas, challenging federal and Texas laws limiting the right to... (GunPolicy.org)
Is Obama's New Choice for US Gun Regulator Chief an 'Antigun Zealot'?
19 November 2010
Christian Science Monitor
ATF special agent Andrew Traver, who last year let a TV reporter fire an AK-47 from her hip to demonstrate the weapon's lethality, is set to become America's chief firearms inspector. But Mr. Traver, currently the Chicago ATF chief, faces a tough nomination battle as gun-rights groups amass their forces in opposition.
The nomination of the Naperville, Ill., native to be top gun cop is applauded by gun-control activists, who say the 5,000-employee ATF has lost ground in... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Owners Appeal to Weaken Revised Washington, DC Firearm Law
16 November 2010
Bloomberg (USA)
Gun owners in Washington told a federal appeals court that the city's firearm registration process and a ban on some assault rifles violate their constitutional rights.
The lawyer for Dick Heller, the plaintiff in a U.S. Supreme Court case in 2008 that expanded Second Amendment rights, argued to the three-judge panel today that the District of Columbia's regulations are so burdensome that gun owners are deprived of their constitutional rights. The rules are... (GunPolicy.org)
In 'Heller II,' Gun Owners Appeal to Weaken Washington, DC Firearm Law
14 November 2010
Bloomberg (USA)
Washington, D.C. gun owners told a federal appeals court that the city's firearm registration process and a ban on certain types of weapons violate their constitutional rights.
The lawyer for Dick Heller, the plaintiff in a U.S. Supreme Court case in 2008 that set a national standard for Second Amendment rights, and three other plaintiffs said Washington's regulations are the most stringent in the U.S. and inconsistent with Supreme Court rulings.
The case, known as... (GunPolicy.org)
Right to Carry Guns in Michigan a Hot Topic After Recent Headlines
2 November 2010
Macomb Daily (Michigan)
Earlier this year, deputies stopped Amir Hudson's vehicle and found a handgun under his front seat. They also found a loaded, semiautomatic AK-47 in his trunk.
Hudson was charged with two weapons offenses, but his attorney argued in court filings that they should be dismissed because they violate his constitutional rights. Prosecutors disagreed.
The case is another recent example of issues involving guns and gun rights being in the public eye.
In the summer, gun... (GunPolicy.org)
Bad Driver? In Debt? Proposed NYC Law Would Prevent You Owning Gun
26 October 2010
Fox News (USA)
New York City residents who want to own a gun may soon be denied permits if they are litterbugs, if they are bad drivers, or if they have fallen behind on a few bills.
Under proposed revisions to the police department's handgun, rifle and shotgun permit procedures, the NYPD can reject gun license applicants for a number of reasons, including:
If they have been arrested or convicted of almost any "violation," in any state; having a "poor driving history"; having been... (GunPolicy.org)
Taser Dealers Lobby to Include Stun Guns in US 'Self Defence' Guarantee
14 October 2010
Columbia Missourian (Missouri)
COLUMBIA — If Columbia voters decide on Nov. 2 to outlaw Taser use in the city by approving Proposition 2, private residents as well as law enforcement would be prohibited from using them.
Tasers and stun guns are available for private use, and they can be purchased at sporting goods and electronics stores for $50 to $360, depending on the model.
Because they are sold as self-defense weapons, a ban on Tasers and similar devices could violate the Second Amendment,... (GunPolicy.org)
Don't Water Down New Jersey's Tough, 'Unrivalled' Hidden Handgun Law
10 October 2010
Daily Record (New Jersey), Opinion
Few public policy issues in this country — and in New Jersey — are as controversial and poorly understood as gun control.
Despite an endless stream of senseless and horrific gun crimes in our state, some still vehemently oppose New Jersey's comprehensive handgun permitting scheme — and indeed any handgun regulation at all.
As professors at Seton Hall Law School who are distressed at the recent tragic shooting death of a Seton Hall college student, and as lawyers... (GunPolicy.org)
Right Wing Militias, US Gun Lobby Act as Second Amendment Soulmates
8 October 2010
Huffington Post (USA), Blog
This week's Time magazine cover story on "The Secret World of Extreme Militias" sounds an alarm that cannot be ignored. The threat of terrorism is real, but it does not originate with Al Qaeda alone. The danger of homegrown right wing political violence is just as real.
The Time article describes, in chilling terms, the proliferation of heavily armed, right wing militias engaged in paramilitary training to resist the perceived "tyranny" of government authority. Time... (GunPolicy.org)
Texas Teen Denied Handgun at 18, Sues to Force Federal Law Change
14 September 2010
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (Texas)
A Lubbock courtroom could be the location of a major change in national gun laws.
James A. D'Cruz, 18, has asked a federal judge to declare unconstitutional the ban on handgun sales by federally licensed dealers to 18-20-year-olds.
The suit against the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and explosives was filed just days after D'Cruz visited Sharp Shooters, Inc. and asked if he was legally able to buy a handgun. The employee told him he couldn't.
According... (GunPolicy.org)
In Failure to Reject 2 Women Justices, US Gun Lobby Lost Battles, Clout
2 August 2010
The Hill (Washington DC)
The Supreme Court nomination of Elena Kagan presents a political conundrum to the National Rifle Association (NRA), one of the nation's most powerful grassroots lobbying groups.
Republicans lawmakers and conservative activists fear Kagan will emerge as a strong voice on the high court against gun-ownership rights.
But five Republican senators have pledged to vote for Kagan, making her a shoo-in for confirmation.
This puts the NRA in the tricky position of having to... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Sales Tipped to Shoot Up In Wake of New US Supreme Court Ruling
16 July 2010
ABC News (USA)
After a Supreme Court decision affirming the right to bear arms was handed down in June, the owners of Midwest Sporting Goods, just outside of Chicago, started noticed something any retailer would find encouraging an increasing number of customers.
With Chicago's 28-year ban on handgun ownership rendered unconstitutional, more people were coming into Midwest, in Lyons, Illinois, to exercise their Second Amendment rights, according to Noel, the store's owner. He asked... (GunPolicy.org)
More Guns, Less Violence Idea 'Entirely Without Basis' in United States
12 July 2010
Independent Record (Montana), Opinion
The Supreme Court, through its 2008 DC v. Heller decision and its recent McDonald v. Chicago decision, has held that the Second Amendment to the Constitution confers an individual right of self-defense by firearms — and that this right constrains federal, state and local regulatory authority over the ownership and use of guns.
However, as the court's ruling in both of these cases stresses, these Second Amendment rights are not in any way more basic than others in the... (GunPolicy.org)
Supreme Court Swayed by 'Gun Rights for African Americans' Argument
11 July 2010
Poughkeepsie Journal (New York), Opinion
Lobbyists for gun possession owe black Americans a historical debt of gratitude.
The Supreme Court reminds us of this debt in its recent decision to overturn Chicago's sweeping prohibition of firearm possession. The decision rests on more than the Second Amendment. It also rests on the 14th Amendment, which brought equal protections under law to freed slaves after the Civil War.
How times do change. An amendment that helped blacks protect themselves from Ku Klux Klan... (GunPolicy.org)
Chicago's 'Racist' Gun Laws Will Disarm Poor, Vulnerable, Black Citizens
6 July 2010
Washington Times, Opinion
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Chicago's handgun ban. Gun rights groups hailed the ruling as a seminal moment in their ongoing fight to roll back restrictive gun-control legislation. As far as the National Rifle Association (NRA) is concerned, McDonald settles the matter once and for all: "This decision makes absolutely clear that the Second Amendment protects the God-given right of self-defense for all law-abiding Americans, period." Be that as it may,... (GunPolicy.org)
Wisconsin Gun Dealers Revel in Sales, Applaud Supreme Court Decision
6 July 2010
Fond Du Lac Reporter (Wisconsin)
Some gun merchants in the Fond du Lac area are calling a recent Supreme Court ruling a win for citizen's rights and the industry.
On June 28, the United States Supreme Court overturned a ban on guns, ruling in McDonald v. City of Chicago that everyone in the city has the right to bear arms.
On its surface, the ruling appears to affect only Chicago. But on a national scale, citizens, politicians, entrepreneurs and interest groups are sharing their opinions through... (GunPolicy.org)
DC Residents Complain About Gun Unavailability Even After Court Ruling
5 July 2010
National Public Radio (USA)
The Supreme Court ruled last week that states and localities cannot ban handguns intended for self-defense. That could overturn local bans, just the way a similar ruling two years ago ended a ban in Washington, D.C.
Hundreds of district residents have taken advantage of the new law. Still, many residents complain it's still too difficult to get a gun in the nation's capital.
Costs And Fees
The toughest thing about getting a gun in the district is finding a gun store.... (GunPolicy.org)
NRA Declares 'No Reason to Trust' US Supreme Court Nominee Kagan
2 July 2010
Globe & Mail (Toronto)
Elena Kagan did everything short of sign a covenant in her own blood to reassure gun-loving senators that she would never seek to undo a watershed Supreme Court decision extending the right to bear arms.
The Monday ruling set the tone for the repeated gun-related exchanges between Ms. Kagan and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who, that very day, began hearings to evaluate her worthiness for the country's highest tribunal.
In McDonald v. Chicago, the court... (GunPolicy.org)
US Supreme Court Chicago Decision 'Proves Gun Control Does Not Work'
29 June 2010
National Review (USA)
The Supreme Court's rejection of Chicago's handgun ban in McDonald v. City of Chicago is more than a recognition that the Second Amendment applies to the states as well as the federal government. The McDonald decision is a harbinger for the end of gun prohibition as an idea. The simple, undeniable truth is that gun control does not work.
McDonald brings the law up to speed with reality, where advocates of gun control have been wrong since the issue became a national... (GunPolicy.org)
Supreme Court Chicago Decision Unsettles US State and Local Gun Laws
29 June 2010
Philadelphia Inquirer
WASHINGTON — A split Supreme Court ruled Monday that Chicago's strict handgun ban violated an individual's right to own firearms, enshrined in the Second Amendment, a landmark decision that casts state and local gun laws into question.
The 5-4 ruling marks the first time the court has determined that the Constitution restricts state and municipal gun-control powers.
"Self-defense is a basic right, recognized by many legal systems from ancient times to the present... (GunPolicy.org)
Supreme Court Rules Chicago, US Cities Cannot Ban Handguns at Home
29 June 2010
San Francisco Chronicle
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court said Monday that Americans have a constitutional right to have a handgun at home for self-defense, even in cities that until now have outlawed handguns.
The 5-4 decision reversed a ruling that had upheld Chicago's ban on handguns and all but declared the 1982 ordinance unconstitutional. The justices ordered a federal appeals court in to reconsider its ruling.
Monday's ruling extends the reach of the Second Amendment and will open... (GunPolicy.org)
US Supreme Court Rules 2nd Amendment Invalidates City Handgun Bans
29 June 2010
New York Times
WASHINGTON — The Second Amendment's guarantee of an individual right to bear arms applies to state and local gun control laws, the Supreme Court ruled Monday in a 5-to-4 decision.
The ruling came almost exactly two years after the court first ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to own guns in District of Columbia v. Heller, another 5-to-4 decision.
But the Heller case addressed only federal laws; it left open the question of whether Second... (GunPolicy.org)
US Supreme Court Decision Consigns Handgun Ban to 'Dust Bin of History'
29 June 2010
Wall Street Journal, Opinion
There is a remarkable academic consensus that the original meaning of the 14th Amendment protected an individual right to keep and bear arms against interference by state governments. Yesterday's Supreme Court decision in McDonald v. Chicago affirmed that this is indeed the case. It is, therefore, a great victory for enforcing the original meaning of the Constitution. Thankfully for the rights of Americans, the Chicago gun ban at issue will soon be consigned to the dust... (GunPolicy.org)
US Supremes Reach 'Historic Conclusion,' Ban Chicago's Handgun Ban
29 June 2010
Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court Monday extended nationwide the right to armed self-defense, a historic conclusion to an age-old battle over the meaning of the Second Amendment.
The decision gives federal judges the power to strike down state and local weapons laws for violating the Constitution. But the court said that the right isn't unfettered, and the decision is likely to lead to years of litigation as lower courts try to determine what restrictions are... (GunPolicy.org)
Supreme Court Reaffirms Fundamental Right of Americans to Have Guns
29 June 2010
Washington Post
The Second Amendment provides Americans a fundamental right to bear arms that cannot be violated by state and local governments, the Supreme Court ruled Monday in a long-sought victory for gun rights advocates.
The 5 to 4 decision does not strike down any gun-control laws, nor does it elaborate on what kind of laws would offend the Constitution. One justice predicted that an "avalanche" of lawsuits would be filed across the country asking federal judges to define the... (GunPolicy.org)
Chicago 'Not Going to Roll Over' if Supreme Court Removes Handgun Ban
24 June 2010
Associated Press
CHICAGO — If the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Chicago's handgun ban, the city will likely do what Washington, D.C., did when its own ban was overturned two years ago: Put in place all sorts of restrictions to make it tougher to buy guns and easier for police to know who has them.
Prospective gun owners in D.C. now are required to take training courses that include spending one hour on a firing range and several hours in a classroom learning about gun safety. They... (GunPolicy.org)
Five Myths About Gun Control - US Professors Critique the Bumper Stickers
13 June 2010
Washington Post
Gun regulation is as American as Wyatt Earp, the legendary frontier lawman who enforced Dodge City's ban on gun-carrying within town limits. But two years ago in District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court decided for the first time that the Second Amendment grants a personal right to keep and bear arms, a decision that cast doubt on the future of gun control regulations in this country. Now, the court is considering a challenge to Chicago's ban on handgun... (GunPolicy.org)
Rare US Court Case Mulls Right of Domestic Abusers to Keep Their Guns
27 May 2010
Wisconsin Law Journal (USA)
In a rare en banc hearing, the Seventh Circuit considered the constitutionality of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9), which makes it a federal crime to possess a firearm after having been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
A three-judge panel, in an opinion by Judge Diane S. Sykes, vacated a conviction under the statute in November, concluding that the government failed to establish a reasonable fit between reducing domestic gun violence and total disarmament of... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Lobby Suspicious, Could Block New US Supreme Court Nominee
27 May 2010
Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON - In her first weeks as dean of Harvard Law School in 2003, Elena Kagan put the warring sides of the gun rights debate in a room and let them fight it out.
The debate between gun control advocates and 2nd Amendment purists was sponsored by the law school's target shooting club, and Kagan showed her support by moderating the exchange. But her own views on gun rights went unaired.
With her Supreme Court confirmation pending, those views have become of extreme... (GunPolicy.org)
Supreme Court Decision on Chicago Gun Ban May Weaken US Gun Laws
23 May 2010
Philadelphia Inquirer, Opinion
The case of Otis McDonald, a 76-year-old black man living in a drug-infested neighborhood of Chicago, is now being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court. McDonald's home has been broken into three times, and drug dealers have threatened him. He would like a gun to protect himself.
Two years ago, in the landmark case District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court affirmed that the Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees individuals such as McDonald the right... (GunPolicy.org)
Attack on Chicago's Handgun Ban Could Undo a Winning Police Tactic
23 May 2010
Philadelphia Inquirer, Opinion
In its 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a D.C. law banning handguns violated the Second Amendment to the Constitution. The Second Amendment, however, is a limitation only on federal law. Now, in McDonald v. City of Chicago, gun-rights advocates have asked the court to apply the right to bear arms to state and local gun-control laws.
The Second Amendment says: "A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of... (GunPolicy.org)
Chicago Handgun Ban Faces Serious Challenge in US Supreme Court
21 May 2010
CBS News (USA)
Chicago's ban on handguns is facing a serious challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court, and when a reporter asked if the ban is working, Mayor Richard M. Daley didn't mince any words.
Chicago Reader reporter Mick Dumke asked whether the ban is effective, given the amount of gun violence that continues to plague the city.
"It's been very effective," Mayor Daley replied at the City Hall news conference Thursday, smiling as he walked away from the podium. He then picked up a... (GunPolicy.org)
Washington DC's New Gun Rules Shift America's Constitutional Debate
17 May 2010
Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON — Mark Snyder, an amateur biathlete, wanted to buy a .22-caliber bolt-action rifle for target shooting and figured the process would take about a week. After nearly six weeks, six visits to police departments and $300 in fees, he secured his rifle.
"I was not expecting a free ride," said Mr. Snyder, 45, "but this is an obstacle course they put in place."
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the District of Columbia's 32-year ban on handguns in 2008, a... (GunPolicy.org)
New York Moves to Simplify 'Byzantine' Hidden Handgun Permit System
15 May 2010
New York Times
The Bloomberg administration announced on Friday that it was moving to simplify the process for New Yorkers to obtain gun permits, thus speeding up a set of byzantine licensing requirements that gun-rights advocates have long criticized as among the most restrictive in the country.
Administration officials said that the move was forged by a City Hall focused on efficiency and that it would allow for better investigation of applicants who might not qualify for a gun... (GunPolicy.org)
Availability of Guns in America 'Stunningly Negligent Public Policy'
3 May 2010
Philadelphia Inquirer, Opinion
After graduating from college, I served four years as an infantry officer in the Army's 25th Infantry Division. I fired everything from 9mm pistols to .50-caliber machine guns, routinely qualifying as "expert" with an M16A2 rifle.
It's not despite such experience, but precisely because of it, that I think the availability of guns in America is stunningly negligent public policy. And it may get worse.
One needn't be a constitutional law scholar to discern the Founding... (GunPolicy.org)
Recent American Trend Is to Normalise Carrying Loaded Guns in Public
20 April 2010
Washington Post
In Virginia, they carried handguns on their hips and rifles slung over their backs.
In the nation's capital, where possession of guns is strictly regulated, they came carrying only signs and handbills, which one man had thrust into an empty holster.
The protest by hundreds of gun-rights advocates, billed as a national march in support of the Second Amendment, drew small but fervent groups to the Washington area. As many as 2,000 gathered in the shadow of the... (GunPolicy.org)
Next Challenge to US Gun Control Heads to DC Federal Appeal Judge
5 April 2010
National Law Journal (USA)
A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., will have the chance to examine the latest version of the District of Columbia's gun restrictions, in a possible test of how to apply the U.S. Supreme Court's 2008 decision in D.C. v. Heller.
Lawyers for Dick Heller, a name party in the earlier case, filed a notice Thursday that they will continue fighting in this follow-up case. They are appealing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to reverse a March 26... (GunPolicy.org)
Washington Gun Grabbers Celebrate as Federal Judge Upholds DC Law
30 March 2010
Washington Times, Editorial
The gun grabbers in Washington are celebrating a federal ruling handed down Friday that upheld the tangle of rules that effectively prohibit District residents from owning firearms for the purpose of home defense.
While the Supreme Court in its landmark 2008 Heller decision recognized the individual's right to own a gun, it also conceded that reasonable regulations on gun ownership might be acceptable. U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina took this concession as a... (GunPolicy.org)
Federal Judge Upholds Washington DC's 'Post-Heller' Firearm Restrictions
29 March 2010
National Law Journal (USA)
Judge Ricardo Urbina of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Friday that the Washington, D.C., firearm ordinances enacted after the Supreme Court's D.C. v. Heller decision in 2008 "permissibly regulate the exercise of the core Second Amendment right to use firearms for the purpose of self-defense in the home." Urbina dismissed a case brought by Dick Heller, the same plaintiff who challenged the previous D.C. ordinance in the Supreme Court.
Heller... (GunPolicy.org)
US Federal Court Upholds DC Gun Registration, Assault Weapon Ban
26 March 2010
SCOTUS Blog, Blog
A federal judge in Washington, applying the Supreme Court's 2008 decision creating a constitutional right to have a gun, ruled on Friday that three new gun control restrictions in the Nation's capital city survive a Second Amendment challenge. In the ruling by U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina, the District of Columbia government's laws requiring that guns be registered and banning assault weapons and large-capacity bullet-feeding devices are valid. The case is... (GunPolicy.org)
Judge Approves Washington, DC's Assault Rifle Ban, Gun Registration Law
26 March 2010
Christian Science Monitor
A federal judge has upheld the new regime of gun laws passed in Washington, D.C., after the US Supreme Court invalidated the city's handgun ban in a landmark Second Amendment ruling two years ago.
The plaintiff in the new case was the same man, Dick Heller, who brought the initial challenge to the handgun ban and won the historic 2008 ruling.
Mr. Heller did not fare as well in his latest round of legal challenges.
US District Judge Ricardo Urbina ruled on Friday that... (GunPolicy.org)
After Supreme Court Loss, Washington DC's Gun Control Laws Pass Muster
26 March 2010
New York Times
Washington can restrict the right of its residents to own guns — again — a federal judge ruled Friday.
In his opinion, Judge Ricardo M. Urbina of Federal District Court for the District of Columbia found that new gun laws, which were passed after the United States Supreme Court struck down a previous firearms ban, are constitutionally sound.
The 2008 Supreme Court case, District of Columbia v. Heller, recognized an individual right to keep and bear arms in the... (GunPolicy.org)
Washington, DC's Post-Heller Firearm Restrictions Upheld by Federal Court
26 March 2010
Legal Times (USA)
Judge Ricardo Urbina of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has just ruled that the D.C. firearm ordinances enacted after the Supreme Court's D.C. v. Heller decision in 2008 "permissibly regulate the exercise of the core Second Amendment right to use firearms for the purpose of self-defense in the home." Urbina dismissed a case brought by Dick Heller, the same plaintiff who challenged the previous D.C. ordinance at the Supreme Court.
Heller challenged... (GunPolicy.org)
Federal Court Upholds Washington DC's Handgun Limits, Gun Registration
26 March 2010
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A federal judge on Friday upheld limitations on gun ownership that the District of Columbia put in place following a 2008 Supreme Court decision overturning the city's outright ban on handguns.
Dick Heller, the plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court case, had challenged the new regulations, claiming the registration procedures, a ban on most semiautomatic weapons and other limitations violated the intent of the high court's decision.
U.S. District Judge... (GunPolicy.org)
Victory for Gun Safety in Massachusetts Supreme Court Storage Ruling
17 March 2010
Providence Journal (Rhode Island), Editorial
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has issued a welcome decision upholding rules on gun storage in the home. Under state law, when the owner is not present, guns must either have a trigger lock activated or be stored in a locked container.
These are sensible safety measures that do very little to inconvenience gun owners and much to prevent tragedy. Trigger locks in particular are easy and inexpensive to use.
Yet how long the high court's ruling will stand is... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Owners, Gun Criminals Lose Again in Massachusetts Supreme Court
11 March 2010
Boston Globe
In a case that drew attention from the Gun Owners Action League and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the Supreme Judicial Court yesterday upheld a state law requiring trigger locks on guns kept in people's homes.
In what was seen by some as a victory for law enforcement and advocates of gun control, the state's highest court ruled that the Second Amendment does not restrict the right of Massachusetts to impose its own rules on gun ownership.
"We conclude that... (GunPolicy.org)
Massachusetts Supreme Court Rules Gun Storage Law Not Unconstitutional
10 March 2010
Associated Press
BOSTON, Massachusetts - The highest court in Massachusetts on Wednesday upheld the constitutionality of a state law that requires gun owners to lock weapons in their homes in a ruling applauded by gun-control advocates.
The case had been closely watched by both gun-control and gun-rights proponents.
Massachusetts prosecutors argued that the law saves lives because it requires guns to be kept in a locked container or equipped with a trigger lock when not under the... (GunPolicy.org)
America's Love Affair With Firearms Won't Be Quelled By Mere Statistics
6 March 2010
Irish Times
AMERICA -- Cities and states that restrict gun ownership are seeing that prerogative threatened by the Supreme Court
"We Americans, we cling proudly to our guns and religion," Sarah Palin, the failed vice-presidential candidate and darling of the Tea Party movement, said at a recent rally for Rick Perry, the Republican governor of Texas.
The historian Richard Hofstadter coined the phrase "gun culture" to describe America's love affair with firearms. An estimated 25... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Laws: US Supreme Court Should Toss Out Chicago Handgun Ban
3 March 2010
El Paso Times, Editorial
In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a strict handgun ban in the District of Columbia. Now the court is considering a strict gun ban in Chicago. But there's a big difference between the two cases.
The D.C. case covered only federal jurisdictions. According to a McClatchy Newspapers story, "District of Columbia v. Heller applied only to federal jurisdictions, because the Bill of Rights, as originally written, covers federal but not state and local... (GunPolicy.org)
Supreme Court Likely to Strike Down Some US Gun Laws, But How Many?
2 March 2010
Talk Radio News (USA)
Even liberal Justices seemed to agree in today's Supreme Court oral arguments that the Second Amendment must prevent cities and states from passing certain gun regulations. The Supreme Court in 2008 ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to bear firearms, but that ruling applied to only the federal government, and today's case, McDonald v. Chicago, raised the question of whether states as well are prevented from restricting access to guns.
The... (GunPolicy.org)
At Least 5 US Supreme Court Justices Poised to Relax US Gun Controls
2 March 2010
New York Times
WASHINGTON — At least five justices appeared poised to expand the scope of the Second Amendment's protection of the right to bear arms on Tuesday, judging from comments at an unusually intense Supreme Court argument.
By its conclusion, it seemed plain that the court would extend a 2008 decision that first identified an individual right to own guns to strike down Chicago's gun control law, widely considered the most restrictive in the nation.
While such a ruling... (GunPolicy.org)
Supreme Court Seems Ready to Up-end Gun Control in US Cities, States
2 March 2010
Christian Science Monitor
WASHINGTON - The US Supreme Court appears to be on verge of extending the constitutional protection of the Second Amendment's right to keep and bear arms to every jurisdiction in the nation.
During an hour-long oral argument at the high court on Tuesday, several justices exhibited a willingness to enforce their landmark 2008 gun-rights decision at the state and local level.
If they do so, the decision may doom not only the Chicago handgun ban at the center of... (GunPolicy.org)
High Court Justices Suggest They May Overturn More US Gun Control Laws
2 March 2010
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court suggested Tuesday it will strike down U.S. cities' outright bans on handguns, a ruling that could establish a nationwide ownership right fervently sought by gun advocates. But the justices indicated less severe limits could survive, continuing disputes over the "right to keep and bear arms."
Chicago area residents who want handguns for protection in their homes are asking the court to extend its 2008 decision in support of gun rights in... (GunPolicy.org)
Another Landmark Constitutional Duel Over Right to Bear Guns in America
2 March 2010
Wall Street Journal
The Supreme Court today is the scene of a Constitutional duel in a case that will decide if the Second Amendment's guarantee of an individual right to bear arms applies to the states. The answer will determine whether the Court's landmark 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller is a hollow legal anomaly, or if it extends nationwide.
In McDonald v. Chicago, the Justices will consider whether the Windy City's ban on handguns is Constitutional. Brought by... (GunPolicy.org)
Supreme Court Poised to Rule on Chicago's Longstanding Handgun Ban
2 March 2010
ABC News (USA)
Otis McDonald, 76, is afraid for his life in his crime-saturated Chicago neighborhood and he is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn his city's strict ban on handguns in the home.
"In my home, this is the only time I worry," McDonald said. "There's more guns coming into this city than the police can take away from them. So if I've got a gun, and if others have guns in their homes to protect themselves, then that's one thing that police would have to worry about... (GunPolicy.org)
US Second Amendment Has Become a Frivolous Challenge to Gun Law
1 March 2010
San Francisco Chronicle, Opinion
In 2006, Harvey Jackson pleaded guilty to illegal drug distribution and firearm possession after he was caught selling cocaine out of his home. Two years later, when the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment protects a right to possess a firearm in the home for self-defense, however, Jackson challenged his conviction, arguing that the amendment guaranteed his right to keep a gun to protect himself while conducting his home drug enterprise. Jackson's... (GunPolicy.org)
Chicago Handgun Ban Presents Quandary for US Supreme Court Justices
1 March 2010
Washington Post
As a member of the Junior ROTC, teenager Antonin Scalia toted his rifle on the subway ride back and forth to Queens. As a hunter, he speaks lyrically of stalking wild turkeys. And as a justice, he may have reached the pinnacle of his more than two decades on the Supreme Court when he wrote the majority opinion that said the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to own a firearm.
But when the justices on Tuesday confront the question of whether the amendment... (GunPolicy.org)
Supreme Court Decision Could Further Weaken Gun Laws Across America
26 February 2010
USA Today
WASHINGTON — In 2008, when national gun rights advocates were looking for residents to challenge Chicago's ban on handguns, Otis McDonald was in effect looking for them. McDonald, 76, says he had seen his neighborhood on the far South Side of Chicago turn from bad to worse over the years with "gangbangers and drug dealers."
"My wife and I are here alone all the time now," says McDonald, a retired maintenance engineer, who with his wife, Laura, reared three children.... (GunPolicy.org)
