Monday, June 28, 2010

Restrictions on gun ownership unconstitutional

In McDonald v. Chicago 561 U. S. ____ (2010) [http://tinyurl.com/28j4xgf] released today the U.S. Supreme Court holds that state restrictions on gun ownership are invalid. The Court held:

Two years ago, in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U. S. ___ (2008), we held that the Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense, and we struck down a District of Columbia law that banned the possession of handguns in the home. The city of Chicago (City) and the village of Oak Park, a Chicago suburb, have laws that are similar to the District of Columbia’s, but Chicago and Oak Park argue that their laws are constitutional because the Second Amendment has no application to the States. We have previously held that most of the provisions of the Bill of Rights apply with full force to both the Federal Government and the States. Applying the standard that is well established in our caselaw, we hold that the Second Amendment right is fully applicable to the States.

That said, the Court did not completely rule out limitations on gun ownership:

We made it clear in Heller that our holding did not cast doubt on such longstanding regulatory measures as 'prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill,' 'laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.’ We repeat those assurances here....

1 comment:

The Rat said...

I wonder what gun control advocates will say? The US has always had significantly less gun control than Canada but now may be headed for almost zero restrictions on non-criminal citizens. I wonder what they will say?

Still, to preempt their histrionics take a look at these graphs:

Canadian Crime Rate

US Crime Rate

It would appear that violent crime isn't terribly related to gun control. The US has experienced much the same decline in crime rate as Canada since the early 90s which would refute gun control advocates' arguments that Liberal gun control policies are responsible.