McDonald v. Chicago: The Supreme Court appears ready to establish a nationwide gun ownership right

  Yesterday the Supreme Court heard the arguments in McDonald v. Chicago, a challenge to the city’s handgun ban. This case is an extension of the Heller v DC case, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Washington DC handgun ban was unconstitutional and that every INDIVIDUAL had the right to own firearms for personal defense. Because Washington DC is a federal enclave the ruling did not apply to state and local handgun bans, so the McDonald case is the next logical step in wake of the Heller decision.

  With the 5 justices who ruled in the majority in the Heller case still on the court it appears very likely that the Chicago handgun ban will be ruled unconstitutional opening up the door for nationwide gun rights.

  We know that the gun control advocates are going to come out in earnest against the notion that all law abiding citizens have the right to keep and bear arms and that they are going to claim that the Supreme Court has overstepped its bounds by claiming that the states do not have the right to regulate firearms, but they must remember that the Supreme Court has already ruled that most of the other amendments in the bill of rights act as a check on state’s laws.

The court already has said that most of the guarantees in the Bill of Rights serve as a check on state and local laws

  So why would the second amendment not also fall under that same premise? And let us not forget that in the Heller case the Supreme Court DID rule that states do have the right to pass “reasonable” gun control laws, they just ruled that a complete ban on handguns is unconstitutional. This ruling, if it comes down the way I think it will, will not abolish all gun control laws the way that the gun control advocates will try  to claim it does. States will still have the right to institute “reasonable” gun control laws, and as a state’s rights advocate I am okay with states implementing some regulations, but a complete ban on handguns does not seem reasonable to me, and it probably won’t to the Supreme Court either.

  The Supreme Court ruling is due to be handed down sometime in June, it appears that we may be on the verge of a major second amendment victory.