Same old story - 5 conservatives voted for and 4 liberals voted against...
Justices extend gun owner rights nationwide
By MARK SHERMAN
The Associated Press
Monday, June 28, 2010;
10:33 AM
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court held Monday that the Constitution's
Second Amendment restrains government's ability to significantly limit
"the right to keep and bear arms," advancing a recent trend by the John
Roberts-led bench to embrace gun rights.
By a narrow, 5-4 vote, the justices signaled, however, that less severe
restrictions could survive legal challenges.
Writing for the court in a case involving restrictive laws in Chicago
and one of its suburbs, Justice Samuel Alito said that the Second
Amendment right "applies equally to the federal government and the
states."
The court was split along familiar ideological lines, with five
conservative-moderate justices in favor of gun rights and four liberals
opposed. Chief Justice Roberts voted with the majority.
Two years ago, the court declared that the Second Amendment protects an
individual's right to possess guns, at least for purposes of
self-defense in the home.
That ruling applied only to federal laws. It struck down a ban on
handguns and a trigger lock requirement for other guns in the District
of Columbia, a federal city with a unique legal standing. At the same
time, the court was careful not to cast doubt on other regulations of
firearms here.
Gun rights proponents almost immediately filed a federal lawsuit
challenging gun control laws in Chicago and its suburb of Oak Park, Ill,
where handguns have been banned for nearly 30 years. The Brady Center
to Prevent Gun Violence says those laws appear to be the last two
remaining outright bans.
Lower federal courts upheld the two laws, noting that judges on those
benches were bound by Supreme Court precedent and that it would be up to
the high court justices to ultimately rule on the true reach of the
Second Amendment.
The Supreme Court already has said that most of the guarantees in the
Bill of Rights serve as a check on state and local, as well as federal,
laws.
Monday's decision did not explicitly strike down the Chicago area laws,
ordering a federal appeals court to reconsider its ruling. But it left
little doubt that they would eventually fall.
Still, Alito noted that the declaration that the Second Amendment is
fully binding on states and cities "limits (but by no means eliminates)
their ability to devise solutions to social problems that suit local
needs and values."
