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WASHINGTON ? The Supreme Court announced Tuesday it would decide the scope of the constitutional right "to keep and bear arms," accepting a momentous case that could change gun laws across the nation.
The dispute over a Washington, D.C., handgun ban, to be heard in the spring and likely decided by July, would mark the first time the court directly interprets the Second Amendment.
Tuesday's action immediately mobilized both sides of the debate over gun rights. The fractious question could become an issue in the 2008 presidential election.
"It's going to be the biggest case of the year," says Georgetown University law professor Randy Barnett. "This will be one of the rare instances that the court tells us what the meaning of the Constitution is, not the meaning of its prior (cases). If the court holds that the Second Amendment protects an individual right, it would be significant."
For decades, judges generally have ruled that the Second Amendment covers a collective right of state militias, such as National Guard units, not the rights of individual gun owners. In the last Supreme Court case that involved the topic, in 1939, the justices emphasized the Second Amendment's protection for "a well-regulated militia" and upheld federal regulation of individuals' use of sawed-off shotguns. It did not directly confront the Second Amendment's scope.
The full text of the Second Amendment says: "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."
"This case is hopefully going to be a vindication for millions and millions of Americans who have always known this is an individual right," said Wayne LaPierre, the National Rifle Association's executive vice president.
Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said, "I think it's exciting that, hopefully, we're going to get a clear statement on the Second Amendment. There is a popular misconception that it is a barrier to common-sense restrictions."
Although the "presidential race won't turn on this," the ruling could energize both sides of the gun-rights debate as candidates vie for the Southern, rural vote, said Earl Black, a political scientist at Rice University in Texas and an expert on Southern politics.
The consequences for gun owners will depend on how broadly the court decides the case. The justices could keep it focused on the federal enclave of Washington, D.C., and rule in a way that does not involve any state laws. Even if the court strikes down the ban on handguns, it might not affect other, less restrictive laws across the country.
The court said it would decide whether the handgun ban violates "the Second Amendment rights of individuals who are not affiliated with any state-regulated militia but who wish to keep handguns and other firearms for private use in their homes."
In recent years, lower court judges have followed the premise of the 1939 United States v. Miller case and rejected arguments that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to firearms. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit broke that pattern in a March ruling against the handgun ban, which prohibits D.C. residents from keeping handguns for private use.
D.C. Attorney General Linda Singer said the appeals court wrongly interpreted the history of the Second Amendment. Mayor Adrian Fenty added Tuesday that the 31-year-old ban "has saved many lives since (1976) and will continue to do so if allowed to remain in force."
The current Supreme Court justices have said little about the Second Amendment over the years that signals how they will rule. Chief Justice John Roberts said during his Senate confirmation hearings in 2005 that he believed that the court "side-stepped" the Second Amendment issue in the Miller case. "People try to read the tea leaves about Miller and what would come out on this issue," he said, "But that's still very much an open issue."
The new case was begun by Dick Anthony Heller, a guard at a federal building who wanted to keep a handgun in his D.C. home for personal safety. Alan Gura, his lawyer, had urged the justices to take up the case to resolve confusion over the Second Amendment. Even if the court sides with Heller and finds an individual right to keep arms, the individual right to keep arms would not be absolute. As the D.C. Circuit observed in its ruling, a Second Amendment individual right does not prevent government from "reasonable regulations" of firearms.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-11-20-scotus-guns_N.htm?csp=34
The dispute over a Washington, D.C., handgun ban, to be heard in the spring and likely decided by July, would mark the first time the court directly interprets the Second Amendment.
Tuesday's action immediately mobilized both sides of the debate over gun rights. The fractious question could become an issue in the 2008 presidential election.
"It's going to be the biggest case of the year," says Georgetown University law professor Randy Barnett. "This will be one of the rare instances that the court tells us what the meaning of the Constitution is, not the meaning of its prior (cases). If the court holds that the Second Amendment protects an individual right, it would be significant."
For decades, judges generally have ruled that the Second Amendment covers a collective right of state militias, such as National Guard units, not the rights of individual gun owners. In the last Supreme Court case that involved the topic, in 1939, the justices emphasized the Second Amendment's protection for "a well-regulated militia" and upheld federal regulation of individuals' use of sawed-off shotguns. It did not directly confront the Second Amendment's scope.
The full text of the Second Amendment says: "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."
"This case is hopefully going to be a vindication for millions and millions of Americans who have always known this is an individual right," said Wayne LaPierre, the National Rifle Association's executive vice president.
Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said, "I think it's exciting that, hopefully, we're going to get a clear statement on the Second Amendment. There is a popular misconception that it is a barrier to common-sense restrictions."
Although the "presidential race won't turn on this," the ruling could energize both sides of the gun-rights debate as candidates vie for the Southern, rural vote, said Earl Black, a political scientist at Rice University in Texas and an expert on Southern politics.
The consequences for gun owners will depend on how broadly the court decides the case. The justices could keep it focused on the federal enclave of Washington, D.C., and rule in a way that does not involve any state laws. Even if the court strikes down the ban on handguns, it might not affect other, less restrictive laws across the country.
The court said it would decide whether the handgun ban violates "the Second Amendment rights of individuals who are not affiliated with any state-regulated militia but who wish to keep handguns and other firearms for private use in their homes."
In recent years, lower court judges have followed the premise of the 1939 United States v. Miller case and rejected arguments that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to firearms. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit broke that pattern in a March ruling against the handgun ban, which prohibits D.C. residents from keeping handguns for private use.
D.C. Attorney General Linda Singer said the appeals court wrongly interpreted the history of the Second Amendment. Mayor Adrian Fenty added Tuesday that the 31-year-old ban "has saved many lives since (1976) and will continue to do so if allowed to remain in force."
The current Supreme Court justices have said little about the Second Amendment over the years that signals how they will rule. Chief Justice John Roberts said during his Senate confirmation hearings in 2005 that he believed that the court "side-stepped" the Second Amendment issue in the Miller case. "People try to read the tea leaves about Miller and what would come out on this issue," he said, "But that's still very much an open issue."
The new case was begun by Dick Anthony Heller, a guard at a federal building who wanted to keep a handgun in his D.C. home for personal safety. Alan Gura, his lawyer, had urged the justices to take up the case to resolve confusion over the Second Amendment. Even if the court sides with Heller and finds an individual right to keep arms, the individual right to keep arms would not be absolute. As the D.C. Circuit observed in its ruling, a Second Amendment individual right does not prevent government from "reasonable regulations" of firearms.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-11-20-scotus-guns_N.htm?csp=34