Supreme Court limits local gun bans

[Ladywriter 7,783]

Justices rebuff Chicago, which defended ban as reasonable exercise of local power

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the Constitution's "right to keep and bear arms" applies nationwide as a restraint on the ability of the federal, state and local governments to substantially limit its reach.

By a 5-4 vote split along familiar ideological lines, the nation's highest court extended its landmark 2008 ruling that individual Americans have a constitutional right to own guns to all the cities and states for the first time.

In doing so, the justices signaled that less severe restrictions could survive legal challenges. The ruling involved a 28-year-old handgun ban in the Chicago area.

The ruling was a victory for four Chicago-area residents, two gun rights groups and the politically powerful National Rifle Association.

It was a defeat for Chicago, which defended its ban as a reasonable exercise of local power to protect public safety. The law and a similar handgun ban in suburban Oak Park, Ill., were the nation's most restrictive gun control measures.

Monday's decision did not explicitly strike down the Chicago area laws, ordering a federal appeals court to reconsider its ruling. It left little doubt, however, that they would fall eventually.

outta my cold dead hand.....

[Myk JL 1,731]

If only they'd remove all gun bans.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

Crime is horrendous in Chicago. People still get guns illegally. Let the citizens defend themselves.

[Dubird 6,815]

yeah, that's one thing these lawmakers seem to forget....guns are easy to obtain illegally, so if you ban all guns, regular citizins won't have protection....i do agree with gun control, which does help keep guns out of the hands of SOME of the people that would abuse it, but it's still perfectly possible to get a gun of some kind for personal protection....if someone wants to use a gun to commit a crime, most of the criminals will opt for an illegal one that's harder to trace anyways.....

[Kite 3,263]

in a nation born from guns, you cant remove guns once there there.

Though i dont believe in guns, I believe 100% it would have been far better if there was no guns in the 1st place, so no one had them.

If i lived in the USA i would own a gun.

I wish the UK would allow us to defend our homes, you cant in the UK, pull a Knife on someone breaking into your home, you face jail time.

(unless you go before a Jury, as no jury would convict a person defending their home and family)