Foreword: Gun Control in the States
The Scope of the Second Amendment Right to Bear Arms
On June 26, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for the first time that the Second Amendment grants law-abiding citizens the right to own a gun for self-defense. The ruling, in the case of Joseph Heller v. District of Columbia, struck down a Washington, D.C., handgun ban as unconstitutional. The Court’s decision only affected a small portion of the country, however: While the ruling prohibited handgun bans in Federal enclaves such as the District of Columbia, the decision did not affect State and local gun laws. Later that day, Chicago residents Otis McDonald, Adam Orlov, Colleen Lawson, David Lawson, and…
