Thursday, June 26, 2008

Supreme Court: 2nd amendment an individual right

In declaring Washington DC's gun ban unconstitutional, the Supreme Court judged the second amendment right to bear arms an individual right, clarifying once and for all that murky "well-regulated militia" clause. The court's decision doesn't put an end to any kind of reasonable restrictions on gun ownership, but outright bans are off the table.

In DC's case, the immediate effect will be that citizens will be allowed to keep guns in their home, but Mayor Adrian Fenty made it clear today that "guns on the street will not be tolerated", so I suppose a concealed carry law for the district is out of the question for the time being.

With the likelihood of Democrats controlling both the executive and legislative branches come January, this decision comes not a moment too soon.

2 comments:

Tyler said...

Shit, thank God. This has been worrying me for the longest time...

Eric said...

Like I said, I'm sure glad the court resolved this before Obama wins the election.