SUPREME COURT TO TACKLE 2ND AMENDMENT “GUN” ISSUE: What Do You Think?

“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.” 2^nd Amendment.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case of McDonald v. City of Chicago, and decide whether the right to keep and bear arms secured by the Second Amendment protects Americans from state and local government regulation and taxation..

At issue is a 27-year-old Chicago law banning handguns, requiring the annual taxation of firearms, and otherwise regulating the right of law-abiding individuals to keep guns at home for self-defense. The case was brought on behalf of four Chicago residents, the Second Amendment Foundation, and the Illinois State Rifle Association.

McDonald v. Chicago is a court case (parallel to NRA v. Chicago) originally filed before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and for which a petition for certiorari was granted on Sept. 30, 2009, by the Supreme Court of the United States. The petitioners are seeking to overturn a handgun ban, and other aspects of gun registration regulations affecting rifles and shotguns, in Chicago, Illinois as unconstitutional. This was the first such lawsuit since the landmark Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller, which held that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protected an individual right to “keep and bear arms.” The case was filed by Alan Gura, who successfully argued Heller, and Chicago-area attorney David G. Sigale. The case is sponsored by the Second Amendment Foundation and the Illinois State Rifle Association on behalf of several Chicago residents.

The trial court entered judgment in favor of the City of Chicago on December 18, 2008. The decision was appealed to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and combined with a similar case, NRA v. Chicago. Oral argument was May 26, 2009, and the court issued its opinion on June 2, 2009, rejecting the appeal, allowing the Chicago and Oak Park gun regulations to stand.

The Second Amendment Foundation appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court for certiorari on behalf of their plaintiffs. Certiorari ( see below) for McDonald was granted on September 30, 2009. The NRA has separately filed on behalf of their plaintiffs, and has yet to receive a response.

Last year, in the landmark case of District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms. However, as that case concerned the actions of the District of Columbia government, a federal entity, the high court was not called upon to decide whether the right bound states and local governments ( McDonald v. City of Chicago will clarify it) Over the years, almost the entire Bill of Rights has been held to apply to state and local governments by incorporation of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Certiorari is a Latin word meaning “to be informed of, or to be made certain in regard to”.  It is also the name given to certain appellate proceedings for re-examination of actions of a trial court, or inferior appeals court.  The U.S. Supreme Court still uses the term certiorari in the context of appeals.

Petition for Writ of Certiorari. (informally called “Cert Petition.”)  A document which a losing party files with the Supreme Court asking the Supreme Court to review the decision of a lower court.  It includes a list of the parties, a statement of the facts of the case, the legal questions presented for review, and arguments as to why the Court should grant the writ.

What do you think?