Supreme Court strikes down D.C. gun ban

The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the District of Columbia handgun law, ruling that individuals have a personal right to bear arms.

In more than 200 years, the court has never ruled on the exact meaning of the Second Amendment, which gives a right to "keep and bear arms." Gun control advocates have maintained the amendment simply gives a collective right to states, which is why the amendment is preceded by a reference to "a well regulated militia."

But gun control opponents argue that the plain language of the amendment clearly gives the right to "the people." On Thursday, the Court agreed with gun control opponents, striking down the Washington, D.C. law in a divided 5-4 decision.

The Second Amendment reads: "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."

It was ratified in 1791 in a time before modern weapons such as machine guns, automatic weapons, and more sophisticated military-style arms, and the Court ruled on Thursday that the individual right it is not without limit. "It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose," Justice Scalia wrote.

The Court also limited the ruling not to apply to other gun control measures. "The court's opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms," the Court ruled.

The five-member majority included the court's most conservative members, Scalia, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. Justice Anthony Kennedy, a Republican appointee, has been a key swing vote in closely divided decisions in the past, and he cast the deciding vote in Thursday's opinion.

The Court's four more liberal justices -- John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer -- all dissented.

Presidential Candidates Respond

Senator Barack Obama responded to the decision in a nuanced statement that seemed to agree with the Court's more conservative members. "I have always believed that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to bear arms, but I also identify with the need for crime-ravaged communities to save their children from the violence that plagues our streets through common-sense, effective safety measures."

Obama said the ruling "will provide much-needed guidance to local jurisdictions across the country" and promised to "uphold the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun-owners, hunters, and sportsmen" as president.

"I know that what works in Chicago may not work in Cheyenne. We can work together to enact common-sense laws, like closing the gun show loophole and improving our background check system, so that guns do not fall into the hands of terrorists or criminals. Today's decision reinforces that if we act responsibly, we can both protect the constitutional right to bear arms and keep our communities and our children safe."

Senator John McCain was unequivocal in his support of the opinion. "Today's decision is a landmark victory for Second Amendment freedom in the United States," he said in a statement. "I applaud this decision as well as the overturning of the District of Columbia's ban on handguns and limitations on the ability to use firearms for self-defense," McCain said.

The Arizona senator also used the ocassion as an opportunity to take a swipe at his Democratic rival. "Unlike Senator Obama, who refused to join me in signing a bipartisan amicus brief, I was pleased to express my support and call for the ruling issued today," he said.

McCain also reminded voters of Obama's remarks earlier in the campaign season that people "cling to guns and religion" because of frustrations with their government. "Unlike the elitist view that believes Americans cling to guns out of bitterness, today's ruling recognizes that gun ownership is a fundamental right- sacred, just as the right to free speech and assembly," he said.

Case Information 

The case was District of Columbia v. Heller, and it was "the first since 1939 to deal with the scope of the Second Amendment, and the first ever to directly address the meaning of the amendment's ambiguous, comma-laden text," according the New York Times.

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