Thirteen days ago, the Supreme Court undermined Chicago’s ban on handguns by applying the Second Amendment to the states, ruling that people have a right to protect their homes with a gun. Four days after that, Chicago passed another handgun restriction that edged right up to the line drawn by the court. And on Tuesday, a group of gun dealers and enthusiasts sued the city again to overturn the new law.
Bullets are flying on city streets, but the vital work of limiting gun use has become a cat-and-mouse game. Beleaguered citizens deserve better from both sides.
We strongly disagreed with the reasoning that led the court to find an individual right to bear arms in the Second Amendment, ending handgun bans in Washington, D.C., in 2008 and everywhere else last month. Nonetheless, the law of the land is now that people have a constitutional right to a gun in their home for self-defense.
That right can be limited, the court explicitly said, with reasonable restrictions. But it provided very little guidance as to what is reasonable, leaving lawyers, lawmakers and judges to thrash it out in a bog of lawsuits that could take many years to clear.
Read the rest of the commentary here.
nice post and thanks
“Nonetheless, the law of the land is now that people have a constitutional right to a gun in their home for self-defense.”
American nationals have ALWAYS had this constitutional right. The second amendment is not NOW the law of the land. It has ALWAYS been the law of the land. Weak politicians and fear-washed peasants have created and defended gun bans, which ALWAYS lead to more gun-related crimes.
If that sounds ironic, listen to this. Whenever people have been “allowed” to carry guns on the streets, there have been a whole lot less shootings, because no would-be shooter wants to get shot.
The original story basically claims that ‘granny’ should get raped, beaten and set on fire while waiting for the cops (‘ETA 20 minutes’), rather than her son be able to protect her. What a shame. This is coming from the New York Times. If I ever had any respect for those losers, I sure wouldn’t after reading that! That’s disgusting.