A Bang Bang Supreme Court

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “Justices Extend Firearm Rights in 5-to-4 Ruling,” describes a major victory for the NRA, the extension of the protection of the Second Amendment, the right to keep and bear arms, to states and local communities. The new ruling outlaws complete handgun bans such as the one currently existing in Chicago.

Since the ruling merely represents an extension of a previous decision applied to Washington, DC and the federal government, it is probably over-emphasized in the New York Times story. Plus the ruling is limited in a number of ways including the nature of restrictions that are acceptable. The Justices readily acknowledge it may set off a flood of legislation.

The Justices also limited the ruling in other substantial ways, noting specifically that it did not apply to schools, political events or other sensitive locales. And it did not apply to felons or people with mental illnesses.

The article gets into a technical discussion regarding whether it was more appropriate to rely on the due process clause of the 14th amendment to extend the Bill of Rights to the states versus the privileges and immunities clause. A nice debate for lawyers, but it is the practical effect of this ruling that causes the most concern. And that effect will not be known until the constitutionality of ensuing regulations is tested.