Chicago Argues to Void 14th Ammendment To Protect Weapons Ban

Chicago Argues to Void 14th Ammendment To Protect Weapons Ban

From Jawa:

The question of whether and to what extent state and local gun regulations are constitutionally permissible is a question of the highest importance for both gun control advocates and gun rights supporters—and one that is about to be decided by the Supreme Court. In McDonald v. Chicago, the city of Chicago is defending its gun control measures against a challenge by petitioners who argue that the city’s handgun ban violates their right to keep and bear arms—a right, these petitioners argue, that is protected against state and local government infringement by the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. However one feels about guns, anyone who cares about fundamental rights protection should be wary of the argument the city makes in its brief.

In the city’s attempt to preserve its weapons ban, it proves too much, essentially urging the Supreme Court to find that protection of the Bill of Rights and other fundamental liberties against state infringement has no basis in constitutional text or history, and is instead achieved solely by judicial implication. To make matters worse, Chicago’s brief makes common cause with precedent that has been properly labeled by civil rights leaders as “among the most misdirected in the history of the Court”