Local Control of Gun Laws Diminished by Supreme Court

Gun rights advocates have won another victory. Although the 2nd Amendment states "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," the Bill of Rights technically applies only to the federal government. States and cities, until the decision of McDonald v. Chicago, could constitutionally ban gun ownership and possession.

The majority of the rights protected in the Bill of Rights have been "incorporated against" the states by the 14th Amendment's Privileges and Immunities Clause, which states "no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States." Effectively, this means that the states cannot violate the rights which are protected under federal law. The clause was written to ensure the rights of recently emancipated slaves.

Cities and states retain the right to legislate the details of firearms offenses, but they may not ban guns outright.

The dissenting opinion noted that in the United States, 60,000 deaths and injuries are caused by firearms every year.

It was a 5-4 victory, Justices Scalia, Alito, Roberts, Kennedy, and Thomas affirmed the case, and Stevens, Sotomayor, Ginsburg, and Breyer dissented. Justice Stevens is retiring after 35 years on the bench.

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