Justices Expand Gun Rights

5 to 4 ruling narrowly passes muster

The Supreme Court Monday extended nationwide the right to armed self-defense, a historic conclusion to an age-old battle over the meaning of the Second Amendment.

The decision gives federal judges the power to strike down state and local weapons laws for violating the Constitution. But the court said that the right isn’t unfettered, and the decision is likely to lead to years of litigation as lower courts try to determine what restrictions are reasonable. Assault-weapons bans, licensing rules and other curbs will all be subject to challenge.

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The 5-4 gun ruling follows the Supreme Court’s 2008 decision that struck down a handgun ban within the District of Columbia. That decision found, for the first time, that the “right of the people to keep and bear arms” guaranteed by the Second Amendment applies to individuals outside the “well regulated militia” familiar to 18th-century Americans. Because the capital city is a federal enclave, the 2008 decision left open, as a formal matter at least, whether the same principle applied in the 50 states.

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2010-06-28