Supreme Court Says Americans Have Right to Own Guns
Thursday, June 26th, 2008“The Supreme Court has come down on the side of personal liberty today by defining the Second Amendment to mean that Americans have a Constitutional right to own firearms for self-defense and recreational purposes. A government prohibition against a law-abiding citizen owning and possessing a handgun is a preposterous, clearly unconstitutional infringement of that natural and fundamental right to self-defense.” -George Allen
Supreme Court Says Americans Have Right to Own Guns
By Mark Sherman
The Associated Press
June 26, 2008WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense and hunting, the justices’ first major pronouncement on gun rights in U.S. history.
The court’s 5-4 ruling struck down the District of Columbia’s 32-year-old ban on handguns as incompatible with gun rights under the Second Amendment. The decision went further than even the Bush administration wanted, but probably leaves most firearms laws intact.
The court had not conclusively interpreted the Second Amendment since its ratification in 1791. The amendment reads: “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 basic issue for the justices was whether the amendment protects an individual’s right to own guns no matter what, or whether that right is somehow tied to service in a state militia.
CLICK HERE to view the entire article.
CLICK HERE to read the Justice Scalia’s majority opinion.
CLICK HERE to read Governor Allen’s op-ed regarding the Heller case.
