Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Supreme Court to Hear Chicago Gun Ban Case

(CN) - The Supreme Court announced Wednesday morning that it will hear a case questioning whether state and local handgun bans are constitutional.

The justices agreed to review McDonald v. Chicago, a lawsuit challenging Chicago's handgun ban as a violation of the Second Amendment.

In June, the 7th Circuit upheld the handgun bans in Chicago and nearby Oak Park, citing the high court's repeated assertions that the Second Amendment applies only to the federal government.

A year earlier, the Supreme Court overturned a similar ban in Washington, D.C., ruling 5-4 that the Second Amendment gives individuals - not just the militia - the right to bear arms.

The Chicago-based 7th Circuit dismissed the local challenges on the basis that the high court's ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller dealt with federal law, while Chicago and Oak Park are state municipalities.

McDonald v. Chicago, one of the cases consolidated in the 7th Circuit ruling, will require the justices to decide if state and local governments must recognize the same individual right to bear arms established in Heller.

Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...