The public face of gun-rights battle (Chicago handgun ban goes to Supreme Court next month)

Chicago Tribune ^ | January 31, 2010 | Colleen Mastony

[Second Amendment First]

To defend himself, McDonald says, he needs a handgun. So, in April of 2008, the retired maintenance engineer agreed to serve as the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging Chicago's 28-year-old handgun ban. Soon after, he walked into the Chicago Police Department and, as his attorneys had directed, applied for a .22-caliber Beretta pistol, setting the lawsuit into motion. When that case is argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on March 2, McDonald will become the public face of one of the most important Second Amendment cases in the nation's history.

[pnh102]

The problem is that even if the illegal Chicago gun ban is overturned Chicago will simply ignore it just as DC has when their gun ban was overturned... or they will put so many procedural hoops in place that law abiding citizens will not be legally able to engage in our second amendment rights.

If it was up to me, any government official that this would be arrested and prosecuted but that will never happen. How do we deal with this?

[MarkL]

It seems to me that if anyone has been harmed because they have not been able to arm themselves due to government employees ignoring the law, then the government and the individual should be able to be sued, since they wouldn't be protected by immunity for "doing their job." By breaking the law, they are specifically NOT doing their job.

Mark

[RC one]

bingo.

[umgud]

If the 2A is incoporated, subsequent cases will the test the definition of “infringement.” Many existing and proposed laws will then be challenged producing new precidents. I see this as the new foundation from which to refine our laws. I’m excited, but also don’t expect sea changes overnight.

[JimRed]

...he walked into the Chicago Police Department and, as his attorneys had directed, applied for a .22-caliber Beretta pistol, setting the lawsuit into motion.

You mean you can go to police HQ and apply for a pistol? I thought you had to buy them!

[AlmaKing]

You deal with it by continuing to fund the NRA and other 2A organizations who will continue to file lawsuits on every illegal gun law.

DC vs Heller started the ball rolling, and the lawsuits are going to continue coming and driven by mostly the NRA and its members.

[Second Amendment First]

You are correct. From the article:

McDonald and his wife plan to travel to Washington, D.C., in March to watch the historic oral arguments at the Supreme Court. Many legal experts are predicting that the court will strike down Chicago's handgun ban, which could allow McDonald to get the Beretta pistol he wants. Even if that happens, no one expects a dramatic spike in the number of handguns in Chicago. That's because Daley, a longtime proponent of gun control, will almost certainly replace the ban with tight regulations. Exactly how restrictive those regulations would be remains to be seen.

[Mariner]

Undue interference and restriction of a fundamental right is likely to be addressed by the USSC this spring as well.

I expect them to provide broad guidelines as to what the states can do...and what they can't do.

Background checks are a given...though I question waiting periods.

Licensing? No way...not with a FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT.

Restrictions on ammo? Nope...only the gun and ammo combined allow for the free exercise of the right.

We'll see come June/July.

[TommygunNG]

People, it took literally centuries of people ignoring the encroachments for the situation to come to the point where the right to arms is so restricted. Thus, it will take time—probably decades—and a lot of work to get it truly restored. I know a lot of you will now become disillusioned and give up. Well, that’s what led to the current administration getting into the White House, so I won’t be surprised.

[mvpel]

The DC hoops are being sued about right now. We deal with this in the same way that Heller dealt with the DC gun ban - one single step at a time, starting with his decision some 20 years ago to apply to become an entry-level security guard.

[mvpel]

Background checks are a given...though I question waiting periods.

Why are background checks a given? Do you need a background check before being permitted to write a letter to the editor?

[zeugma]

DC vs Heller started the ball rolling, and the lawsuits are going to continue coming and driven by mostly the NRA and its members.

The NRA most definitely did not support the lawsuit in Heller. After the victory, they jumped belatedly on the bandwagon, but this wasn't in any material way driven by the NRA.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

bump

[50cal Smokepole]

banglist BUMP

[marktwain]

That isn’t the only untruth in the article. Did you see this whooper?

“Since the early 1900s, federal courts and most state courts had agreed that the Second Amendment protected only a collective right to bear arms, which, at the time the Constitution was framed, was considered integral to maintaining militias.”

This would only be the case if you considered 1939 to be the “early 1900s”.

[expat_brit]

The NRA most definitely did not support the lawsuit in Heller. After the victory, they jumped belatedly on the bandwagon, but this wasn't in any material way driven by the NRA.

Absolutely. I'm done with them. All my 2A $ will go to calguns from now on.

[Gilbo_3]

my prediction continues to be incorporation, followed quickly [like the NEXT day] by a pallet of ‘common sense’ national standards...