Supremes Hear Oral Arguments on D.C. Gun Ban

A while back, I posted that the Supreme Court had granted certiorari to hear the case of District of Columbia v. Heller, which would require it to decide what rights the Second Amendment grants to citizens. The issues most contested in this litigation are: (1) whether there is an individual, as opposed to collective, right to bear arms; and (2) To what extent this right can be regulated by the government. The court has long held that the right to bear arms is a collective one.

The court heard oral arguments in the case to today. Considering the court's majority of conservative justices, it's not surprising that the court seemed willing to depart from long-established interpretation that the Second Amendment does not provide an individual right to bear arms. Most tellingly, Justice Kennedy, the court's current swing-vote, asserted that the Second Amendment says, "we reaffirm the right to have a militia, we've established it, but, in addition, there is a right to bear arms." Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Scalia expressed similar opinions.

The court also seemed hostile to D.C.'s argument that, even if there is an individual right to have and bear arms, that right may still be regulated by a ban on handguns. Other classes of guns are permitted in the District of Columbia. It is important to note that if the Supreme Court invalidates D.C.'s ban on handguns, it could potentially overturn prohibitions on certain classes of weapons all across the United States, since most states prohibit at least some types of weapons.

Whatever the court decides in this matter, District of Columbia v. Heller will likely shape Second Amendment jurisprudence for years to come.

Sources:
[NPR Report by Nina Totenberg]
[Oyez: Full Transcript of Oral Arguments, Synchronized with Audio]