For the first time in 70 years, the Supreme Court is hearing a case regarding the Second Amendment. The District of Columbia is appealing a decision by a lower court to strike down its ban on handguns, in a case that may have ramifications countrywide.
From the Chicago Tribune’s The Plank:

Sen. John McCain, who is traveling overseas this week as part of an Armed Services congressional delegation, issued a statement calling District of Columbia v. Heller “a landmark case for all Americans who believe as I do that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms.”…
Like Vice President Cheney, McCain has joined in an amicus brief contending that the “clear intent of our Founding Fathers” is to allow individuals the right to keep firearms.

Alarmingly, the new conservative Supreme Court looks poised to agree, for the first time ever, that the Second Amendment protects individuals’ rights to bear arms for personal use, not simply civilians collective right to bear arms as part of a militia. The Court will also be hearing arguments on the degree to which government can restrict gun ownership, in addition to the nature of the Second Amendment’s intention.
Both Democratic frontrunners have stated they defend the Second Amendment, and an individual’s right to bear arms, but they think the government should do more to restrict their availability.
Check out the SCOTUS blog for more analysis on the case’s implications, as well as to listen to oral arguments.
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