The SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES has decided MCDONALD v. CITY OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS in an opinion handed down on June 28, 2010. Chicago’s firearms laws provide that “no person shall . . . possess . . . any firearm unless such person is the holder of a valid registration certificate for such firearm” which effectively banned handgun possession by almost all private citizens who reside in the City.
In District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U. S. ___ (2008), the Court held that the Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense, and it struck down a District of Columbia law that banned the possession of handguns in the home. The theory was that citizens must be permitted to use handguns for the lawful purpose of self-defense. In McDonald the Court held that this Second Amendment right is fully applicable to the States and that the right to keep and bear arms applies to the States under the Due Process Clause. Therefore, the city of Chicago’s handgun ban violated the Constitution and was invalidated.
