Supreme Court strikes Washington's ban on handgun

The Washington Post

June 27, 2008

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court struck down Washington, D.C.'s ban on handgun possession yesterday, and decided for the first time in the nation's history that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual's right to own a gun for self-defense.

The court's 5-4 decision split along ideological grounds and wiped away years of lower court decisions that had held the intent of the amendment was to tie the right of gun possession to militia service.

The decision left for another day the standards by which gun control laws across the nation will be evaluated, but was decisive about Washington's law.

"We hold that the District's ban on handgun possession in the home violates the Second Amendment," wrote Justice Antonin Scalia. Justice Stephen Breyer said the decision "threatens to throw into doubt the constitutionality of gun laws throughout the United States."

Washington officials vowed to replace the ban with strict handgun regulations.

Scalia's opinion went further than the Bush administration had even asked for. The administration asked the court to recognize the individual right. But it wanted the case sent back to a lower court for a fuller hearing.

"I applaud the Supreme Court's historic decision," Bush said in a statement.

Sen. John McCain called it a "landmark victory" for Second Amendment rights, and took a shot at his rival's hometown. "Today's ruling ... makes clear that other municipalities like Chicago that have banned handguns have infringed on the constitutional rights of Americans," McCain said.

Sen. Barack Obama said in a statement, "I have always believed that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to bear arms, but I also identify with the need for crime-ravaged communities to save their children from the violence that plagues our streets."