Denying the Second Amendment Rights of Americans – Another Bad Decision by Judge Sotomayor

Hans von Spakovsky / June 02, 2009

When the Supreme Court decided the Heller case last year striking down the District of Columbia’s handgun ban, it recognized that the Second Amendment confers an individual right to bear arms. However, because the case arose out of Washington, which is a federal district under our Constitution, the Court did not address whether the Second Amendment restricts the states (and local governments) from infringing this right.

While the Bill of Rights originally applied only against the federal government, the Supreme Court has long applied or “incorporated” the fundamental rights (i.e., those deeply rooted in our nation’s history and tradition) and applied them to the states. Given the history of gun rights and ownership in this country, and the consideration the framers paid this right in passing the Fourteenth Amendment, the applicability of the Second Amendment would seem to be an easy question after Heller. (more…)