Chicago Citizens About to Get Their Guns Back?

The Supreme Court is mulling over whether to overturn a 1982 Chicago ordinance outlawing the ownership of handguns in the city. It is relatively clear that the Court is leaning towards overturning this ordinance based on the “fundamental character” of a citizen’s right to bear arms in accordance with the 2nd Amendment. Additionally, the Court in a 2008 decision struck down a similar ordinance in Washington D.C. (see District of Columbia v. Heller, 128 S.Ct. 2783). However, the striking down of the Chicago ordinance would have a greater impact than Heller and would open the floodgates for the challenging of all state / local ordinances banning guns. For more on the recent events of McDonald v. Chicago, please see this story.

Advocates for the Chicago ordinance, including Mayer Daley, have noted the overall reduction in the murder rate in the city as an indicator of the success the ordinance has achieved since 1982. However, those that oppose the ordinance have noted that the ordinance has been ineffective as is evidenced by the fact that Chicago leads the nation in a very dubious category – it has the most school aged children killed every year with guns. Overall, it doesn’t seem clear as to the true effectiveness the ordinance has had on the curbing of gun ownership in Chicago.

Whether you are a staunch 2nd Amendment supporter or a staunch supporter of reducing gun ownership, the upcoming decision by the Court in McDonald v. Chicago will have an impact that reverberates around the country. It isn’t often that the Court makes any decisions regarding the 2nd Amendment, so the fact that the Court is going to make a decision that gives some guidance as to the full extent of a citizen’s right to bear arms is even more exciting. The Court isn’t expected to make a decision for a few months, but it would be interesting to know what the C-K student community thinks about this issue.