Supreme Court Hears Another Gun Case

Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment gives individuals the right to keep and bear arms for personal use, striking down a District of Columbia ban on handguns in District of Columbia v. Heller. The Court didn’t say whether the Second Amendment generally applies to state and local gun control laws. The Court’s ruling also didn’t directly affect employer policies banning guns from the workplace. 

 Not to worry, however, the Supreme Court has now heard arguments in McDonald v. City of Chicago, which specifically deals with the Second Amendment’s applicability to state and local gun laws. In this case, the City of Chicago’s ban on handguns is challenged, and most observers believe that the Court will strike down this law as it did the one in DC. If it does, the Second Amendment will apply not only to federal gun regulations, but state and local ones as well.

The Court may also give some clarity to whether and how guns can be regulated. In other words, the Court may say that neither the federal, state nor local government can ban the ownership of handguns, but governments can place certain regulations on their ownership. Any such case is also significant because it can possibly impact an employer’s policy on guns in the workplace. A decision is expected in the Chicago case in June. Stay tuned.