By:  TheTimesandDemocrat.com

ISSUE: 2nd Amendment case

OUR VIEW: High court likely to make clear that guns cannot be banned

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

It’s safe to say the American Bar Association is correct in assessing the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as being the subject of more disagreement and less understanding than any issue regarding the Constitution.

The 2nd Amendment is commonly known as the law of the land guaranteeing citizens the right to bear arms – the right to own and possess weapons. The amendment references “militia,” and gun-control advocates have contended the amendment should be interpreted in terms of possessing weapons as part of such.

The Supreme Court last year put new teeth into the 2nd Amendment by overturning a District of Columbia law that all but forbid possession of weapons and gun ownership in the nation’s capital. Now the court is poised to enter the fray again, agreeing to hear a challenge to Chicago’s ban on handguns.

A decision will be significant as it would extend the court’s ruling to state and local gun laws. The D.C. ruling was unique since the capital has unique federal status.

An Associated Press report concludes that even gun-control supporters believe the court will rule similarly to the D.C. decision and strike down Chicago’s ban.

The court has said that most rights laid out in the Bill of Rights serve as checks on state as well as federal restrictions. Forty-four state constitutions already guarantee gun rights.

With Congress unlikely to weigh in on gun control amid so many pressing issues, it will again fall to the high court to provide direction on just how far gun control can go. Look for the decision to make clear that while governments have the right to regulate gun ownership, they do not have the right to prohibit it.