New At Reason: Brian Doherty on the Supreme Court's New Gun Case

October 1, 2009

It has been only a year and a season since the Supreme Court shook the world of Second Amendment jurisprudence with the historic D.C. v. Heller decision. In that case, the Court declared for the first time that against the federal government, the Second Amendment does protect an individual right to bear arms.

Now the Court has taken up the case of McDonald v. Chicago, which will settle whether the Second Amendment applies to states and localities as well. And as Senior Editor Brian Doherty writes, Heller lawyer Alan Gura is now arguing McDonald, and in doing so he's attempting to revive the 14th Amendment's Privileges or Immunities Clause. If he succeeds, Doherty explains, it will create a powerful new weapon for vindicating all sorts of rights, not just the Second Amendment.

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