SCOTUS hears arguments in McDonald v. City of Chicago

Downtown Chicago on cloudy day

McDonald v. City of Chicago (08-1521) is a highly publicized United States Supreme Court case that many guns rights activists are watching carefully. This case has generated an enormous amount of attention from both sides of the issue and, as a result, over 50 amicus briefs have been filed with the Court.

At issue in this case is whether the Second Amendment is incorporated into the Due Process Clause or the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, thus making it applicable to the States and invalidating ordinances prohibiting possession of handguns in the home.

On March 2, 2010, oral arguments were heard by the Court, a transcript of which can be found here.

This decision comes on the tails of the Court’s ground breaking Second Amendment decision nearly 2 years ago in District of Columbia v. Heller. It is expected that whatever the determination in this case, the Court will be just as divided as it was in the Heller decision.

You can learn more about this case from the following recent articles: