Cert Granted in McDonald v. Chicago

Cert Granted in McDonald v. Chicago

NRA's lawsuit against Chicago, which seeks to get the Second Amendment incorporated against the states, has been granted a writ of certiorari by the Supreme Court. This is a big case, not just because of the Second Amendment, but because it raises the question of whether the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates protections of the Bill of Rights through the privileges or immunities clause ("full incorporation") or through the due process clause (which has led to the intellectually bankrupt selective incorporation principle).

Assuming we win (and I think we have a stronger historical case on this than we did with D.C. v. Heller), the most outrageous state gun control laws are going to be swept away. I think it is even likely that the various assault weapon laws around the country will either be struck down or require substantial liberalization to survive. Discretionary concealed weapon permit laws? Dead. Real dead.

I've been asked to help write the Academics for the Second Amendment amicus brief (of course), and I expect that I will be contributing to others. I'm already hip-deep in writing a couple of law reviews related to this issue already. If you want to help fund Academics for the Second Amendment amicus brief, click over to here and hit the PayPal button in the upper right.

UPDATE: Minor correction: NRA v. Chicago is the case that NRA filed; McDonald v. Chicago is the case filed by Alan Gura. The Court often consolidates several different suits together to resolve an important issue. If you look at Roe v. Wade, you will see that there are at least two different suits, from different states, that were part of that decision.