Gun possession and the Second Amendment is one of the most polarizing issues in today’s society. America is the only developed country that allows its citizens to carry guns in its Constitution. The other two countries that have implemented this right in their Constitution are Mexico and Guatemala. Three other countries had this right, but they have repealed it since the inception of their own Constitutions. Finding the right balance between gun control and gun rights has, in blunt words, been a living Hell. There is a lot going on today, but let’s look at a historical event that helps explain why this has been such a difficult issue for the American people. Rights are mostly derived from our Constitution, so the most important moments in history naturally can be traced back to numerous Supreme Court cases.
There have been many Supreme Court cases advocating for and against the Second Amendment, but the most recent (and most important for us today) was District of Columbia vs. Heller in 2008. This Supreme Court case struck down, in a 5-4 ruling, the law that the District of Columbia passed to ban the possession of handguns by making carrying unregistered firearms a crime and stopping registrations of handguns (Scalia 4). Under the law, residents were to keep their guns unloaded and in a trigger lock. A D.C. policeman, Heller, wanted to register a handgun to have in his home, but the state refused, and he filed a suit on the grounds that his Second Amendment rights were violated. This ruling will impact the U.S. for the next 50 years and possibly longer. We are already feeling the effects of this ruling because it has made legislation to restrict gun possession harder to pass (Solum 1). The majority ruling was adhering to an originalist philosophy that is becoming more popular in the Supreme Court with the nomination of Justice Gorsuch, and the pending nomination of candidate Brett Kavanaugh (Cornell 1).
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When looking at the gun issue through today’s lens, it’s clear that it will continue to be a hot topic issue as gun shootings continue to happen. The nation is very polarized right now, and half of it wants to ban some or all guns, while the other half wants to preserve gun rights and not ban any guns. I do not think there is as much middle ground here as one may wish for, and this means that there won’t be a solution found on the gun issue for a while.
- Cornell, Saul. “Originalism on Trial: The Use and Abuse of History in District of Columbia v. Heller.” Ohio St. LJ 69 (2008): 625.
- Denning, Brannon P., and Glenn H. Reynolds. “Five Takes on District of Columbia v. Heller.” Ohio St. LJ 69 (2008): 671.
- Marshall, Jonathan D., et al. “District of Columbia v. Heller.”
- *Scalia, Antonin. “DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA v. HELLER.” LII / Legal Information Institute, Legal Information Institute, 26 June 2008, www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-290.ZO.html.
- Solum, Lawrence B. “District of Columbia v. Heller and Originalism.” Nw. UL Rev. 103 (2009): 923.
