Supreme Court Strikes down Proposed DC Gun Ban

The U.S. Supreme Court Thursday furtively embraced an interpretation of the Second Amendment long advocated by gun-rights supporters, finding for the first time in tghe nation's history that the Constitution guarantees an individudal the right to own a handgun.

The court, in combustible 5-4 ruling, struck down Washington, D.C.'s total ban on handgun ownership. The decision greatly endangers, but not immediately affects, Chicago's similar gun ban.

The landmark decision was written by Justice Antonin Scalia, who, in describing the opinion in open court Wednesday, said the Second Amendment should be read expansively and that it "means pretty much what it means today, to have and carry weapons."

Scalia said people will "not be deprived of the right to keep and bear arms."

The ruling of the court however was, as was expected, narrow in scope, applying only to the specific aspects of Washington's law, which prohibits the ownership of handguns and their registration. The D.C. act also requires that shotguns in the home be disassembled or trigger-locked.

And like other individual rights, Scalia wrote, the right to own a gun is subject to reasonable regulation, including laws preventing felons and the mentally ill from owning guns and those forbidding guns in schools and government buildings. He also suggested that certain types of dangerous or unusual guns could be banned.

The opinion also appears to leave concealed carry laws intact.

He was joined in the opinion by Justices Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts and Samuel Alito.

Justice John Paul Stevens summarized his dissent from the bench, blasting the majority for establishing what he called a "newly discovered" right and accusing the conservative bloc of not staying true to the principles of judicial restraint they frequently espouse.

The court, Stevens said, "is making new law today."

Both Stevens and Justice Stephen Breyer filed dissents in the case. They were joined by Justices David Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The decision is 154 pages long and can be viewed here http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/07pdf/07-290.pdf.