7th Circuit Upholds Handgun Ban In Chicago

Just a year after the US Supreme Court struck down a District of Columbia ban on handguns as a violation of the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ban on handguns in Chicago.

The 7th's reasoning was that last years USSC ruling dealt only with an enactment on Federal land (since D.C. is controlled by the Congress and is not a state), and not states. The 7th also claimed that they were upholding USSC precedent.

The precedent to which they refer is a case from 1876, U.S. v. Cruikshank. In that case the USSC said that the 2nd Amendment was meant to keep the National government from infringing that right, nothing more. The 7th interprets this to mean that the 2nd Amendment, while it cannot be infringed by the Feds, can be infringed by the states. This is idiocy. For that very same case states, "The right there specified is that of 'bearing arms for a lawful purpose.' This is not a right granted by the Constitution. Neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence."

In other words, the right to bear arms existed before the ratification of the Constitution and that the amendment was meant to prevent infringement of a natural right. It would be ludicrous to then deduce that the right may be infringed by the states. Imagine that the Constitution would prevent infringement of the right to bear arms, but that Illinois banned all firearms. What right, then, would the Constitution be protecting from infringement?

It's sort of like having the right to free speech, but then allowing states to restrict all speech. Of course, the difference is that the USSC has "incorporated" the First Amendment, but not the Second. Incorporation, in this sense, means that the guarantee is to be enforced against the states as well, and not just the federal government.

In light of last years ruling, the 7th Circuit should have reevaluated cases that were more than 100 years old. Fortunately, there is disagreement between the 7th Circuit and 5th Circuit on this issues. That means the USSC may once again have the opportunity to rule on a gun issue.