On Thursday, the Supreme Court struck down the District of Columbia’s gun ban as unconstitutional.
The 5-4 decision, with the majority opinion written by Antonin Scalia, and joined by Chief Justice Roberts, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito, is available for download below. Summary:
1. The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.
2. Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.
3. The handgun ban and the trigger-lock requirement (as applied to self-defense) violate the Second Amendment. … Assuming he is not disqualified from exercising Second Amendment rights, the District must permit Heller to register his handgun and must issue him a license to carry it in the home.
