Newly Settled Constitutional Law

Heller & The Second Amendment Moving Forward

I'll be moderating a legal program on the 2nd Amendment next week at the Bowen School of Law in Little Rock. We'll have varying viewpoints, but one of the panelists will be Alan Gura (pictured right), lead attorney for the citizens challenging the 30-year gun ban in Washington, DC. He successfully argued that portions of D.C.'s Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 violate the individual right to keep and bear arms protected by the Constitution.

Gura is now lead counsel in McDonald v. Chicago, a case that seeks to incorporate the Second Amendment against state and local governments. This case, which also seeks to overturn the Slaughter-House Cases and incorporate the Second Amendment via the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, was granted certiorari last week on September 30. I'll post some additional comments next week.