10 years after Heller: Fiery gun rights rhetoric, but courts back Second Amendment limits

The NRA and its allies are Second Amendment absolutists who make a lot of noise. But courts have been clear since Heller that gun rights are limited. The Supreme Court decided the landmark Second Amendment case District of Columbia v. Heller 10 years ago Tuesday, recognizing for the first time an individual right of “law-abiding, responsible citizens” to have a gun in the home for self-defense. But as students from Parkland to Chicago focus our attention on the scourge of gun violence, it’s important to remember what Heller also made clear: the constitutional right to keep and bear arms is not absolute. Despite efforts by the National Rifle Association to distort the meaning of that right, courts of all ideological perspectives around the country have overwhelmingly confirmed that there is no conflict between reasonable, commonsense gun laws and the Second Amendment. Over the past decade, courts have rejected legal challenges to background checks, restrictions on assault weapons and large capacity magazines , prohibitions on gunpossession by felons and domestic abusers , and licensing requirements to carry a gun in public . In fact, courts have rejected the vast majority of claims that the Second Amendment precludes the passage or enforcement of gun safety laws — around 90 percent, according to one recently published academic study . The small remainder of cases in which these challenges have been sustained involved unusual laws, including handgun bans, total bans on carrying guns in public, or outlier licensing requirements. There are limits to […]

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