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Big-City Gun Restrictions Face Challenges Under High Court Ruling

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: Crime & Justice News

"The individual right to bear arms identified by the

Supreme Court will have little practical impact in most

of the U.S., says the New York Times. Washington,

D.C.'s comprehensive ban on handguns used for self-

defense in the home must be revised, and similar

laws in several cities are also vulnerable. Most state

and city gun restrictions appear to be allowed under

the ruling, including licensing laws, limits on the

commercial sale of guns, restrictions on guns in

places like schools and government buildings, and

prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons

and the mentally ill. 'Dangerous and unusual'

weapons can also be banned, although that phrase

was not defined.

Justice Antonin Scalia suggested that bans on

concealed weapons would probably pass Second

Amendment muster. The legal battlegrounds will be

cities with ordinances similar to Washington's

essentially complete ban, notably Chicago. Robert

Levy, a lawyer on the winning side of the case,

said, 'The challenges are likely to be in Chicago, New

York, Philadelphia and Detroit.' Washington, D.C.,

may offer an amnesty period in which handgun

owners can register them without penalty, said Mayor

Adrian Fenty."

New York Times - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001xkvCOqCHZkdlONoEGLEQmaDNtoSJZP16w1FDbgUPXmZjLbpeTvUiso6Cn6M8FbLYMNkW7OktdDsLcUv7S3hKe75L_SQwtoLhhcynsXJAoYkh6qkuCt0bmvDkCHIXh5_pQPtdzDgnltFaAM91BEPCGDExtbdiB14-cuFBPCntR45jg5Pgxqpn77bQnI5hXbW50driNapEbqPgGob9lyQEVLyFsCl7KZaxjm5VZAlxgpe_C91Y1-Jrdx8elGTUByIyGax1oicOOUovWSVEIuDgUuqO-L8tcga3

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on June 27, 2008 (boomark / email).