Felons Challenging gun Ban In Wake Of Supreme Court's Landmark Ruling

[Big Sexy]

Felons Challenging Gun Ban In Wake Of Supreme Court’s Landmark Ruling

Emboldened by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, a number of felons are now challenging a federal law that bars them from owning guns. Facing federal charges for possessing guns, the felons are defending against the charges by arguing that the law is unconstitutional in the wake of the Supreme Court's landmark case of District of Columbia v. Heller.

In Heller, the Supreme Court ruled at the end of June that Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban violates the Constitution's Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Among other things, the justices held that statutes banning handgun possession in the home violate the Second Amendment because individuals have the right to self-defense, particularly in the place where the importance of the lawful defense of self, family, and property is most acute.

The felons contend that the Supreme Court's decision permits them to keep loaded handguns in their homes in order to defend themselves. They claim the federal law barring them from possessing guns violates the Second Amendment because they, too, have a constitutional right to self-defense.

While many felons are now trying to make this argument, it is likely to be an uphill battle, legal experts say. That's because in the Heller decision, the Supreme Court specifically said that the Second Amendment does not prohibit laws banning the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms. Nevertheless, legal experts say they expect to see many challenges of federal, state, and local gun laws because of the Heller decision.

[Probation13-901]

What a bunch of morons !!!

[MacLean]

Scalia wrote right into the Heller decision that it did not reverse such controls as preventing felons from having guns.

This smacks of anti-gunners trying to create hysteria.

[jcsdscott]

This is ridiculous, and why some people should not be allowed to even consider lawsuits. I should have seen this coming.

[Five-0]

Scalia wrote right into the Heller decision that it did not reverse such controls as preventing felons from having guns.

This smacks of anti-gunners trying to create hysteria.

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