Even though lower courts have mainly upheld gun restrictions, the Highland Park case arises out of a decision by the federal appeals court in Chicago that struck down the only statewide ban on carrying concealed weapons, in IL.
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Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas argued on Monday that all commonly possessed firearms-including assault weapons-merit constitutional protection.
“The guns at issue – semi-automatic weapons with military style attributes – were created to kill in combat, not for self defense”, wrote Christopher B. Wilson, a lawyer for Highland Park.
The 7-2 decision keeps in place a lower-court ruling upholding the Chicago suburb’s 2013 gun control measure.
Highland Park, Ill., gun regulations prohibit selling, buying, and possessing semi-automatic guns, which rules out the popular AR-15, Scotus Blog reports.
In October, the federal appeals court in NY largely upheld Connecticut’s gun laws enacted in the wake of the 2012 shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
Friedman filed an appeal with the high court in July, which won the backing of the National Rifle Association and the state attorneys from 23 mostly Republican-led states. The decline comes amid a tense climate over gun violence and the relative ease with which Americans can acquire high-powered firearms. Moreover, as liberals often cite, “the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited”, which is what Justice Scalia wrote when he delivered the opinion of the Court during the Heller case.
The justices gave no reason for turning down the appeal after months of reviewing the case, but their decision was likely not affected by recent mass shootings, SCOTUS blog reporter Lyle Denniston contends. Not surprisingly, extreme right-winger Thomas argued that the Supreme Court should have heard the appeal of that ruling so as to prevent the appeals court “from relegating the Second Amendment to a second-class right”.
“It is only a matter of time before the Supreme Court takes a case, sets things straight, and properly subjects this and similar unconstitutional laws to renewed challenge”, Michel said.
In a pair of earlier decisions, in 2008 and again in 2010, the Supreme Court for the first time found the Second Amendment provides an individual right to self-defense with firearms.
President Barack Obama also noted in his speech Sunday night that the terrorists who shot and killed 14 people in San Bernardino had a large stockpile assault weapons and bullets. These include seven states, the District of Columbia, New York City and San Francisco. Gun manufacturers quickly realized that with some cosmetic modifications, they could easily produce assault weapons that didn’t qualify as assault weapons under the law and were therefore perfectly legal.
Though the rifles allegedly used by Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik were purchased legally in California, authorities said, they were modified to fire in automatic mode.
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“Not that they’re going to decide based on who wins the election, but certainly it seems that guns might be up for debate in this election cycle”, she said.
