Saturday, July 3, 2010

Second amendment ruling from the Supreme Court

In the final decision of the Supreme Court of the United States this session, the Supreme Court position on gun control has been clarified. To a point, the ban on ownership of handguns has been struck down. For one of the most part, McDonald v. Chicago clarifies the 2008 decision striking down a Washington D.C. law.

Article resource: Supreme Court Rules on gun control in Second Amendment case by Personal Money Store

SCOTUS rules on gun ownership

The recent decision about gun ownership is the second within the last 3 years. Handguns can’t be restricted on ownership, as outlined by the decision rendered in McDonald v. Chicago. In 2008, the SCOTUS ruled that federal districts could not ban handgun ownership. This gun ruling clarified the same standard applies to cities and states. The 5-4 majority ruling stated that that “self-defense is a basic right… individual self-defense is ‘the central component’ of the Second Amendment.”

Not all gun legislation disallowed

Gun-limiting legislation is not entirely unconstitutional, though – the ruling does leave open a possibility of future legislation. The original 2008 ruling was repeated when the majority decision stated “recognized the right to keep and bear arms is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for no matter what purpose.” To put it simply, governments can still limit gun ownership. The spot where the right to own guns supersedes the right of government to limit guns has nevertheless not been made clear.

Other final rulings of the court

The Supreme Court handed down multiple decisions today. The SCOTUS declared that the Public Company Accounting Board is unconstitutional in its current incarnation. In 2002, this board was re-created to respond to the failure of Enron. The board could be made constitutional if the Securities and Exchange Commission gets more control over the board. In Bilski v. Kappos, the court ruled that a patent cannot be taken out on financial risk limiting strategies.



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