The United States Supreme Court has issued a ruling applying the US Constitution, Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms” to State and local gun regulation. Ruling in the case of McDonald v. Chicago a 5 to 4 majority of justices decided for the first time that both State and local gun laws must not violate the Second amendment. While this is a landmark decision, it answers very few questions. It did not give any guidelines as to what regulations were permissible and what regulations were not and it even left to the lower Court the issue of whether the Chicago Law in question violated the Second Amendment.
This decision is likely to spur more litigation than it resolved by opening up litigation to strike down local gun regulation all over the Country. New York gun laws which are among the toughest in the Country will almost certainly be challenged under this ruling.
Tilem & Campbell, PC is criminal defense firm that handles a vast array of gun and weapons related cases in both State and Federal Courts and maintains the website www.handgunattorney.com. Senior Partner, Peter H. Tilem is a former prosecutor assigned to the Firearms Trafficking Unit of the New York County District Attorney’s Office, is a member of the NRA and has vast experience in handling gun and weapons related litigation.