Chicago, San Fran. Next Up for Gun Lawsuits

Gun-rights advocates announced plans yesterday to challenge restrictive gun laws in two of the nation's biggest cities in the wake of the landmark Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller. The Court ruled that Washington, D.C.'s ban on handgun ownership or possession within the District violated the Second Amendment's guarantee of the right to bear arms. The Illinois State Rifle Association and the National Rifle Association moved almost immediately to challenge gun laws in Chicago and San Francisco, respectively. Chicago's gun ban is similar to the one overturned in Washington, banning possession and sale of handguns within city limits. San Francisco bans possession of handguns on county property including parks, schools, and community centers.

The lawsuits are likely only the first in a new spate of gun-rights legal challenges to gun laws all across the country. The Supreme Court's decision was the first time in its history that the Court had ruled on the issue of whether the Second Amendment protects an individual or collective right to own a gun. The Illinois lawsuit borrows from the wording of the Court's decision indicating that the right is individual.

"By banning handguns, Defendants [the City of Chicago] currently maintain and actively enforce a set of laws, customs, practices, and policies under color of state law which deprives individuals ... of their right to keep and bear arms."

The issue of gun rights has injected itself into the presidential campaign, with both Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama embracing the Court's decision. But the lawsuit in Chicago could be a sticky issue for Sen. Obama as the campaign goes on. Chicago is Obama's hometown, and while a member of the Illinois State Senate, Obama cast several votes against the interests of gun owners, including voting twice to bar homeowners who owned a gun for self defense from being charged with violating local gun laws if they used the weapon for that purpose. As the Chicago lawsuit progresses, Obama may be forced to take a position on his city's gun laws that could put him at odds with his new found support for an individual right to bear arms.