Mcdonald Vs Chicago Case Study

The Supreme case McDonald v. Chicago was about several suites that were filed against Chicago and Oak Park in Illinois challenging their gun bans after the Supreme Court issued its opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller. Specifically In 1982 the City of Chicago adopted a handgun ban to combat crime and minimize handgun related deaths and injuries. Chicago’s law required anyone who wanted to own a handgun to register it. The registration process was complex. In practice, most Chicago residents were banned from possessing handguns. In 2008, after the Court had decided Heller and said that the Second Amendment includes an individual right to keep and bear arms, Otis McDonald and other Chicago residents sued the city for violating the Constitution. They claimed that Chicago’s handgun regulations violate their 14th Amendment rights. Specifically, the residents argue that the 14th Amendment makes the Second Amendment right “to keep and bear Arms” applicable to state and local governments. The federal district court ruled for Chicago and McDonald appealed. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided for Chicago, as well. That court …show more content…
McDonald appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case. The question the Supreme Court was answering is Does the Second Amendment right “to keep and bear Arms” applies to state and local governments through the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment and thus limit Chicago’s ability to regulate guns?

Writing for a majority of the Court, Justice Alito concluded that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense is fully applicable to the states under the 14th Amendment. Only four justices agreed on the reason that the Second Amendment is applicable to the states. Justice Thomas agreed with the result but would have used different reasoning to get there. Justice Alito and three other justices said that