PREVIEW: Supreme Court to debate landmark gun case

Mar 17, 2008, 18:08 GMT

Washington - The US Supreme Court on Tuesday will consider whether people in the United States have a constitutional right to own firearms in a landmark case that could have far-reaching implications for gun control legislation across the country.

The case itself surrounds a 1976 law in the District of Columbia that effectively bans handguns and requires all other legal firearms - hunting rifles and shotguns - to be disassembled and unloaded when stored at home.

Out of six Washington residents that sued the District, one case has made it all the way to the country's highest court. Dick Heller, a private security guard, argues he should be allowed to bring his handgun home after work.

There are an estimated 250 million guns in the United States - about 40 per cent of Americans own one. Polling has consistently shown that most people - about two-thirds - oppose an outright ban on gun ownership, though a slim majority generally favour stricter laws on gun control.

But legal experts are divided over whether the US Constitution really gives citizens the right to own a gun, and dozens of groups have filed so-called amicus briefs with the court in favour and against the Washington law.

The court's nine-justices will consider an arcane amendment to the US Constitution, created soon after US independence, that gave states the right to maintain their own military force to defend themselves, should it be necessary, against the federal government.

'A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed,' reads the 1791 Second Amendment, which lies at the heart of the United States' gun control debate.

The key question is whether that amendment gives every individual the right to own a gun, or simply states the right to organize their own defence. In other words, did the founders bestow a 'collective' or 'individual' right to bear arms?

Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty argues that his city's ban has helped reduce gun crime, though even with the law, Washington has one of the highest per-capita murder rates in the country. Chicago is the only other city or state that bans handguns, though other high-crime cities including Philadelphia are pushing for the right to enact similar laws.

Gun control has long been a tricky issue in the political arena. The last significant piece of federal piece legislation passed by Congress was a 1994 act banning the sale of assault weapons - yet the law was allowed to expire in 2004.

But the issue has never been far from the minds of Americans. School shootings such as the Virginia Tech massacre - in which 32 people were killed by a fellow student in April 2007 - regularly re- energize the debate.

Virginia Tech prompted Congress to tighten existing legislation requiring states to feed names of those banned from acquiring weapons into a federal database. The Virginia Tech shooter, Cho Seung-Hui, had acquired two weapons months before his rampage despite having been ordered to undergo mental health treatment a year earlier.

Gun owners, led by the National Rifle Association, have long used the Second Amendment to block tougher gun laws. But even if the Supreme Court upholds an individual's right to bear arms, the debate over just how to regulate their purchase will continue.

The court will hear oral arguments in District of Columbia vs Heller on Tuesday. A decision is not expected until June.