by Dave Workman
Senior Editor

On a day that saw the beginning of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s confirmation hearings commence and longtime West Virginia Sen. Robert K. Byrd pass, the US Supreme Court handed down an historic ruling that incorporate the Second Amendment to affect state and local governments.

The case, McDonald v. City of Chicago, was brought against the city by the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) and four local residents, Otis McDonald, for whom the case is named, plus Adam Orlov and David and Colleen Lawson.

“This ruling clearly shows that the right of the individual citizen to have a gun is constitutionally protected in every corner of the United States,” said Alan Gottlieb, SAF founder and executive vice president. “We are already preparing to challenge other highly-restrictive anti-gun laws across the country. Our objective is to win back our firearms freedoms one lawsuit at a time.”

And, as if to rub salt into the wound suffered by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, Gottlieb announced that the 2011 Gun Rights Policy Conference will be held in the Chicago area.

Looking ahead to what seems a foregone conclusion that the Chicago handgun ban will be nullified at the Seventh Circuit, ISRA Executive Director Richard Pearson observed, “I’m glad the Supreme Court has ended the years of oppression of law-abiding citizens by the City of Chicago.”

The 5-4 ruling was written by Associate Justice Samuel Alito, with incorporation granted under the Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment. Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas filed separate, concurring opinions. In the 214-page ruling, the majority stated that it would not reconsider the Slaughterhouse cases, which essentially gutted the 14th Amendment’s Privileges or Immunities clause. The split ruling clearly defines, once again as it did in the Heller case, that the high court’s liberal faction clearly sees Second Amendment rights differently than the court’s more conservative wing, and centrist Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.

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