The American Bar Association summarizes post-Heller litigation...
... they are emphasizing the Chicago cases, since those are likely to lead the way on incorporation. The article has a mild bias, beginning with quotes from the lawyer who expects to defend Chicago's gun ban, and including a few paragraphs down the claim that guns kill children and prevent the Olympics and probably blend puppies too:In recent years, gunfire has killed dozens of Chicago schoolchildren. The city received a potential PR setback in its bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics when four people were shot?one fatally?downtown July 3 as a crowd of more than 1 million dispersed after the city?s Independence Day fireworks show.That's hardly relevant to an article on the legal issues of the 2nd Amendment. Somewhat better is their discussion of the three precedents the city plans to rely on: I don't think this case will be very helpful to Chicago's side. We're talking about a racist mob violating the civil rights of black citizens. It would be unconscionable to uphold an openly racist precedent in the face of contradictory precedents for the other amendments that make up the Bill of Rights. This case is also trivially distinguishable from the current situation because private actions infringing a civil right (ie, the mob) are not the same as state or local laws doing so. Miller v Texas won't be helpful, because Heller doesn't challenge felon-in-possession and the vast majority of people in Chicago aren't felons. Presser is even less helpful because the Chicago laws are a complete ban on possession, not merely a ban on firearms carried in public. If those are the only cases in Chicago's quiver they will likely lose... barring an Obama presidency and judicial retirements. The ABA gets fair credit for accepting that in the article, although they use the point to bring up how DC responded to keep restrictive laws in place following their loss in Heller. It's clear the ABA has chosen a side, but the bits of strategy noted are interesting. |
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