The decision from the Supreme Court in the District of Columbia v. Heller case is the first time SCOTUS has specifically ruled on an individual’s right to own and carry a gun. The decision from the Supreme Court specifies that the Constitution does not allow “the absolute prohibition of handguns held and use for self-defense in the home.” The 5-to-4 decision overruled a ban in the District of Columbia, which the Court believed violated the Second Amendment’s rights for an individual to bear arms.  

The ban on ownership of handguns in the nation’s capital, based on a 1976 law, made owning and carrying a gun in the District of Columbia virtually impossible. In the majority decision to uphold a federal appeals court ruling to overturn the DC gun ban, the Supreme Court upheld the individual’s right to own a gun, but cautioned that the ruling should be interpreted in a reasonable manner.  

The case that led to Thursday’s ruling was brought by security guard Dick Anthony Heller, who filed a lawsuit against the District of Columbia because he was not allowed to keep a gun at his home. Heller carries a handgun for his job working security for federal judiciary offices, but was not permitted to take his gun home after work.  

Writing for the majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia stated the right to own a gun “for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home” is a limited privilege and it is “not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.” Siding with Scalia in the decision were Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr., Clarence Thomas and Anthony M. Kennedy.  

“The court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms,” Scalia wrote.  

The Supreme Court decision in the District of Columbia v. Heller was based on the Second Amendment statement which reads: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” In the majority opinion, Scalia wrote that the “operative clause’s test and history demonstrate that it connotes an individual right to keep and bear arms.”  

In a dissenting opinion, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that the majority “would have us believe that over 200 years ago, the framers made a choice to limit the tools available to elected officials wishing to regulate civilian uses of weapons.” Joining Stevens in dissent to the majority opinion were Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David H. Souter and Stephen G. Breyer.  

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain issued a statement Thursday morning saying the Supreme Court ruling “is a landmark victory for Second Amendment freedom in the United States. For this first time in the history of our Republic, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms was and is an individual right as intended by our Founding Fathers. I applaud this decision as well as the overturning of the District of Columbia's ban on handguns and limitations on the ability to use firearms for self-defense.”  

McCain also took the opportunity to use the ruling as a platform to launch another attack against rival Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.  

“Unlike Senator Obama, who refused to join me in signing a bipartisan amicus brief, I was pleased to express my support and call for the ruling issued today,” McCain said in the statement. “Today’s ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller makes clear that other municipalities like Chicago that have banned handguns have infringed on the constitutional rights of Americans. Unlike the elitist view that believes Americans cling to guns out of bitterness, today’s ruling recognizes that gun ownership is a fundamental right—sacred, just as the right to free speech and assembly.”  

The National Rifle Association (NRA) plans to use the Supreme Court ruling on the DC gun ban to challenge laws in San Francisco, Chicago and other localities with strict regulations on gun ownership.  

Read more on the U.S. Supreme Court Decision at SCOTUSblog.com.