Gun rights apply to local laws

Dick Taffe — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:31:36 +0000

The Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment right to bear arms is a fundamental right that states cannot abridge. The 5-4 ruling will require a lower court to overturn laws in Chicago and its suburb of Oak Park., Ill., that limited handgun possession. Political science Professor Graham Wilson, author of “Only in America? American Politics in Comparative Perspective,” says the conservative majority of the court tilted away from a historic conservative position that states and cities should be able to adapt policies to local conditions and circumstances.

“Not since 1937 have we seen such conservative judicial activism and it makes complaints about liberal justices ‘making law from the bench’ ring more than a little hollow.”

Contact Graham Wilson, 617-353-2540, gkwilson@bu.edu

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Gun rights apply to local laws