Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court decided on a case that is a landmark victory for the Second Amendment and those of us who support law-abiding citizens' right to own a gun. In McDonald v. Chicago, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the city of Chicago's 28-year-old strict ban on handgun ownership -- an unfair law I have worked years to overturn.
As you may know, the Second Amendment to our Constitution says that: "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."
For many years, those opposed to gun rights argued the Second Amendment only applied to the federal government. They argued that states and local governments had the right to restrict or ban gun ownership altogether. The two biggest examples were Washington, D.C., and Chicago, Illinois. Both of these cities had far-reaching handgun bans, preventing law-abiding citizens from buying or possessing a handgun even for self defense.
In 2008, I led the efforts in the U.S. House of Representatives to file an amicus brief or "friend of the court brief" expressing the opinion of the Congress that Washington, D.C.'s gun ban was a violation of our constitutional rights. And, the Supreme Court agreed, striking down D.C.'s gun ban in its decision of District of Columbia v. Heller in 2008. However, Washington, D.C., is technically federal jurisdiction, so the question of whether states or local governments could ban guns remained in doubt. That was, until last week.
Last Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in McDonald v. Chicago that the Second Amendment's guarantee of an individual right to bear arms applies to all levels of government -- local, state and federal. The Court equated this fundamental right to bear arms for self defense with the other provisions in the Bill of Rights, such as our Freedom of Speech, Religion and Free Assembly.
McDonald v. Chicago is a common sense decision that reaffirms a basic constitutional right afforded to us by our Founding Fathers. As the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court has now ruled the Second Amendment is a fundamental, individual right applicable to all the states and I commend its decision.
As I helped to get the D.C. gun ban law repealed, I again led the efforts in filing another pro-Second Amendment amicus brief before the Supreme Court for this case - McDonald v. Chicago. Eventually, I gathered the signatures of 251 Members of Congress and 58 Senators in support of the pro-Second Amendment amicus brief and we filed it with the U.S. Supreme Court for this landmark case. The brief had the most signers of a congressional amicus brief in the history of the Supreme Court.
I firmly believe that banning guns will not keep guns out of the hands of criminals, but it will keep guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens trying to defend themselves against criminals. That is why I have led the efforts in the House to gather congressional support for pro-Second Amendment petitions to the Supreme Court during its consideration of these historic gun rights cases.
The McDonald v. Chicago decision upholds an important part of our way of life and our heritage. It means that government at all levels -- federal, state and local -- cannot significantly limit law-abiding citizens' rights to use guns for lawful purposes. This decision is a victory for all Americans who still believe in the Bill of the Rights and our Constitution.
As an avid hunter and outdoorsman and pro-gun Democrat, I will continue to work to protect our Second Amendment rights in Congress and I will continue to oppose and fight any efforts in Washington to restrict the "right of the people to keep and bear Arms.'