Washington, March 03: The United States Supreme Court justices have challenged a ban on handguns in Chicago on Tuesday, arguing that ‘self-defense’ is a basic human right.
The case stemmed from a long-standing handgun ban in Chicago that has prohibited individuals from carrying guns for nearly 30 years.
The issue was raised after a 76-year-old African-American, Otis McDonald, filed a legal suit with the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the strict gun control law, complaining that he fears for his life in his Chicago neighborhood.
Talking to reporters outside the Court about his decision to challenge the Chicago handgun ban, McDonald said, “How can you even imagine that law-abiding elderly people like myself are going to be a danger to society when the young people running around with all these guns, they are the ones doing the shooting and killing and all that stuff. Those are the ones who need some discipline.”
Meanwhile, the city of Chicago claims that its ban on handguns saves 700 lives a year.
The Supreme Court is now duty-bound to decide whether the Second Amendment right to bear arms is a fundamental right, such as the freedom of speech, and whether it overrides state laws.
While justices discussed the issue during Tuesday’s session of the Supreme Court, a final decision is not expected before the end of June as the Court’s nine justices have to write their arguments and respective ruling on the case.
According to the Los Angeles Times, however, a five-member majority on the court indicated that the right “to bear arms” is a fundamental right, like the freedom of speech, and cannot be unduly restricted by federal regulations, state laws or city ordinances.
It is unclear though why the Chicago gun ban has been in place for 30 years, without a challenge based on the Second Amendment right.
The re-opening of the case comes as McDonald’s appeal is believed to be part of a push by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the powerful US gun lobby.
US observers add that it is not common for an African-American to challenge a gun ban as they are the most frequent victims of gun assaults in the US, not to mention that they simply lack the financial and political power to lodge such a highly expensive legal battle against one of the largest American cities.
Therefore, they argue, the NRA, whose members are predominantly white, is the actual force behind the Chicago case using an African-American as a tool to press their own agenda.
According to statistics, around 30,000 deaths per year in the US — of which more than half are suicides and more than 10,000 are murders — are caused by guns.
——-Agencies