Just 15 months after declaring an individual right to bear arms under the Second Amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court is returning to the contentious issue, agreeing to answer a question it left unanswered last year: whether the right applies against state and local gun restrictions as well as federal.
The Court on Sept. 30 granted review in McDonald v. Chicago, a case squarely posing that question. The sequel to last year’s D.C. v. Heller could also intensify a debate within the Court and academia about the best way to apply or incorporate rights embodied in the U.S. Constitution to states.
