Brady Center, Police Groups Urge Supreme Court To Protect Gun Laws From Constitutional Attack

Nov 23, 2009

Washington, DC - The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, joined by several national law enforcement groups, will be filing a friend of the court brief today in the United States Supreme Court urging the Court to interpret the Second Amendment to allow for a broad range of gun regulation.

The brief will be filed in McDonald v. City of Chicago, in which the Court will determine whether Chicago's handgun ban is unconstitutional and whether the Second Amendment applies to state and local laws.  The Brady Center argues that the Court should announce a test that allows for gun laws that are a “reasonable” exercise of state or local power to protect the public safety, a legal standard used overwhelmingly by state courts in interpreting "right to bear arms" provisions in state constitutions for over 150 years.

In June 2008 the Court struck down the District of Columbia’s handgun ban in District of Columbia v. Heller.  While the Court in Heller held, for the first time, that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess guns for self-defense in the home, the Court affirmed that a broad range of gun regulations remain "presumptively lawful."  However, the Court did not announce what standard of review courts should apply in gun cases.  The Brady Center brief argues that the Court should adopt a “reasonableness” standard allowing citizens to enact, through their elected representatives, strong laws to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.

"The Supreme Court's opinion in Heller does not conflict with allowing states and localities to enact and enforce sensible gun laws that protect the public," said Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Center. "On the contrary, the Court spelled out that such laws are presumptively legal.  The police groups and the Brady Center agree that the Court should maintain that position in McDonald."

The law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr is representing the Brady Center and other groups filing the brief pro bono. 

The Brady Center is the nation’s largest non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to reducing gun violence through education, research, and legal advocacy. Joining the Brady Center’s brief are the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the National Black Police Association.

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As the nation's largest, non-partisan, grassroots organization leading the fight to prevent gun violence, the Brady Campaign, with its dedicated network of Million Mom March Chapters, works to enact and enforce sensible gun laws, regulations and public policies. The Brady Campaign is devoted to creating an America free from gun violence, where all Americans are safe at home, at school, at work, and in our communities.

For continuing insight and comment on the gun issue, read Paul Helmke's blog at www.bradycampaign.org/blog/. Visit the Brady Campaign website at www.bradycampaign.org.