11 U.S. Cities Sign On To Warn Supreme Court About Gun Control

January 16, 2008

Gun Rights and the U.S. Supreme Court Baltimore, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York, Oakland, Calif., Philadelphia, Sacramento, Calif., San Francisco, Seattle, and Trenton, N.J. are the 11 cities that signed a brief that has been presented to the U.S. Supreme Court warning the court that it can’t take away their need to regulate guns.

“American cities need flexibility to respond to the serious threat of gun violence facing their communities,”

Cities and mayors have lined up in an effort to influence the Supreme Court in the upcoming debate over the D.C. gun ban. Earlier this year, a District Appeals Court ruled that the current ban on handguns and restrictions on other weapons were unconstitutional. In District of Columbia vs. Heller, individuals have challenged the District’s ban and the appeals court ruled in their favor. That case was presented to the High Court and surprising to many, the Court decided to hear the appeal setting the stage for perhaps one of the largest most impacting decisions by the Supreme Court in decades.

Some cities, like Washington and Chicago completely ban weapons while others have strict regulations. Their fear is a ruling by the Supreme Court in favor of individual gun rights would set the stage for a massive domino effect of law suits aimed to remove existing gun restrictions.