MSNBC's Chris Jansing talks to the NRA's Wayne LaPierre about the decision by the Supreme Court today that the Second Amendment right "applies equally to the federal government and the states".
Justices extend gun owner rights nationwide:
The Supreme Court held Monday that Americans have the right to own a gun for self-defense anywhere they live, advancing a recent trend by the John Roberts-led bench to embrace gun rights.
By a 5-4 vote, the justices cast doubt on handgun bans in the Chicago area, but signaled that some limitations on the Constitution's "right to keep and bear arms" could survive legal challenges.
Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the court, said that the Second Amendment right "applies equally to the federal government and the states."
The court was split along familiar ideological lines, with five conservative-moderate justices in favor of gun rights and four liberals opposed. Chief Justice Roberts voted with the majority.
...The ruling seemed unlikely to resolve questions and ongoing legal challenges about precisely what sort of gun control laws are permissible.
...Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, said his politically powerful group "will continue to work at every level to insure that defiant city councils and cynical politicians do not transform this constitutional victory into a practical defeat through Byzantine regulations and restrictions."
Of course LaPierre doesn't want any restrictions on gun ownership at all and compared anyone who does to someone wanting to restrict "the individual right of religion, or speech or the right to vote, or any other great fundamental core freedom we have as American citizens." I hate to break it to LaPierre but there are restrictions on our other Constitutional rights, but heaven forbid that might get in the way of his demagoguery.
