Lessons of McDonald v. Chicago

Topping last week’s legal stories was the Supreme Court’s decision in McDonald v. Chicago, holding that the Second Amendment — which the Supreme Court just two years ago interpreted to protect an individual right to own a gun — also protects the individual right to own a gun against state and local interference.

Many people were unimpressed, regarding this as a statement of the obvious. Others — like Rush Limbaugh — were alarmed, noting that what should have been an obvious statement of a right specifically protected in the Constitution nonetheless made it by a bare 5-4 vote in the Supreme Court.