What are the issues in the Heller case?
The case arises from a 2007 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit striking down the District of Columbias strict laws banning most handgun possession and requiring lawfully owned firearms to be kept unloaded and disassembled or bound by a trigger lock or similar device.5 The appellate court held that these laws violate the Second Amendment, interpreting the Amendment to protect a private right of individuals to keep and bear firearms unrelated to service in the militia. On November 20, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case and to decide the following question: Do the challenged provisions “violate the Second Amendment rights of individuals who wish to keep handguns and other firearms for private use in their homes?”6 This marks the first time the Supreme Court will address the scope of the Second Amendment since 1939.
